Religion:Ruach (Kabbalah)

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Short description: One of three elements of the human soul in Kabbalism
Building on Kabbalah's conception of the soul, Abraham Abulafia's meditations included the "inner illumination of" the human form[1]

Kabbalism posits that the human soul has three elements, the nephesh, ru'ach, and neshamah.

Parts of the soul

Further information: Soul § Judaism

The nephesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature.[citation needed] The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually.[2]

A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows:[3]

  • Nephesh (נפש): the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings. This part of the soul is provided at birth. (primary place: liver)
  • Ruach (רוח): the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil. (primary place: heart).
  • Neshamah (נשמה): the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other life-forms. It is related to the intellect and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. It allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God. (primary place: brain)
There are three "Neshamot" in them: Nefesh in NHY (Netzach, Hod, Yessod), Ruach in HGT (Hessed, Ghevurah, Tiferet), and Neshamah in HBD (Hokhmah, Binah, Da'at)[4]

According to Ramchal and Arizal, God is the "First Cause" for life of the souls: the spiritual force or quantity and quality of the souls are performed by divine grace and light.[5]Template:Incomplete reference

Mode and quality: good and peace

Maimonides affirms that God supports with the good the one who loves the Torah and the Mitzvot with faith for the Tzaddikim and therefore for God: BiTaJón (בטחון), i.e. "faith", "security" and "trust", shares the same root as BeTaJ (בטח), which means "tranquility", "confidence" and "certainty".[6] From this we deduce therefore that the good, the goodness and the love are different levels of same source: the peace.[7]Template:Incomplete reference

The Zohar admits that all souls are in any case spread throughout the body, so it is easy to deduce their main faculties are the good, the life and the other modalities of Sefirot:[failed verification]

But I chose your soul, not because of what it was, but because of what it could become. It possessed all that you need to fulfill your holy mission in this world
—Rabbi Israel Baal Shem TovTemplate:Incomplete reference

The Hebrew Bible tells of the pact of peace between God and the Jewish people, this is possible with the Messianic era already prophecy for Elijah: "goodness has arrived in the world, peace has arrived in the world, redemption has come to the world".[citation needed] As is already known in Jewish philosophy but not only, peace is both a "cosmic condition" and an inner and collective way, it is therefore the quality of the soul; considering therefore that the soul and the body are close in a bond of life, the principle of the perception of peace is acceptable. This theory allows us to believe and have faith also in the Gemilut Hasidim[8] and in the theological process of "reward in Olam Haba":[failed verification]

Consider that a person, and correspondingly the world, has three domains: guf (body, materiality), nephesh and shechel hanivdal (life of spiritual stage); Hashem ceded guf to Esav and shechel hanivdal to Yaakov... The answer is that both Brothers wanted both Worlds.[9]Template:Incomplete reference

Ruach haKodesh: the Holy Spirit

Ruach HaKodesh is one of levels of prophecy; the Way of Middot [10] can direct to Ruach HaKodesh with the Sefirot of Khokhmah, Binah and Da'at. Ruach HaKodesh is also the misure[11][clarification needed] of peace, meditation and speaking:[12]

This is the best Way: at first the abundance is scarce but later it increases, rises and bestows the Ruach HaKodesh upon the man. It bestows upon him a better abundance and as it increases it bestows upon him the Ruach of Prophecy[13]

Having established the bond of the soul-body foundation, Kabbalah goes further: the four[14] mineral, vegetable, animal and human realms exist.[15] Jewish theology teaches that when the body presents an imbalance between these, it has negative consequences as much as the soul. When the soul does not adhere to the supernal realms, for example through faith in God then through prayer and the study of the Torah, it is lacking in vigor thus causing deficiencies in the body as well.[16] In the same way this can be compared in concordance with the theory of four elements. Therefore there are many temperaments, including equally numerous even among balanced ones.

David will reverse that and lend support to Israel through his Ruach haKodesh, Divine inspiration.... “God supports all that fall (Nofelim)”[17]
—Rabbi Yaakov Ibn ChavivTemplate:Incomplete reference

A decrease in the strength of the soul[18] and its presence or not in the same individual at different times other than death, is absolutely not foreign to Jewish mysticism; in addition to the super-soul of the Shabbat, to the spiritual elevation with the other Jewish festival or with wedding and in the course of existence in this world, it is a concept also present in the scriptures: for example in Psalms 51:12 King David reports the request to God so that he can create in him "a pure heart by renewing a permanent Ruach". In addition to indicating the various vicissitudes or difficulties of spiritual existence - Jewish theology on the seven falls of Tzadik is well known - this reveals the importance of transforming itself better and better by increasing in wisdom and in the bond with God, the Torah and the rest of the Jewish people.[citation needed]

Kabbalah

Shekhinah could have been seen by all persons in Jewish people but Moses and Aaron had had this merit also for other Jewish brothers: a cause of revelation of Shiloh the Mashiach, all people will see the Glory of God.[citation needed]

Chassidut

But there is a Tzaddik who deals - even with desolate souls. A Tzaddik who has "clothes" to distribute, a Tzaddik who can cover naked souls. That will "lend us" inspiration, so that we can then take care of our souls[19]

The Tzaddik is precisely the Mashiach: he, thanks to the revelation of the divine presence, allows all the Jewish people to approach spiritual experience with greater ease; therefore the soul of the Jews "dresses" in Mitzvot and Torah, of which the Tzaddik is the undisputed guide. The Jew who wants to rise by strengthening his soul, if he feels the need, will be able to establish a bond with Tzaddik and therefore will be able to strengthen faith in God.

The soul perceives and understands extremely very exalted things, while the body remains ignorant about these[20]

The soul can therefore ennoble and elevate the body, even during existence in this world. Without reaching high levels of faith and devotion, the body would remain "ignorant" about the soul's faculties; what does this mean? Thanks to true faith, devout persons can reach the perception of their own soul, through the knowledge of good, mercy, goodness and peace precisely within themselves. These values of the soul can "auto-reveal" by growing and increasing in quantity and quality only in a life dedicated to Avodah for God.

In the Kabbalah of the Chassidut the soul is compared to oil: the oil in the water[21] is not confused with it, so is the spiritual nature with excellent essence cannot and must not be degraded, instead of maintaining its own Kedushah.[22]

Jewish philosophy

Rav Shimi said to Rabbi Shimon bar Pazzì: "This is what I meant to ask: David mentions the words, “Bless God, O my soul” in five verses. Now I wonder, what do these five verses correspond to? They correspond to the Holy One, God... blessed be He, and the soul. 1- Just as the Holy One, God... blessed be He, fills the whole world, so does the soul fill the body. 2- Just as the Holy One, God... blessed be He, sees, but cannot be seen, so does the soul see but cannot be seen. 3- Just as the Holy One, God... blessed be He, nourishes the whole world, so does the soul nourish the whole body. 4- Just as the Holy One, God... blessed be He, is pure, so the soul is pure. 5- Just as the Holy One, God... blessed be He, dwells in the innermost chambers, so does the soul dwell in the innermost chambers. Therefore, David says: "Let the human being come that has these five qualities within him and praise Him who has these five qualities"
—MishnahTemplate:Incomplete reference

As can be found in Solomon ibn Gabirol, finally God created the different creatures of the world in addition to the different species and the various elements present here, with "pre-ordered" specificities: this means that the most "internal" peculiar nature of everything is revealed also externally, as can therefore be verified through the senses; so also human beings have different characteristics besides the nature of their bodies, we would even say of the "substance of their bodies" was determined with reference to their essence precisely: that is the soul.[citation needed]

"Eternal soul"

Further information: Hyle

In Jewish Kabbalah there is the theory according to which God only existed before creation: God subsequently formed the light (Ohr), the potentiality for creation and finally forged the souls of living beings, moreover as well as giving existence to angelic creatures; according to this perspective, the eternal nature of the soul is an axiom that holds true as a "paradigm" of its celestial essence.

The "accidents" in the Guide of the perplexed

Maimonides admits that the link between soul and body entails what he calls "accidents": the life of the body in fact entails what is desirable and what is unnecessary; the same impurity of the decomposing body, as described both in the written Torah and in the Talmud, it seems to be due in fact to the previous link with the soul: every body of any deceased individual among human beings is impure... From this we deduce that life in its highest excellence and the physical-spiritual purity coincide perfectly. Obviously "accidents" are not related to impurity in all their cases, however an example among all attests to the truthfulness of what theorized by Maimónides according to sacred texts: "the manna did not produce feces", so transmitted indicates that it was of "celestial origin" and therefore not subject to "corruption".

It would not have sufficed to explain the need for man to die, i.e. return to the folds of the earth merely because that had been his origin. After all he had originated from earth before the sin and was not bound to return to it. Since man is made of dust, i.e. earth...[23]
—Rabbi Chayim ben-Attar

The textual reference is Bereshit Rabbah: the name "Adam", the first man created on Earth, also derives from the Hebrew word Adamà which means precisely "earth", so according to the tradition Adam and Eve [in their bodies] it was also forged from the earth.[citation needed]

The letters of the Torah

The Kabbalah on the Hebrew alphabet suggests that the letters of the Torah are like souls and bodies.[citation needed] For example, the Hebrew letter Yodh, the simplest in shape, resembles a soul and often the Hebrew letter Vav is compared to the body, in fact it stands tall. Since these are two letters of the Tetragrammaton, the other letters are also almost built on these two and can thus be included in the aforementioned teaching.[24]

Jewish mysticism and Chassidut

In the Tefillot of Rosh Hashanah[25] and Yom Kippur[26] the Book of Life[27] is often mentioned, as part of it. The Jewish tradition, already in the Deuteronomy, "I put before you life and death, blessing and curse...", instructs each Jew to maintain the precepts and vigilance necessary to avoid errors and evil. This "root" is promoted by consciousness in faith and holy, spiritual life as much as pragmactically.

One of the first roles that Baal Teshuvah perceives, as absolutely necessary and in itself, precisely for the jewish-identity, is that in the study of the Torah is an integral part of existence, which is that it is his own life: that in addition to source one of blessing in the study of the Torah is every moment, every encounter, every situation lived where faith in the consciousness of the Shekhinah makes it a continuous support.

The Maharal of Prague explained that the Tzadik can be with "living water": the water of a spring continues to flow as the spiritual life of a Tzadik is continuous; Maharal says Avraham executes the Teshuvah and is the term of passage between the 2000 years of Caos and 2000 years of Torah; also, called "source of living water" and so for the first time mainly by Avraham... Then followed the 2000 are years of redemption.

Life is obviously the Torah and the precepts of faith in God, pureness and truth are recognized in an inescapable way. The Jewish people this linked to spiritual life also through Jewish prayer indeed in Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: by the seal in the Book of Life:

David (King of Israel): did you really think he was pious? He did not say, "I would not have believed that you will once see God's good reward in the World of the Living"?[28]... David said to God, Holy and Blessed, "Master of the universe, I am sure you will pay with a good reward for the Tzadikim of [the world] but I do not know if I will have a role." The answer: "You really have a good pious man..." "...but I fear that a small sin will make him lost his reward." (R.Yaakov b.Idi) A verse: "I'm with you." "You protected wherever you go!"
—Talmud

Tzadikìm and Rashaìm

R.Shmuel ben Nahmani said from R.Yohanan: "These children of the Children of Seir: the Corites, the inhabitants of the World" (Genesis 36:20). Does this mean that all the other people their inhabitants of Heaven?! The people of the "Earth" means that the Corites were experts in science of agriculture and say: "This land is conducive to the planting of olives... and land of fig." And the Chivei? R.Pappa answered: "They will taste the earth..." (Genesis 3:14). R.Acha ben Yaakov said: "Chorì means they are free for their Land"
—Talmud

Midrash Rabba declares[29] that bad-persons 'cringe'[30] i.e. they cannot properly perceive the taste of food, without fully tasting, they do not "prove this"; in addition to the various characteristics that distinguish the Justs (the Tzadik and Tzadikim) and the wicked (the Rashaìm), are freedom and spiritual nature of soul.

Nachman of Breslov

However, David HaMeleh know what the exact moment of midnight was because of the harp hanging over his bed. As it is brought in the teachings of the Rebe Nachman, the harp took its power from the Torah, since David's harp had five strings, parallel to the Five Books of the Torah. And she awoke him from his sleep, so that he knew how to determine the exact time and point of Chatzot. Well, David is representative of Mashiach, who is constantly dedicated to the rectification of Jewish souls, "awakening them from sleep" through the aforementioned concept - through "the good points" he finds in each one. Mashiach also teaches each person how to do this for themselves, illuminating the person's heart so that they are always able to search and find "the good points within themselves". David-Mashiach constantly takes care of this to allow each person to "awaken from spiritual sleep and fall", so that he does not sink completely, has ve-shalom. And for the person who wants to find their good points, the most important thing is to determine when they are on the edge of falling, has ve-shalom. Precisely at that moment, Hashem will enlighten her with His Chesed
—Likutey Halakhot

The spiritual-sleeping is metaphor of not-perception of souls[31] i.e. Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah: with this Tikkun, the Jewish people can live his spiritual-nature at full-Kedushah of "spiritual-Ego".[32]

Mount Sinai, Pardes and Gan Eden... beauty of Nature

Rabbi Akiva, with the exegesis of Isaiah Horowitz, stated how the "two crowns of the written Torah and the oral Torah will be one crown", as said: Joy... that was always above their heads, whose reference is to the joy of Creation.[33]

Such Torah crowns were arranged for Jews to perceive the revealed truth of the Torah at Mount Sinai.[34]

The Gemilut Hasidim and the study of the Torah

As already said, the study of the Torah represents and constitutes for every Jew a method to rejoice, to be spiritually reinvigorated[35] and, in addition to satisfaction itself, it is in fact a form of Gemilut Hasidim in favor of God: God created the world with the Torah and with the study of the Torah[36] the Creation can continue to exist at its best. This is also the Tikkun: Then the world will follow a supernatural course. That is, only through divine providence - wonders and not the way of nature. In the future, the entire world will be renewed like the Land of Israel, as mentioned above, and then the entire world will function according to divine providence alone, like the Land of Israel.[37]

See also

References

  1. ↑ (Otzar Eden Ganuz, Oxford Ms. 1580, fols. 163b-164a; see also Hayei Haolam Haba, Oxford 1582, fol. 12a)
  2. ↑ The Prophecy of Moses (www.chabad.org - www.kabbalaonline.org)
  3. ↑ Vital Chayim, Isaac Luria (Sebastiano Gulli) Shaar Ruach Ha-Kodesh - Porta dello Spirito Santo (1,2,3) David Smith LLC Italia 2016
  4. ↑ Raphaël Afilalo. The Kabbalah of the Ari Z'al, according to the Ramhal (Rabbi Moshe Hayim Luzzatto) Kabbalah Editions
  5. ↑ The Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides
  6. ↑ de Breslov, Rebe Najmán; Kramer, Jaim. Ganarse La Vida, Ganar Una Vida: El Rebe Najmán sobre por qué trabajamos (Spanish Edition) (p.92). Breslov Research Institute
  7. ↑ The Tzadikim of Israel have Yetzer ha-tov with spirit of Peace (ref. Tanakh)
  8. ↑
    Haven’t we learned in a Mishnah: These are the precepts whose fruits a person enjoys in this world but whose principal remains intact for him in the World to Come. They are: the honor due to father and mother, acts of kindness (Gemilut Hasidim), bringing peace between man and his fellow—and the study of Torah is equivalent to all of them
    —Avraham Yaakov Finkel Ein Yaakov Jason Aronson (p. 119)
  9. ↑ Moshe David Kuhr. The lion cub of Prague Gefen Publishing House
  10. ↑ The first foundation of the Way of Middot consists in the physical-spiritual balance of pleasure: each desire has its root in the desire of faith for God, thereby referring to prayer itself and the study of the Torah; the Middots however offer the devotee the possibility of not being continually guilty and tense to original sin, when the desire then "confused" discernment and awareness. Taking on the Way of Middot therefore means freeing oneself from lust, indulgence, gluttony, immorality and every vice inherent in the temptation for sin; for example:
    Rabbi Yohannan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai: “A person is forbidden to fill his mouth with laughter in this world because he says: “Our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy» When? In the age [of redemption]... when they say among the nations: "God has done great things for them..." (Book of Psalms 126:2). Resh Lakish said that after hearing this saying from his teacher Rabbi Yohannan, he never reacted to uncontrolled laughter [that is, unaware of the reason]
    —MishnahTemplate:Incomplete reference

    In fact, a very important aspect must be considered with a radical change that took place with the rise of Hasidism: almost all ascetic practices of contrition were abrogated and were no longer in the habit of the Jews. In fact, already in the Talmudic period, these were carried out without any doubt or uncertainty: from baths in frozen water, the use of ice on the body, to voluntary fasting practices that lasted consecutive weeks, then with non-prescribed exemptions, beyond the laws on individual vows, well... the Talmud is a "gold standard" in this. Some rabbis practiced it until their death. Hasidism, as then in the entire Jewish religion, preferred to abide by its own law without too many stringent restrictions (again: the religious treatment of bleeding with the extraction of blood from the human body was almost normal) but rather invited joy, also as a tool to fully fulfill the entire Torah: joy is, therefore, a consequence and cause of Jewish religious law in Hasidism. Rabbi Meir was in the habit of saying: Put your heart and soul into learning My ways [i.e., study the Torah for its own sake], and watch at the doors of My Torah [i.e., study with single-minded determination], guard My Torah in your heart, and keep My fear before your eyes. Keep your mouth from all sin, cleanse and sanctify yourself from all sin and transgression, then I will be with you wherever you are (Avraham Yaakov Finkel. EIN YAAKOV THE ETHICAL AND INSPIRATIONAL TEACHINGS OF THE TALMUD compiled in the sixteenth century by RABBI YAAKOV IBN CHAVIV Jason Aronson Book 2004)

    The Middot also include the Seven Laws of Noah, the observance of which is considered appropriate also for other Nations: for example, the prohibition of robbery is into the category of respect for the dignity of the human being, in fact it specifically concerns the prohibition to kidnap other people; according to the Jewish religion, the kidnapping of a person is equivalent to an almost suppression of the same, as the end to the vitality of the soul were put, in fact the freedom of the individual mainly concerns his "ultra-mundane attitudes", that is to say ethical and therefore religious, civil and legal rights

  11. ↑ Pirkey Avot VI-6 (www.chabad.org - Lubavitch)
  12. ↑
    And a shoot shall spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a twig shall sprout from his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and heroism, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. And he shall be animated by the fear of the Lord, and neither with the sight of his eyes shall he judge, nor with the hearing of his ears shall he chastise. And he shall judge the poor justly, and he shall chastise with equity the humble of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall put the wicked to death. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his loins. And a wolf shall live with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie with a kid; and a calf and a lion cub and a fatling [shall lie] together, and a small child shall lead them. And a cow and a bear shall graze together, their children shall lie; and a lion, like cattle, shall eat straw. And an infant shall play over the hole of an old snake and over the eyeball of an adder, a weaned child shall stretch forth his hand. They shall neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mount, for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed. And it shall come to pass on that day, that the root of Jesse, which stands as a banner for peoples, to him shall the nations inquire, and his peace shall be [with] honor
    —Isaiah 11
  13. ↑ Rabbi Abraham Abulafia. Chaye Ha-Olam Ha-Ba. Life in the World to Come Providence University 2008 ISBN:1-897352-33-6
  14. ↑
    Believing in Divine Providence: the idea that God oversees everything that is happening in this world and that He provides for each of His creatures, each medaber ("speaker", i.e. man and woman), each chay ("animal"), each tzomeach ("vegetable") and each domem ("mineral") receives sustenance or nutrition at the exact moment in which it is required through a Divine decree
    (de Breslov, Rebe Najmán; Kramer, Jaim. Ganarse La Vida, Ganar Una Vida: El Rebe Najmán sobre por qué trabajamos (Spanish Edition) (p.138). Breslov Research Institute)
  15. ↑ Tu b'Shvat and Human-evolutions in spiritual realms (www.kabbalaonline.com - Lubavitch)
  16. ↑ Tikunei haZohar, Petikhàt Eliyàhu Hanavì
  17. ↑ Psalms 145:14
  18. ↑ In some cases the Ruach haKodesh rests several times, obviously when the disappear Ruach haKodesh is not forever with the ispired person: the wisdom rests (Chokhmah); in other cases the Ruach haKodesh never abandons the predestined persons and it is then a situation in which prophecy can be continuously reveled, in addition to the "hidden truths" of the Torah in ordinary exegesis of Sod Keys to True Prophecy (www.kabbalaonline.org - Lubavitch)
  19. ↑ Tzadik #48, #228
  20. ↑ Likutey Moharan I, 22:5
  21. ↑ "Water" is the metaphor of Chessed (Sefirah of Mercy) but oil is the symbol of light and soul: we see this important element on Jewish Holiday of Chanukkah
  22. ↑ Kabbalah, Chassidism and Jewish Mysticism - Chassidic Texts: "Flames" (www.chabad.org)
  23. ↑ Eliyahu Munk. Or HaChayim - Commentary on the Torah by Rabbi Chayim ben Attar Ktav Publishing House, Brooklyn, NY 2017 ISBN:978-965-7108-123
  24. ↑ (in Italian) Giulio Busi ed Elena Loewenthal. Mistica ebraica - Testi della tradizione segreta del giudaismo dal III al XVIII secolo Giulio Einaudi editore, Torino 1995 ISBN:88-06-13712-3
  25. ↑ Orazioni per il Capo d'Anno e per il giorno dell'Espiazione - Ad uso degli Israeliti Spagnuoli Rimmonìm, Firenze/Italia 1998
  26. ↑ Makhzòr di Kippùr - Sìyakh Yitzkhàk Mamash, Milano/Italia 2007 ISBN:88-86674-35-X
  27. ↑ Book of Life - Kedushah
  28. ↑ Book of Psalms 27:13
  29. ↑ Pessach
  30. ↑ Haggadàh di Pesach illustrata da Emanuele Luzzati La Giuntina, Firenze/Italia 2013 ISBN:978-88-85943-09-4
  31. ↑ Bittul: when a person feels the souls with peace, good and Hesed, this is the "extra-perception" of Ruach HaKodesh
    The peak of Hitbodedut is when, due to your great desire to unite with God, you feel that your soul is united to your body by just "a single strand" (Donde La Tierra y El Cielo se Besan - una guía para la senda de meditación del Rebe Najmán)
    —Nachman of Breslov, Likutey Moharan II, 99
  32. ↑ de Breslov, Rabí Natán; Mykoff, Moshé. Likutey Halajot: Una Traducción al Español Explicada, Con Notas y Fuentes (Likutey Halajot) Breslov Research Institute, Jerusalem/New York
  33. ↑ Isaiah Horowitz The Generations of Adam Paulist Press, New York/Mahwah 1996 ISBN:0-8091-3590-6 (p.359-360)
  34. ↑ The World is Art (www.israelnationalnews.com - "Arutz Sheva 7")
  35. ↑ Devekut
  36. ↑ Inspired and Eternal (www.chabad.org - Lubavitch)
  37. ↑ Zvi Mark. The Scroll of Secrets. The hidden messianic vision of R. Nachman of Breslav Academic Studies Press, Brighton/USA 2010 ISBN:978-1-934843-94-9 (p.169-170)




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