{"id":79614,"date":"2020-09-05T20:28:01","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T17:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79614"},"modified":"2020-09-05T20:28:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T17:28:01","slug":"the-human-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-human-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Human Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter begins with a superscription for Zechariah\u2019s final three chapters: \u201c\u2026The utterance of the Lord Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth and created man\u2019s breath within him.\u201d This Scriptural expression became the basis for post-Biblical discussion of the nature of the human soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Midrash Genesis Rabbah 14:4<\/span><\/a> interprets<\/span> Genesis 2:4<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord God formed man\u2026 and man became a living being\u201d. \u201cFormed” v<\/em><\/span>ayyitzer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0suggests that man was created with a <\/span>Yetzer Tov<\/em> <\/span>and with a <\/span>Yetzer Ra<\/em> <\/span>[here meaning the ability to discern good from evil]. For if an animal had this ability, when it would see a person, knife in hand, coming to slaughter it, it would die in terror\u2026 Moreover, \u201c[God] created (<\/span>yotzer<\/span><\/em>) man\u2019s breath within him\u201d (Zech. 12:1) \u2013 the word <\/span>yotzer<\/span><\/em> indicates that man\u2019s soul is bound (<\/span>tzrurah<\/span><\/em>) within him. For if this were not the case, when a person would see troubles approaching, he would be able to expel his soul and cast it from him. [i.e. Seeing life-threatening danger approach, a man would be able to extinguish his own soul, thus bringing about his own immediate death. This is not the case, because God has \u201cbound\u201d man\u2019s soul within him so that it is God who separates a man\u2019s soul from his body, thus causing his physical death].<\/span><\/p>\n

Sa\u2019adya Gaon (882-942 CE), commentator, liturgist and philosopher, discusses the nature of the human soul in the final section of his main philosophical work,<\/span> The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs 6:1<\/span><\/a>. This discussion begins with the assertion that the soul of each person is created in his heart at the moment when the physical form of his body is completed, as it says: \u201cThe utterance of the Lord Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth and created man\u2019s breath within him\u201d (12:1). Moreover, God has set a time-limit to the combined existence of body and soul. When an individual human being dies, God again separates his body and soul until all human souls will have been created. Then God will re-unite each soul with its respective body and determine each person\u2019s reward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After summarizing six alternate theories about the nature of the soul, Saadya expounds his own view. He again cites Zechariah that God \u201ccreated man\u2019s breath within him\u201d to insist that each individual human soul is created at the moment of each man\u2019s creation. When God unites body and soul, three faculties are manifested, represented by three Hebrew words for \u201csoul\u201d: <\/span>Nefesh<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 the seat of \u201cappetite\u201d (as in the phrase <\/span>ta\u2019avat nafshekhah<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>the appetite of one\u2019s <\/span>nefesh<\/span><\/em>), <\/span>Ruah <\/span><\/em>\u2013 <\/span><\/i>\u201cpassion and courage\u201d and <\/span>Neshamah<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 \u201cknowledge.\u201d The seat of the soul is the human heart, from which emerge two \u201carteries\u201d (or \u201cnerves\u201d – <\/span>gidim<\/span><\/em>), which communicate sensation and movement to the rest of the body. So, heart and soul are mentioned together in Scripture: \u201cLove your God with all your heart and with all your soul\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

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