Shalom everyone,
Becoming aware of the anatomy of your soul is analogous to suddenly becoming aware of the complex biome of tiny creatures, bacteria and fungi that live on the outside of your body, as well as the bacteria and fungi that live inside your body. All these organisms need to be on you and inside you, in order for you to be a healthy, thriving human being; you become aware that you need to eat right and live right in order for your own personal biome to flourish.
So it is also when you become aware of the complex anatomy of your soul. You come to realise that you have to live right, and feed your soul correctly, so that your soul can flourish. Each part of your soul has to be kept in the correct ratio of influence, in order for you to become the person that God created you to be.
This awareness is not a matter of saying the right prayers or saying the right formula of words – that’s pagan Kabbalist thinking (that saying the right enchantment will effect change in you). Instead, spiritual change in the Israelite way is to do with the right way of thinking, the right approach to life, the right way of keeping your mind and soul healthy. It’s a whole way of awareness and being, rather than a set formula for saying prayers.
What I am about to tell you is an analysis of the ‘anatomy’ of the human soul, according to the ancient theology of the Israelite faith in the Land of Israel, as contained in the Hebrew Bible.
Where Kabbalah came from, and why we don’t follow it
Please be aware that Kabbalist philosophy, which originated in Spain with Moses de León only in the 13th century CE, divides up the soul differently, and uses different terminology to that of the Hebrew Bible. It’s important to realise that Kabbalah originated with de León, and not in ancient Israel – for example, the Sefirot tree was not a thing, until de León invented it in the 13th century. Kabbalah is basically pagan in origin – it relies heavily on a pagan understanding of mysticism (mostly southern European), and that is why we don’t accept it.
The terms which Kabbalah does have in common with the Bible are defined differently in Kabbalism, so if you are familiar with the Kabbalist terms and their meaning, you’ll have to suspend all of that while you read this, otherwise you’ll become confused.
The Various Parts of the Soul:
After I define each part of the soul, I will go into detail, with biblical references:
nėshamāh (‘breath’): the overall word for Soul; the part of our soul that gives us sentience and our conscience, and our spiritual personality; it is the conglomerate of all the other parts of the soul
néfesh (‘life-force’): the ‘blood’ of the soul, the part of the soul which can ’get sick’ and be affected by sin;
kavodh nėshamāh (the glory of the soul): the pure, clean, heavenly self, which is often dormant, and cannot be injured by sin or become impure (this is the most sacred part of the soul, in which one can create an inner ’Temple’ for God to allow a part of God’s Self to dwell, if we live a holy life);
rúach (‘spirit’): the breath of the soul, the active and visible effect of one’s spirituality in mortal life;
cháyat néfesh (literally, ‘animal of the life-force’): the inborn, earthly nature, which contains the good and evil inclination, and which is divested at death.
These terms might give us the impression that these parts are distinct, separatable parts, but they are not. The soul is not something that can be divided up neatly and cleanly; the Bible often uses terms synonymously. This reflects how the various parts of the soul diffuse into each other, and in reality, are not as cleanly divided as they are in Kabbalist thought.
The Parts of the Human Soul in detail
Nėshamāh: This is the overall term for the soul as a complete unit. It is eternal, and exists before birth and after death in heaven. The souls of pre-existent heavenly humans are called ‘holy ones’ in the Hebrew Bible (eg Dt 33:2, Job 5:1, Ps 89:5-7, Zech 14:5).
The neshamah encompasses all the other parts that I describe below. It literally means ‘breath’. The soul is instilled into our mortal, human vessel at birth, when we first take our breath outside our mother’s womb (Gen 2:7b, Job 33:4b), and it leaves us at death, when we take our last breath (Job 27:3, cf Dt 20:16, Josh 10:40), to return to God in heaven. It gives us our sentience (Job 32:8b) and conscience (Prov 20:27). It is the neshamah that God’s laws and principles are written on – it is how we inherently know the difference between right and wrong, because God has written this way of righteousness on the human soul. Only humans have a complete neshamah, whereas lower life-forms have other parts (and is why other earthly life-forms are not sentient).
Néfesh: This is the ‘blood’ of the soul; just as blood is the life of the body, so néfesh is the life of the soul (Gen 9:4, Lev 17:11-14, Dt 12:23). It literally means, ‘life-force’. All living things have a néfesh – humans, animals (Gen 1:20-21, cf Num 16:22), even plants (implied in Dt 20:19b, Prov 11:30). It is what enables a living thing to be a living thing. This is the part of the soul that becomes sick, injured and damaged when we sin; it is what needs to be purified and cleansed in expiation (for example, on Yom ha-Kippurim). When we sin, the néfesh is what becomes sullied, and even damaged, with ‘sin-guilt’ (Hebrew: ashmah).
Rúach: This is the tangible part of the soul – that is, the part of the soul that goes out from us as part of our visible personality and skills, and has a discernible effect on our relationships with others, and on what we do in the world. It literally means, ‘spirit’, or ‘that which is breathed out’.
This is the part of the soul which has an effect on other people, and on the material, physical world. It is what interacts and intermingles with others, and provides other people with visible signs of what the inner content of your soul is like (Gen 26:35, 41:8, Ex 6:9, Num 5:14, Dt 2:30, Jdgs 8:3, Ps 32:2).
It is what is augmented by God in those who are given unique mental and physical skills (Ex 28:3), and what God strengthens to enable us to do extraordinary things beyond what we are naturally capable of (Ex 31:3, 35:31, Num 11:17). This is what God breathes God’s spirit of prophecy into (Num 11:25, 2Kgs 2:15), so that a prophet is compelled to speak God’s words, and so be a mouthpiece for God.
During expiation, the fire of God’s Glory burns away all the bad things that have crept into our rúach, and thus our rúach is purified, cleaned, swept and dusted. Together with the néfesh, it is made healthy again, and made like new through the process of expiation.
Cháyat Néfesh: This is the inborn instinct and earthly nature of the soul; it is the earthly part of our life-force that we receive at conception (Ps 51:9). Humans and other animals also have this. It is what gives you your animal instincts, your base passions and desires, your sexuality, and your programmed earthly wants and needs. It literally means, ‘animal of the life-force’. This is the part of the soul that contains the good inclination and the evil inclination – the ability to do both good and evil. By connecting with the higher, conscious nature of our soul, we are able to overcome this, so that the good inclination rules over the evil inclination. It is the only part of the soul that is stripped away after death when you return to heaven, since it is no longer needed (as Yeshua said, we become ‘like the angels in heaven‘, Mt 22:30). Freudian psychology would understand this as the Id (see Job 33.20, cf Ps 27.12, 41.3).
Kavodh Nėshamah: This is the innate ‘heavenly self’, the purest, highest and most perfect part of who you are (Pss 7:6, 16:9, 30:13, 57:9, 108:2 – these are the Jewish verse numbers; the Christian verse numbers are one less). It literally means, ‘Glory of the Soul’. It is the part of you which maintains a permanent link to God, to heaven, and to who and what you were before birth, while you were in heaven. While you are on earth, it is mostly dormant (Ps 57:9), and most people have only limited access to it. It contains knowledge of the very highest, most perfect heavenly ideals that God has placed within you. It is the part of you which cannot be injured or blemished by sin. While you are on earth, the goal of a truly spiritual person is to reconnect to the heavenly self – to awaken it, and allow it to become the conscious guide to your spiritual life.
This is what has the potential to be the ‘most sacred space‘ of the human soul, where a portion of God’s spirit is able to dwell in those who live a good life. When sanctified by God’s ways, your kavodh nėshamah becomes a dwelling place – a Sanctuary – for a portion of the spirit and Presence of God. Kabbalism refers to it as yechidah.
Our daily goals in maintaining the health of the various parts of the soul
The daily goal of the spiritual person, is to live a good, responsible and decent life, so that:
– the health of the néfesh is maintained
– the ‘glory of the soul‘ is awakened, so that a person can more easily live a life pleasing to God, and so that a portion of the spirit and holiness of God can dwell within you
– one’s rúach becomes sanctified to God, and is filled with good things
– the baser instincts of the cháyat néfesh are kept in check, so that one’s higher inner ‘glory’ (kavodh) is awakened and becomes dominant
Getting the balance of your soul right
Knowing what parts of your soul do what, is like organising a Philharmonic Orchestra. When you don’t know what you’re doing, you might think you can just chuck a few people together who can play classical instruments, and hope that it all works out. But when you know how an orchestra really works, and how the different parts of the orchestra complement each other and work together, you come to understand how there is a balance of the different sections of the orchestra – the wind section, the string section, the brass, the percussion, and so on. Each section has their own value and strengths to add to the overall performance of the masterpiece.
And so it is with the different parts of the masterpiece that is called the Soul, but it is God who has written the music. For each piece of music, you have a balance of each section – too many stringed instruments for a certain piece, or too many flutes and oboes, or not enough trumpets or trombones, and the musical piece will not work.
Israelite mysticism enables you to understand and achieve the proper place and balance of everything, so that you get one harmonious, beautiful, crafted masterpiece of spiritual music, that sounds exactly how its composer – the Creator – intended it to sound.
What to do with the parts of your soul
If you keep your rúach in good order, and fill it with good things, and you keep your néfesh in good health, then an ordinary person can have a healthy spiritual life. If your rúach is healthy, then your néfesh and your neshamah overall will also be healthy.
Your kavodh neshamah is the Sanctuary of the Presence of God within you, where you go to in prayer to draw near to the Holiness of God, no matter where you are. Those who are better able to access their kavodh neshamah and make themselves more like their heavenly selves, are generally viewed by others as holy and saintly people. The kavodh neshamah is the part of the soul where a portion of God’s spirit is able to dwell, thus enabling us to reach our full potential as spiritual beings.
As for the rúach, we can either fill it with things that will damage our néfesh, or with good things which will give good health to our néfesh, and enable our heavenly self to awaken and come forth.
If your chayat nefesh is dominant – the part that contains and controls your base, earthly passions – then, for example, you will be the kind of person who seeks to control others, or gets annoyed when people do something that doesn’t actually affect you, or has nothing to do with you. It is the animal side of you that has to be controlled, otherwise you become someone who acts and speaks with their basest passions, instead of letting the spirit within them dominate and thrive.
As I mentioned before, how you achieve all this is with a change of mindset. Yes, it is enhanced by prayer and meditation, but there are no fixed prayers or formulae of words that cause you to achieve this; it is an effort of personal will that helps you to attain the right ratio and balance of the parts of your soul.
To summarise:
cháyat néfesh (‘animal of the life-force’): the inborn, earthly nature, which contains the good and evil inclination – do not let this become dominant in you; control your base instincts.
néfesh (‘life-force’): the ‘blood’ of the soul, which can get sick and be sullied by sin; this is the part that is restored to full health through the process of expiation by the fire of God’s Glory, and thus your soul overall is restored to wholeness.
rúach (‘spirit’): the breath of the soul, the active and visible effect of one’s spirituality in life. You can fill it either with good or bad things, and depending on what you fill it with, will affect your overall spiritual health. It is cleaned out during expiation.
kavodh nėshamāh (the ‘glory of the soul’): the pure heavenly self, which is often dormant, and cannot be injured by sin; we can access this with a good and holy life; in saintly people, this part of the soul becomes dominant. This is the part of you that becomes a Sanctuary for God’s Presence, the holy part of you that you can retreat to in order to find a state of calm and tranquillity.
nėshamāh (‘breath’): the overall, unifying word for soul; what gives us sentience and our conscience, and our spiritual personality; the laws of the highest religion – Tsédeq, the religion of heaven, are written on our nėshamāh.
I hope this article will help you to attain a good balance of the different parts of your soul, and that it will help you to reach a state of spiritual peace.
your brother and servant of God
Shmuliq