Getting to Know Your 70 Forces - 061 Above The 70 Forces of the Soul

Beyond the Seventy Forces of the Soul

We have so far explained the seventy forces of the soul (as listed by the Vilna Gaon) that exist in all life forms, so these forces exist even in animals. They also are manifest in the nefesh habehamis of a person – the animalistic layer of the human soul.

There are two more abilities in the soul that are above these 70 base forces. We find similarly that the Sanhedrin was comprised of 71 elders; this is because must be one who is above the 70 who will preside over them. There was also an “av beis din” (the head of the Sanhedrin), who has a more powerful status than all of them, adding up for a total of 72. There are also 70 nations of the world, and there are two “heads” above them – the nations of Esav, and Yishmael.

We find this concept in our soul as well: there are two points that are above the 70 base forces, and these two points preside over the 70 forces. Above the point of 70 forces of the nefesh habehaimis, there are two more forces: the power of imagination (medameh), and above that, the power of dibbur (speech).

Three Kinds of Speech

Speech itself divides into two different categories (which ends up being three, as we will see). The Vilna Gaon writes that we have “seichel ha-iyuni” (intellect), “seichel ha-dibri” (speech that emanates from our intellect), and “seichel ha-maasi” (actions which emanate from our intellect). These three abilities are above all of the 70 forces in the nefesh habehamis.

The Jew’s Soul Can Connect Together The Soul’s Abilities

Animals can also have “seichel ha-maasi”, since they can also do actions. However, the seichel hamaasi of animals is much different than with humans, because an animal’s ability to act is not connected to its ability to think. Only humans have the ability to interconnect their various abilities together and be able to perform an action with thought.

An animal – as well as our animalistic layer of our soul, which is present in both non-Jews and Jews – has various abilities, but there is nothing connecting any of these abilities together. Only a Jew’s soul has the ability to connect all of these abilities together and unify them. Thus, only the Jew’s soul has the ability to integrate together the 70 forces of the soul, which are initially scattered.

Until now, with the help of Hashem, we have learned about all of the seventy forces of the soul – each of them separately. That was one part of our inner work here of knowing our soul: we studied each of the various abilities of the soul. Now that we have seen the structure of the soul’s abilities, our avodah is to learn how to connect them all together and integrate them. There is an ability we have which can “lead” all of the 70 forces in our nefesh habehaimis and direct them each to their proper uses.

That ability which can direct all of our soul’s 70 forces is essentially our power of speech. As we mentioned, speech is comprised of these three abilities: speech that leads to action, speech itself, and speech which stems from thought.

Seichel HaMaasi

Let us first explain what “seichel hamaasi” (thoughts which lead to action) is, and how it can unify the 70 forces of the soul.

“Seichel hamaasi” means that we have an ability to think in a way that will lead us to act upon what we know about the seventy forces of the soul. (We find that thoughts which lead to action can unify the soul; however, this is a lower kind of unification, as we will see.)

We find this concept similarly by the seventy descendants of Yaakov Avinu who went down to Egypt; the “seventy” went down to do “work” (avodah) in Egypt, which shows us that the number “seventy” is connected with “avodah”. (True, the “avodah” of Egypt was not really “avodah” but “avodas perach” (cruel labor), but we still see the general concept). This shows us that “avodah” unifies 70 forces. The avodah we had in Egypt essentially unified the 70 root members of Klal Yisrael.

Such unity, though, was on the level of the nefesh habehaimis. When you need action and work in order to unify 70 forces, it resembles an animal, which also works and performs; an animal has seichel hamaasi. For this reason, our avodah in Egypt was not the kind of avodah that really unified us; that is precisely why it was an exile. Although we had much labor and action, it only unified us on the ‘animalistic’ level.

The reason for this is because when a person thinks only in order to do action, he’s lowering his power of thought to the level of action. Thoughts are a higher power than actions, because even animals can do actions. When a person thinks only so he can do something (and he doesn’t recognize that there is an ability to think just for the sake of thinking), he lowers his thoughts to the level of action, and that is why seichel hamaasi cannot accomplish true unity in the soul.

Of course, as we said, seichel hamaasi in a human is still on a higher level than in an animal, but the general idea is still the same: thinking only in order to act resembles animal behavior, which can only act but it cannot really think.

Seichel Ha-Dibri

What is the next use of speech, “seichel ha-dibri”?

The Torah was given in 70 languages. This shows us that our speech can be uplifted to the level of Torah. If speech remains at its natural, base level, it represents the seventy languages of the secular nations, which is a speech empty from Torah.

The power of “seichel ha-dibri” is accessed when a person doesn’t just think so that he can act, but so that he can say something with thought beforehand.

We find sometimes that there are certain languages from the world that made their way into the words of the Torah. For example, “totafos” is Aramaic for “Tefillin.” How did this Aramaic word make it into the Torah? It is to show us that the Torah can elevate the mundane languages of the world. This reflects what we are discussing, that we have an ability to elevate our speech – by thinking beforehand. In other words: the Torah should be guiding how we speak. When the Torah is guiding how we speak, that is “seichel ha-dibri”.

Seichel Ha-Iyuni

A higher use of speech than this is “seichel ha-iyuni” – to use the depth of our intellect before we speak.  

The Torah can be explained in seventy different ways, which shows us that our mind can think into something in many different ways. By thinking into all the different explanations of the Torah (and there are seventy interpretations), we use our intellect to unify all seventy explanations together.

These three abilities – seichel ha-maasi, seichel hadibri, and seichel ha-iyuni - are the three root abilities that can lead the 70 forces in the animalistic layer of the soul.

Conclusion

Creation is not meant to remain with 70 scattered forces that remain apart. They are meant to be unified together. 70 is equal to the letter ayin in Hebrew, while 1 is equal to the letter Aleph in Hebrew. The letter ayin – or the number 70 – represents disparity. The letter Aleph, which is “one”, represents our power to unify everything together into one unit.

Thus, the 70 forces in our soul are not stronger than our innermost will (ratzon). Our inner ratzon\will of the soul can come and unify all the 70 forces of our soul together and lead them in the proper direction. Our inner ratzon is like the “av beis din” which presides over the 70 members of the Sanhedrin.

It is written, “All of them You made with wisdom.” The power of wisdom (chochmah) can come and unify everything. That chochmah is accessed through our ratzon to unify our soul. The stronger our ratzon to unify our soul, the more we will succeed in unifying it.

The Mesillas Yesharim states that life is like a confusing garden-maze (gan hamevukeh). Often, people that try to understand their soul are lost in the maze. In today’s times, many people who are trying to understand their soul are lost in all its seventy forces. They know about this part of their soul and that part of their soul, but they don’t know how to give unity to all of this knowledge and put it all together.

The way to unify all of this information together about the soul is to have a constant will to know about your soul. It is an avodah of “rotzoh v’shov” – to keep “running and returning”, back and forth, of knowing our soul’s abilities and of unifying them together.

To summarize, we need to learn about the 70 forces of the soul (which we have discussed), and then we need to learn how to unify them through our abilities of seichel that we mentioned. Then, we need the “aleph” above them all to come and lead them – the power to unify.

When we access that ability, the study of these 70 abilities of our soul can then be considered “words of Torah” – otherwise, all of this is just some study that is devoid of Torah. We need that “aleph”, the “one” which comes and unifies all our seventy forces. That is to realize that all our seventy forces of the soul are just outcomes of a much greater purpose. That purpose is represented by the “aleph” that can shine its light onto our soul’s 70 forces and unify them together into one.

The “aleph” we are referring to is essentially the “Alufo shel olam” – the “Chief of the world”, Hashem. We must have a constant ratzon throughout to get to Him as we learn about our soul, and that will help us come to unify our soul together.

Through this, we can merit to become the adam hashalem (a perfected human being) that we are meant to become, by rising above our state of doimem (non-living) to medaber (social creature), and then to our seichel (intellect) – and finally, to the light of the Shechinah that resides in us, the “Aleph” of the world – Hashem.