When one studies the revealed Torah the grasp can be complete.
In studying the esoteric Torah, the grasp is necessarily partial.
If so, the study of the manifest should come closer to mystical union.
The more tangible and actual the Torah is to the one who is engaged in it, the more intellectually meaningful it is, the greater should be the spiritual achievement.
Why then bother with the study of the concealed and intangible aspects of Torah?
What is the justification for the esoteric Kabbalah–not only in terms of practical usefulness, but in its own terms of spiritual aspiration?
The answer lies in the higher unity that is attainable even when one does not fully understand…
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From The Candle of God, p. 96, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz