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The soul is the animating life or consciousness within man (or any other creature, see Sefer HaTanya<\/em>, ch. 1<\/span>). The Jew possesses an additional Divine soul<\/em> which is focused on G-d’s concerns in creation.<\/span><\/p>\n \nBased on an ancient Midrashic source (Bereishit Rabbah 14:9) Kabbalah and Hassidism speak of five levels or gradations of the soul:<\/span> <\/p>\n The nefesh\u00a0 \u05e0\u05b6\u05e4\u05b6\u05e9\u05c1 originates in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.\u00a0 Animals possess a nefesh – see Bereishit (Genesis)1.30.\u00a0 In humans the nefesh serves as the foundation for the higher dimensions of soul, it anchors the higher souls.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nefesh and Neshamah are linked to our evil and good inclinations.<\/span><\/p>\n The Neshamah expresses itself in our character and is the connector between ourselves and G-d.\u00a0 It’s source is Divine but the Neshamah lays dormant, existing only as potential until we begin our spiritual journey.\u00a0 As we endeavor to seek G-d, to walk in His Ways the Neshamah develops.<\/span><\/p>\n And the L-rd G-d Formed man of the dust of the ground, and Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life<\/em> (Neshamah Chayim ); and man became a living soul<\/em> (nefesh – Onkelos translates this as speaking spirit<\/em>).\u00a0 Bereishit (Genesis)2.7<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ruach is the middle level of our soul.\u00a0 It is often translated as spirit.\u00a0 Ruach HaKodesh (spirit of holiness) is often used in reference the the Spirit of G-d.\u00a0 The ruach is that portion of our soul that can distinguish between good and evil.\u00a0 Like the Neshamah the Ruach is developed over time.\u00a0 This depends on how we use our time to study Torah and perform the mitzvot (Commandments).\u00a0 Included in this would be the refining of our character through the practice of mussar.<\/span><\/p>\n Chayah<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Yechidah<\/i>\u00a0are the aspects of the soul that remain beyond the body, while\u00a0Nefesh,<\/i>\u00a0Ruach<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Neshamah<\/i> are manifest within it.\u00a0 Chayah and Yechidah are hidden aspects of our soul.<\/span><\/p>\n Chayah is associated with Chochmah (Wisdom).\u00a0 Chayah is what gives one consciousness of the Divine Life Force.\u00a0 Chayah relates to the bridge between the first flash of conscious insight and its super-conscious origin. Experiencing an awareness of G-d as continually Creating the world.\u00a0 Chayah souls can communicate with one another.\u00a0 It is that time when a parent KNOWs<\/em> what has happened to their child or when one twin experiences something the other twin is experiencing.\u00a0 \u00a0They just know.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yechidah is the highest level of the soul.\u00a0 Yechidah is the level of the soul that is closest to the Source of Creation.\u00a0 It is connected to the body by an ethereal chord, as it were, a lifeline.\u00a0 This is where miracles would come from.\u00a0 Yechidah bypasses the conscious mind and all other levels of the soul.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Man’s forms of behavior are the garments of his \/ her soul.\u00a0 It is through these garments, thought, speech and deed that his \/ her soul is exposed, expressed.\u00a0 Through performance of the mitzvot (Commandments) the soul is raised beyond its natural status.\u00a0 As we work to transform and raise our soul levels we come closer to what all souls desire.\u00a0 Tzelem\/Demut, Image\/Likeness.\u00a0 We yearn to become like our Source, the Creator of the Universe.\u00a0 Our heart’s desire is to be like Him and be one with Him.\u00a0 This awareness of the different aspects of our soul should be the awakening we need to either start of advance our journey toward Tzelem\/Demut.<\/span><\/p>\n Blessing and Peace<\/span><\/p>\n Rebbetzin Revi Belk<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five Levels of the Soul The soul is the animating life or consciousness within man (or any other creature, see Sefer HaTanya, ch. 1). The Jew possesses an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":1155,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-665","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-kabbalah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":883,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/665\/revisions\/883"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1) Nefesh<\/em> (creature<\/em> — the lower soul) relates to behavior and action.\u00a0 Nefesh<\/em> is the particular name of the lowest in the five levels of soul described in Kabbalah, associated with physical vitality.<\/span>
\n2) Ruach<\/em> (spirit<\/em>) relates to the emotions.\u00a0 Ruach<\/em> is the second of the five levels of soul, associated with the vitality of one’s emotional life.<\/span>
\n3) Neshamah<\/em> (inner soul<\/em>) relates to the mind and intelligence.\u00a0 The Neshama<\/em> is the breath of life? that G-d Breathed into the first man; the third of the five levels of soul, associated with the vitality of intelligence.<\/span>
\n4) Chayah<\/em> (living one<\/em>) relates to the bridge between the first flash of conscious insight and its super-conscious origin. Experiencing awareness of G-d as continually Creating the world.<\/span>
\n5) Yechidah<\/em> (single one<\/em>) relates to the ultimate unity of the soul in G-d, as manifest by pure faith, absolute devotion and the continuous readiness to sacrifice one’s life for G-d.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jewishpath.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/qualabear2.jpg\")
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