No Jews Allowed—Again
14 min read
The soul is one of the most important but least understood aspects of living a spiritual life. What is the Jewish view?
The soul is an intangible force that animates flesh and brings it to life. It’s difficult to describe, yet intuitive to understand, and integral to how you relate to concepts like the self, spirituality, and your role in the world. The soul also plays a leading role in Jewish thought, and, in addition to connecting you to spiritual worlds, is the engine that—if you’re willing to work—brings meaning to your life as well.
According to the Torah (Genesis 2:7), “God formed man out of dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life. Man [thus] became a living creature.” That breath of life, called a nishmat chaim (נשמת חיים), refers to the human soul, and is the source of its Hebrew name, neshama (נשמה).
Unlike the rest of creation, which God created with speech—like it says in Genesis 1:3, for example, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and light came into existence”—God breathed the human soul into man, which denotes a higher, more intimate creative process, and a subsequent higher spiritual level as well. In Hebrew, the word for breath is “neshima” – the same root as soul, neshama.
That soul, or neshama, is unique to humanity, and is indicative of man’s higher cognitive powers, his ability to reason, and, ultimately, to have a relationship with God. That’s a spiritual level only man can attain, and that level of soul—also known as the divine, or Godly soul—is distinct from the life force energy that animates the flesh, called the nefesh (נפש), or animal soul, which animals, and, on some level, all living things, possess as well.
According to the book of Leviticus (17:11), that animal soul, or life force, is associated with the blood1—“the life force (נפש) of the flesh is in the blood”—and is the reason the Torah considers blood an atonement for man’s transgressions, as well as prohibits its consumption.
When the Torah mentions the creation of man in Genesis 2:7, it says “God formed man (וייצר) from the dust of the ground.” According to the great medieval biblical commentator, Rashi (1040-1105), the verb used, “He formed/ייצר,” is spelled that way in Hebrew, with two yuds (י), to indicate man’s dual spiritual/physical nature. That’s as opposed to animals, which don’t have a spiritual drive, and, as noted in Genesis 2:19, God formed with just a single yud, “God had formed (יצר) every wild beast and every bird of heaven out of the ground.”2
As noted, you have both an animal and a divine soul. Your animal soul is the life force that animates your flesh, and is also the source of your character, passions, and physical drives. It is also associated with your imagination, memory, intelligence, and will.3 Your divine soul is your link to the highest spiritual realms. It’s the source of your intellect and true inner essence, and it also has the power to guide your animal nature.
If you let it.
In Jewish thought, life is a constant struggle between the impulses and passions of your body (your animal soul), and the desires of your neshama.
That struggle creates your free will, which according to the Torah (Deuteronomy 30:19) is a choice between life and death. “I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You must choose life, so that you and your descendants will survive.”
Death is avoiding pain, or specifically, escaping responsibility and slipping into the clutches of comfort. Your physical body yearns to go back to the ground, as death is the ultimate experience of feeling no pain. On the other side is the soul’s desire to choose life, which is taking the responsibility to align your will with reality, to reach up and come closer to its spiritual source.
Every moment you’re alive, you’re using your free will to choose between life and death, reality or escape, being responsible or running away. That’s a constant choice. You are either making the choice to take the pain in order to grow, or you’re quitting.
Being alive means embracing responsibility, and how you resolve that conflict—between reality and escape—is where your greatness lies. Choosing life is choosing to live, to fight, and to accomplish; as opposed to running away.
That’s also the conflict between body and soul. Your job is to identify with your divine soul, and to avoid the distractions, and desires, of your body (your animal soul).
In Jewish thought, free will is the conflict between body and soul, which begs the question: what force represents the real you? According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his book, Jewish Meditation, it’s neither:
The Kabbalists point out that the body is not the self. Since I can speak of “my body,” the body cannot be “me.” The body is “mine”—something associated with me; but the ultimate me is something much more profound than the body. Using the same argument, I can also speak of “my mind.” Indeed, I speak of “my mind” just as I speak of “my body.” This would imply that just as the body is not the real me, the mind is also not the real me. Carrying the argument a step further, I can even speak of “my soul.” This would imply that even the soul is not the real me. This being the case, the question of selfhood becomes very difficult indeed. What is the real me? A hint to the answer can be found in the Hebrew word for “I,” ani (אני). It is significant to note that if the letters of ani are rearranged, they spell the word ayn or ayin (אין), which denotes nothingness. This would seem to imply that the real “me” is the nothingness within me. This can be understood in a fairly straightforward manner. The real me is my sense of volition. It is the intangible will that impels me to do whatever I decide to do.4
Yet pushing the point further, as Rabbi Kaplan continues, really it’s both:
As I noted, neither the body, the mind, nor the soul is the self. However, in another sense, the self is a combination of body, mind, and soul. The three together appear to define the self. However, this has an important ramification. If body is not the self, and mind is not the self, and soul is not the self, but the combination of the three is, then the definition of the self is still an enigma. It would seem that it is possible to remove the body, remove the mind, and remove the soul, and still have some spark of the self. But when body, mind, and soul are removed, all that remains is nothingness. Again it appears that the self is nothingness. It is not nothingness because of lack of existence. Rather it is nothingness because of the lack of a category in the mind in which to place it.5
In other words, the essential you is linked to a spiritual realm that transcends your powers of comprehension. It speaks to you from your divine, or higher, soul, and your life’s mission is to align your will with it. In a sense, your divine soul starts with an intuitive spiritual awareness that gets lost somewhat amidst the din of everyday life. Yet, it’s not only there; ultimately, it’s all there is.6
According to the great 18th century kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, “Even though the divine soul is often referred to as a single entity, it actually consists of a number of parts on different levels … These different parts are called: nefesh (נפש), ruach (רוח), neshama (נשמה), chayah (חיה), and yechidah (יחידה).”7
The soul, with its different levels, is depicted in Genesis 28:12, which describes a dream the biblical patriarch, Jacob, had of a ladder. “[Jacob] had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing toward the ground, and its top reached up toward heaven.” A careful reading of the verse reveals that the ladder wasn’t standing on the ground, but toward the ground, meaning that the soul’s essential root is affixed in the higher spiritual realms, and then descends downward—connecting the different levels like the rungs on a ladder, or links in a chain—until its lower levels are manifest in a person’s body.8
Nefesh (נפש): the nefesh is the lowest level of the divine soul, and it corresponds to action and doing. The nefesh is also associated with the action of prayer, like the biblical figure, Hannah, says about herself in the book of Samuel (Samuel I 1:15), “I will pour out my soul (nefesh/נפש) before God,” and similarly as it’s noted numerous times in the book of Psalms (for example, Psalm 103:1), “My soul (nefesh/נפש) will bless God.”
Ruach (רוח): the ruach is associated with speech, as the Talmudic-era translator, Onkelos, noted in relation to Genesis 2:7. When the Torah says, “Man [thus] became a living creature,” Onkelos translates “living creature” as a “speaking spirit (or a speaking ruach/רוח ממללא).” The word, ruach, means a spirit or wind, and the ruach is the soul level that sits between the nefesh, which is in the physical body, and the higher levels. In this sense, it binds you to your spiritual source, and is the reason that Divine Inspiration is called Ruach HaKodesh (רוח הקודש) in Hebrew.
Neshama (נשמה): the neshama is related to thought, and provides you with knowledge, as well as the ability to understand the Torah. The neshama doesn’t exist within a person, but, in a sense, hovers around him.9
Chayah (חיה): Chayah, as well as the next level, yechidah, are higher soul levels that a person doesn’t experience. Chayah is considered the root of the soul, as well as the “soul of the soul (נשמתא לנשמתא).”
Yechidah (יחידה): Yechidah is the soul’s highest level, and it is associated with the mystical worlds that link the soul, so to speak, to the divine. On a deeper level, these two highest levels, chayah yechidah, are also called Knesset Yisrael (כנסת ישראל), which refers to the collective soul of the Jewish people.10
According to Genesis 1:26, God created man in “His image.” In one sense, God’s image refers to the power of speech, which is an aspect of the soul level, ruach. (Speech here does not mean the simple ability to communicate basic feelings, or to interact with others, which animals are also able to do; but the ability to communicate on a higher, abstract level, and to recognize, and establish a relationship, with God.) God used speech to create the world, or more specifically, to enable the interaction of every element of the creative process. That is parallel to human speech, which takes disparate, disconnected sounds, and arranges them in a meaningful, organized way.11
According to the Talmud,12 the soul’s relationship to the body is a way to understand the concept of providence, or how God runs the world:
Just like God fills the entire world, so too does the soul fill the entire body.
Just like God observes, but is not observed, so too does the soul observe, but is not observed.
Just like God nourishes the world, so too does the soul nourish the body.
Just like God is pure, so too is the soul pure.
Just like God abides in rooms within rooms [referring to God’s most elevated, or hidden aspects], so too does the soul abide in rooms within rooms.13
In other words, the soul is an intangible, difficult-to-describe reality that is easy to understand on an intuitive level, and which explains the mysterious nature of how inert physical matter becomes alive. On a deeper level, it also helps describe God’s role in maintaining and overseeing existence.
I saw a "soul" leave a person as he died. I will never forget the experience
Please, go see a Doctor
Wow!
Duma דומה is the angel who is the minister of Gehennam. His name comes from “דממה” “Silence”, because the dead without the life force is silent. He sends the wicked to Gehennam according to their level of correction.
He registers all the dead, making them ready for the Resurrection. GEHENNAM, SHEOL, AVADON?
On what day were souls created? and where were they created?
They were not created, they are part of God, and he shared part of Himself with humans
Cremation is against the Jewish religion, Jews should be buried in a burial plot
What about cremation?
I have the same question.
My niece died suddenly and tragically from an overdose that we believe she had no knowledge that there was fentanyl in the pill. Her soul came to me after she died although I didn't know it was her. When I found out the next morning it all made sense. She would come and go and I could feel her anger, frustration, and confusion up until her cremation. At the point of cremation I could feel her anger and fear. This experience was truly incredible and overwhelming for me.
I'm sorry for the tragic loss of your niece. In what way did her soul come to you (if you don't mind my asking)?
I believe people have a body and soul, when a person passes away the body and soul separates the physical body gets buried and the soul ascends to the Jewish version of heaven or the other direction, I read the 3 books by Dr Raymond Moody 1. LIfe after Life 2. Reflections of life after life 3. Beyond life after life about experiencing near death experiences I read it when I was 16 the way from the U.S. to Israel this article is very interesting to me
The "Spirit" that Returns to God in Ecclesiastes 12:7
Ecclesiastes 12:7: ?????
Whoa. This article is a real tour de force. It somehow takes so many deep, foundational Jewish ideas and lays them out in a straight forward and easy to digest manner. Way to go!
One question for you - is there any evidence for the soul, or at least a way to see it (or know about it) in the real world?