Aspects Of The Soul

Map of the Inner Life
"The soul fills the body, as God fills the world. The soul bears the body, as God bears the world. The Soul outlasts the body, as God outlasts the world. The soul is one in the body, as God is one in the body, as God is one in the world. The soul sees and is not seen, as God sees and is not seen. The soul is pure in the body, even as God is pure in the world…"

—Rabbi Simeon Ben Pazi


The inner life that we experience, and the roots of thought that reach down into the darkness of the subconscious, are features of the life of the soul.

ASPECTS OF THE SOUL

Neshama

Neshama is the most elevated and purest aspect of soul and it shines at the deepest core of our being. "In my body he has kindled a lamp from his glory," begins a poem by Moses ibn Ezra, referring to the light of the neshama. In the morning prayers it says "God, the soul [neshama] you have given me is pure".

Ruach

The next dimension of the soul that Mussar identifies is called ruach, that aspect of the soul that is the source of animation and vigor - no more, and no less, than the "spirit of life."

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