Reaching Your Essence - 001 The Deeper Essence of the Jew’s Soul

Man – An Embodiment of Heaven and Earth

At the beginning of Creation, Hashem took the heavens and earth, which He first created separately, and unified them together. Man as well is made up of both heaven and earth. The body, which is a material existence, comes from the earth. The soul is the spiritual part of our existence, and it is hewn from underneath the Throne of Glory in Heaven.

Thus, in order to understand ourselves properly, we need to learn about both our body and our soul [and how they integrate]. If we learn about worldly matters but we don’t learn about spirituality, our body will be fed, but our soul will not be. And if a person only learns about the soul and he doesn’t learn about the body, his soul will be satisfied, but his body will be neglected.

So although we will be speaking here about heavenly, spiritual matters that speak to our soul, we have a simultaneous task of learning how we can feed the body – which includes the learning and the keeping of halachah (religious Jewish law). Without this, the purpose of these classes will be lost.

The Atonement of Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the day of atonement. As is known, the reason why we require atonement is because sins create a divide and a separation [between man and Creator], as the prophet states, “Their sins separated between them, and between them and their G-d.”[1] The Sfas Emes says that there are two aspects contained in this verse: Sins separate “between them” – it causes a divide amongst each other – and sins also separate between man and G-d. In other words, there are sins between man and his friend, and there are sins between man and G-d. The Mishnah teaches that Yom Kippur atones for sins between man and G-d, but not for sins between man and his friend [which, in order to be forgiven, he must seek forgiveness from the one he has wronged].[2]

Thus, there are two kinds of separation that exist – separation from the Creator, and separation from others. This is also true in the opposite sense – there can be unity (achdus) between man and G-d, and unity between man and his friend. On Yom Kippur, we are able to achieve both kinds of unity – our sins are forgiven by G-d [if we repent], and we can become unified again with G-d. People also forgive each other for the wrongs committed against each other, and there is once again unity among people.

However, we must know that the achdus (unity) between man and the Creator, and the achdus\unity between man and his friend, are not the same thing. The deeper implication of either of these kinds of unity is vastly different from each other.

Unity As It Affects The Jew and The Gentile

Let us explain. On Rosh Hashanah, the entire world, including the gentile nations, passes before G-d in judgment.[3] But Yom Kippur is unique to the Jewish people, in that it is a day of atonement only for the Jewish people: “For on this day, you shall be atoned.” So there is a fundamental difference between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh HaShanah is for the entire world, but Yom Kippur is only for the Jewish nation.

There is also a deeper understanding of this. It is because there is a degree of unity which can be revealed even amongst the gentiles, and there is a higher level of unity, which can only be revealed amongst the Jewish people. Interpersonal unity can be revealed amongst gentiles, but unifying with the Creator – the absolute level of unity – can only be revealed amongst the Jewish people alone.

Unity Is Only Possible In The Spiritual

Let us explore this deeper and see what kind of unity can be revealed amongst gentiles, and what kind of unity can be revealed amongst Jews.

The material, physical world is called a “world of separation” (alma d’piruda). In the physical realm, there is no such thing as intrinsic level of connection with something. Although this world consists entirely of the four elements, which can combine together and unify, it is well-known that any of the four elements eventually ceases.

What happens when any of the elements disappear from physical existence? The Rambam, in Moreh Nevuchim, writes that fire goes back to its root, which is spiritual, Heavenly fire, and wind as well returns to its root – spiritual, Heavenly wind. Water returns to being a spiritual, Heavenly form of water, and the same goes for earth. Thus, even when the elements unify with each other, it is only a temporary connection. It does not last, so the connection is not intrinsic.

Therefore, the physical elements cannot become unified in the inner sense. Inner unity is only possible in the spiritual dimension, and in the dimension above that (as it is known, there is a higher dimension that is above even the spiritual, and enough has been said about this, which we will not go into here). Only in the spiritual realm, the world of souls and spirits, can real unity of forces exist.

To give an example of the concept, if we would only be made up of a physical body with no soul, we wouldn’t be able to connect outward to others and to love others. The commandment of the Torah “to love your friend like yourself” (“kamoicha”) is a concept that can only be possible through our soul, through which we can unify with another.

The Difference Between The Spirituality of Jew and Gentile

We have so far seen that unity only exists in the spiritual dimension. Now let us think: Does spirituality only exist within the Jewish people, or does it also exist by the gentiles?

Clearly, a gentile can also have spirituality. A clear example of this is the Egyptian sorcerers. They were able to change nature. The commentators explain that the sorcery of the Egyptians was based on their knowledge of spirituality.

Even more so, we find that there was prophecy, the greatest spiritual level possible, in a gentile. Moshe was the greatest prophet who ever lived, and the Sages state that this is only true about the prophets of the Jewish people; but amongst the gentiles, there was one prophet who equaled Moshe in prophecy – the wicked Bilaam. In our sefarim that explain the inner dimension of Torah, it is brought that Moshe and Bilaam were on parallel planes, but they are backward dimensions of each other. Moshe is the ‘front’, while Bilaam is the ‘back’. Bilaam was not a false prophet, and he was not imagining his visions. He received prophecy from the Creator. His power to curse the Jewish people was clearly a spiritual power.

We also know that Esav and Yaakov fought over who would get the World To Come; thus, even Esav has some connection to spirituality. Esav wanted the World To Come, so he has some connection to spirituality, which he fought Yaakov for. In the end, he did not win the fight; Yaakov received the World To Come, while Esav received This World. But he still fought for the World To Come, which shows that he wanted it.

Thus, it’s clear and simple that just as the Jewish people can have spirituality, so can gentiles have spirituality. Just as the spiritual world exists in the side of holiness, so is there a spiritual world that exists in the side of impurity; Hashem created an equal counterbalance between the forces of holiness and impurity.

Therefore, there is also a spiritual task (avodah) which the gentiles are assigned with. Spiritual work is not unique to the Jewish people, and it is not a novel concept produced by recent generations. Rather, since the time the Jewish people have become a nation, there is an inner spiritual task which is applicable to the Jewish nation, and there is a spiritual task which is applicable to the gentile nations.

It is upon us to understand, however, the difference between the spirituality of the Jewish people, with the spirituality that exists by the gentiles.

Achdus (Unifying) and Echad (Intrinsic Oneness)

Clearly, all spirituality to some degree is a kind of unifying (achdus). Therefore, just as is there spirituality in the Jewish people which is one kind of achdus\unifying so is there a certain degree of achdus\unifying that is found by gentiles. Let us explain the difference, though.

As mentioned in the beginning, there is a concept of attaining unity between one and another (interpersonal unity) and there is also concept of “unifying” with G-d.

Within interpersonal unity, there are several levels. The first level of it is physical connection with others. As we explained, this unity is not intrinsic, for it is of the material world, and the material can disappear.

A higher level of interpersonal unity is to unify with another’s soul. Of this level, the sage Hilel was referring to when he said, “Do not do unto your friend, what you do not want done to you”, which is the explanation of what it means to love another person like yourself, and which Hilel viewed as a commandment that represents the entire Torah.

In other words, the very concept of the Torah is to unify and love others with an absolute level of connection; the word ahavah (love) has the same numerical value in Hebrew as the word echad (one). 

However, even in this “soul” kind of unity with others, there are two different levels: (1) Unifying with other souls, and (2) Revealing the unity in which all souls are really one collective soul.

Unifying With Other Souls

Let us explain. The first kind of “soul” unity with another is to unify with other souls. Just as in the physical world we can take two objects together and unify them, so can two souls combine together and unify. In the physical world, however, the merging of material elements together is only temporary, but in the spiritual world of souls, the unity is absolute.

An example of this is the love between Dovid and Yehonasan, of which the Sages state is the prime example of unconditional love and which lasts forever. Dovid and Yehonasan were two separate beings, but they made a pact between them that they would always be loyal to each other.

They created an inner unity between them which was forever. That is one kind of unity: unity between two souls.

Revealing The Collective Soul

A more inner kind of unity between souls than the above is to reveal a state of unity where there is only “one” soul.

In the very beginning of man’s creation, Hashem first created Adam as one soul. Later, his soul was divided into several parts. Chavah was created from an incision in Adam’s body, from his rib – but this does not just mean that her body was separated from his in the physical sense, but that her own soul was separated from Adam’s soul. Before this incision, Chavah’s soul was one with Adam’s, and only at a later point was Chavah taken from Adam’s rib.

After this separation, there were several other divisions of Adam’s soul, such as Kayin and Hevel, which divided his soul into another two pieces. Thus, Adam was originally one soul, and only at a later point was his soul divided.

Lower Unity and Higher Unity

Based upon the above, we find a lower, external kind of unity, in which two parts become unified into one, such as the love of Dovid and Yehonasan, or like the level of union between Adam and Chavah after the incision. The deeper kind of unity than this is the level of unity in Adam’s soul before his soul was separated into any parts, before Chavah’s being was separated from his soul, before Kayin and Hevel.

The difference between these two levels of unity is vast. Now that we live after the sin of Adam - and to be more precise, now that we live after the state in which Chavah was separated from Adam - the unity we are more familiar with is that of connection: either through physical connection, or through spiritual connection. In this perspective, the unity is about unifying together separate parts. But since all people were once included in Adam’s soul, there is a deep point in our souls in which there was never a separation from each other. There, we were all one soul.

Thus, all of us contain two layers to our soul – an external layer, and a more inner layer. In the external layer of our soul, a person views himself as a separate being from others, with the possibility to connect and unify with others. In the more inner layer of the soul, there is a perspective in which all of us are essentially one collective soul.

Love vs. Oneness

The Torah commands us, “And you shall love your friend like yourself.” The word “as yourself”, kamoicha, has two interpretations. According to one approach, “as yourself” means “similar” to the love that you have for yourself, but it does not mean to love another as yourself in the actual sense. This is the view of Ramban. According to a second approach, kamoicha means “kamoicha mamash” - “as yourself – in the literal sense”, meaning that a person should not differentiate between himself and others.[4] The source for either of these two explanations is contingent on the concepts we are discussing here.

From the external perspective, where we have become separated and we can unify the separation, there is no possibility to love a person like yourself in the actual sense. But from the more inner perspective, since we were all once part of Adam’s soul, it is possible to love another person like yourself in the actual sense, kamoicha mamash.

How can a person love another person as much as he loves himself? It is only if he reaches the deeper perspective, in which he understands that I and another are truly one (as opposed to being two separate parts that can be unified). The word ahavah (love) is equal to the word echad (oneness). When love is coming from this perspective of echad – from oneness, and not from a place of separation – it is then that a person can love another as much as he loves himself – kamoicha mamash.

We have learned thus far that there are three kinds of unifying between people: (1) Unifying on a physical level. (2) Unifying with souls, from an understanding that we are separate parts which can become unified. This level of unity is called “achdus”. (3) Unifying with souls, from an understanding that all of us are essentially one. This deeper level of unity is called “echad”.

The Difference Between “Echad” and “Achdus”

The power of “echad” (intrinsic oneness) can be reached even by gentiles.

The Ramban, in his commentary on the Torah, writes of an all-inclusive force in Creation which was the very first material that Hashem created in forming the universe. This original material of the universe was known to the Greek philosophers as “hiyuli”(matter). This is another term for the force of “echad”, the oneness in Creation, from which all material comes from. Thus, the concept of “echad” was even to gentiles. It is not unique to the Jewish people; it had always been universally known to the other nations.

All of the gentile nations received the power of echad\oneness, because they all come from Avraham Avinu. Avraham is the first of the three Avos (forefathers) of the Jewish nation, but he is not only a father of Yisrael, he is a father to all of the nations. That is why Hashem gave Avraham Avinu the title of “av hamon goyim nisaticha”, “A father of the nations, I have placed you.”

 Let us explain the depth of this. The Jewish nation has three forefathers, who, from a simple understanding, seem to be three separate beings. But as we have been explaining until now, there is a point where everyone is unified.

What was the unifying point between the three Avos? We can answer this on a more external level by noting that wherever there is three, there is always a unifying point, because unity is always based on two separate parts with a third point in between them that bridges them together. For example, in the love of Dovid and Yehonasan, there was Dovid, Yehonasan, and the pact they made between them, which unified them together.

But as we explained earlier, this is the lower level of unity, achdus, in which there is first separation and then unity, where the unity cannot be on an absolute level. It can only be kamoicha, not kamoicha mamash. From the higher perspective of unity, echad, where unity with another is kamoicha mamash, there weren’t ‘three’ Avos – there was only one. All of the Avos were contained in Avraham Avinu, the first father. Only Avraham is father of everyone, as opposed to Yitzchok and Yaakov, who were each separated from Yishmael and Esav.

So, from the lower perspective of unity, achdus, there are ‘three’ forefathers. From the deeper perspective of unity, echad, there is only one father, Avraham. And since Avraham is the father of all nations, all nations of the world inherited the power of echad\oneness from Avraham.

If gentiles have access to echad (oneness), can they also reach achdus (lower level unity)? It would seem, simply, that they can. For if they have access to echad, which is the deepest level of unity, it would seem that they can surely reach achdus, which is a lower level of unity. But the truth is: they cannot! The gentiles can only reach echad, but they cannot reach achdus.

We can understand this by examining the lives of our forefathers. From Avraham Avinu came a righteous son and a wicked son, Yitzchok and Yishmael, and from Yitzchok Avinu also came a righteous son and a wicked son, Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov merited a higher degree of spiritual perfection and therefore he merited that all of his twelve sons were completely righteous, and none of them were separated from him to become part of the gentile nations.

We explained earlier the concept that all unity is based on two sides which become unified together through a middle point between them. Avraham was one side, Yitzchok was on the other side, and Yaakov is the unifying point between them. From Avraham and Yitzchok came children who separated from each other, resulting in a split between another child who would father the Jewish nation, and another who would become part of the gentile nations.

Thus, achdus was not revealed through Avraham and Yitzchok. They fathered separate beings – Avraham and Yitzchok are each alone, and so are Yishmael and Esav alone – or, we can look it as a result of echad\oneness. But they did not reveal achdus. Therefore, the “achdus” aspect is only in the Jewish people, who descend entirely from Yaakov Avinu.

Now we can have a deeper understanding in the story of the convert who came to Hillel and asked the Sage to teach him the entire Torah. Hillel told him that the entire Torah is contained in the mitzvah to “love your friend as yourself”. The depth behind this is that before he converted, when he was still a gentile, he can still know of the concept of “kamoicha mamash”, which is the original power of “echad”\oneness that everyone possesses; but he is not able to know the secret of “achdus”\unity, of “kamoicha”, which only the Jews received. Hilel was saying that now that he has become a Jew, he can know of “kamoicha”, to love another Jew “as yourself”, which is “achdus”.

We can actually see this in our world. We will either find gentiles who are totally physically-oriented, in which each person lives entirely for himself and only worries about himself, or, we can find spiritual gentiles, who attempt to reach oneness (echad) – but they do not even attempt to reach achdus (unity with others). At best, they will reject the idea of disparity, but they do not know how to unify any disparity.

What is the reason for this? It is because the power to unify together all disparate parts is only through the Torah and the mitzvos. The word “mitzvah” is from the word “tzavta”, which means “connection”, because the mitzvos can connect and unify together all of the disparities in Creation. That is why only the nat

ion of Yisrael, who received the Torah and its mitzvos, can reveal unity with others. The nations of the world, in contrast this, did not want to receive the Torah, because they would not be able to handle the Torah’s commandments on interpersonal relationships, which is about unifying Creation together (achdus).

Only the holy Torah and its mitzvos can unify the created beings together.

Five Levels of Unity

If we look into it deeper, there are altogether five levels.

1)    Separation (nifrad) – Since everyone in Creation has a physical body, the body itself is a cause for separation between beings.

2)    Unity (achdus) – As it has been explained here, this level of unity exists only in the Jewish nation, Yisrael, and not by the gentiles.

3)    Oneness (echad) – The deeper level of unity, the undivided “oneness”, is universal to all creations, so it is found by gentiles as well.

4)    Unifying the oneness of created being with the Oneness of Above – This is based upon the second level described, achdus, unifying with others. When one unifies properly with others – a power that exists only for the Jewish people – he can then take this achdus further and unify the oneness of created being with the oneness of the Infinite (EinSof). The gentile nations, who cannot reach achdus with other created beings, are therefore not able to unify with the Infinite.

5)    Unification Within The Infinite (Achdus Muchletes shel Ein Sof) - The innermost level of unity that exists is the “absolute unity of the Infinite.”

Only The Jewish People Can Unify With G-d

Hashem gave the Torah and mitzvos to the Jewish people. There are 613 mitzvos in the Torah, with 248 of them parallel to the 248 limbs of the body, and 365 of them parallel to the 365 sinews of the body, for the mitzvos connect the entire whole of a created being with G-d. Without mitzvos, a person is only 613 separate parts. The mitzvos connect all the parts of a person and make him one unified structure. It is the Torah which unifies the oneness of a created being with the oneness of the Infinite.  

The gentiles, who do not have Torah and mitzvos, cannot reach the lower level of unity, achdus, because it is only the mitzvos which create the first level of unity. For this reason, they cannot either reach the higher level of unity, of unifying the oneness of created being with the oneness of the Infinite. In other words, it is only the Torah which unifies the created being with G-d – and therefore, only the Jewish people, who received the Torah and its mitzvos, can become unified with their Father in Heaven.

These are deep words, and they are the basis of religious Torah Jewry. If a Jew would know about these words, he would never seek to learn anything from a source other than the Torah. Alas, there are Jews these days searching all over the world for understanding, and in unbefitting places, because they are unaware of the power that is contained in the Jew’s soul, and so they turn to strange and secular sources in order to find themselves. It is like the verse, “They have abandoned Me, the Source of all living water, to draw from ruined pits.”

We, the Jewish people, have an entire structure to view ourselves with, from the highest level all the way down to the lowest level. We have a complete map of our existence, whereas the nations of the world are missing spaces in the map; they cannot bridge together all of the difference areas in the soul. They can reach echad\oneness, but they cannot reach achdus\unity – and therefore, they cannot unify together the disparate parts. That is why they also cannot unify their being with G-d.[5]

For this reason, the gentile nations of the world are not able to clearly feel the reality of Hashem in their hearts. Only a member of Yisrael can, and indeed, this is the entire avodah (inner task) of a Jew: to feel the reality of Hashem in the heart. As it is written, “And I will dwell amidst the children of Yisrael” – which is explained as “I will dwell in each of them.”

Why, indeed, is this unattainable for a gentile?A gentile will either relate to separation or oneness, but he cannot harmonize together the disparity with oneness.

 This is because, as we explained, gentiles can know of echad, but they cannot know of achdus. They will either understand all of Creation as being an entirely disparate structure with a bunch of separated beings from each other, or, they will view all of Creation as being one unit, the oneness of Creation, the Infinite. But to understand that the light of the Infinite can shine even within this world of separation, to understand that the Infinite can unify together all of the separated beings of this Creation – that, they will never be able to grasp. They cannot bridge together the two extremes; they cannot attain the balance and harmony of inner forces as we have described in previous sefarim (see “Da Es Atzmecha”, “Getting To Know Your Self”).

Unifying The Physical With The Spiritual

The Gemara states that the holy Torah is associated with the number three. It was given to a nation divided into three camps (Kohanim, Levites, and Yisraelites), it was given through Moshe, who was the third child of his family, and it was given in the third month of the year (Sivan), and on the third day of the month.[6] The Maharal speaks about this concept at length.

The depth of this is because the entire secret of Torah and mitzvos is to balance, harmonize, and bridge together the opposite forces in Creation. It is meant to harmonize the light of the Infinite together with the disparate perspective which exists among created beings.

That is why the gentile nations of the world can either understand one of two extremes, either separation or oneness, but they cannot go about their physical matters with a spiritual perspective. Either they will live a totally materialistic, hedonistic life, or, they will go in the opposite extreme: becoming totally separated and abstinent from materialism, so that they can meditate on the oneness of the Creation. But they cannot relate to a concept of revealing the oneness of Creation within the material and physical realm - they cannot bring the oneness into the separation.

By contrast, the entire holy Torah is based on revealing oneness within the material realm. Most of the mitzvos of the Torah involved physicality. We take a ram’s horn and use it for a shofar. We turn the physical into the spiritual; we unify the physical with the spiritual. We sit in a sukkah, made of walls and branches. We don’t sit in the Clouds of Glory – we sit in a physical sukkah, and that is the mitzvah.

The holy Torah is based on unifying the spiritual with the material. The nations of the world can only be “either, or” – either they will only have physicality, or they will only have spirituality, but never an integration of the two. It is because they do not have the ability of achdus, of unifying together any differentiated and separated parts. That is also why they cannot unify with the Creator.

Our Purpose Is To Unify Our Entire Being With The Creator

The true meaning of reality is that there is a Creator, and there are the creations, and man’s avodah (spiritual task) is to unify and connect himself to the Creator. We have received the special power of achdus, of unifying, and it is our task to use it, both with regards to connecting properly to other people on the word, as well as to connect together ourselves with the Creator. It is our task to unify together the material with the spiritual – which are both creations - and to unify our own souls with the Creator. We need to unify our material with our spiritual, and, on a deeper level, to unify our spiritual with the Infinite.

The avodah of a member of Yisrael is to leave behind the world of disparity, and cycle back and forth between the states of echad (oneness – unifying with the Infinite) and achdus (unity – harmonizing the material with the spiritual). Meaning, a Jew’s task is to live both the states of echad and achdus, in a balance. We can receive illumination from the higher level, echad, and shine it onto the lower level, achdus. From echad, we can unify the material and the spiritual, as well as human being with the Creator.

This is the depth behind the atonement of Yom Kippur. On one hand, we need to ask others for forgiveness, so we that can remove our separation from others and reveal unity with them. In this way, we reveal unity within this world of separated beings. On the other hand, it is also a day to ask forgiveness from sins between man and his Creator, which represents our avodah of echad, to unify with the Creator. Without achieving the initial level of achdus, which is to unify with other people on this world, a person cannot get to the higher level of achdus, which is unity with the Creator.

The gentiles have the Seven Noachide Laws, and they get some spiritual vitality from this, because these are mitzvos, which provides them with a spiritual source of vitality to live from. However, they cannot unify all 613 parts of the body through these 7 mitzvos. Only the Jewish people, who have the 613 mitzvos, can unify their entire physical being with the spiritual, and from this unification of their being that is achieved through observing the 613 mitzvos, they can then unify their souls with the Creator.

In Conclusion

The words here have been an opening to the words that we will merit to learn about, may Hashem will it. They are deep words, concepts that many of us are still not familiar with.

We would all like to know about how to relate to our body and our soul. On one hand, we need to learn about the natures of the physical body and how to balance out our bodily forces. Simultaneously, we also need to learn about the powers in the soul, and then to learn about how the soul and body are balanced. Then we can attain the balance between our souls with the Creator. 

We will try here, with Hashem’s help, to provide here a kind of ‘dictionary’ of certain concepts which we learn about, so that we can learn about the soul that is within us, and how we can connect it with the Creator of the world, Who lives forever.