Nefesh Ha'Elokis (נפש האלקית) — The Divine Soul

Core definition

The nefesh ha'Elokis — the "Divine soul" — is the soul in every Jew that is "part of Elokah from Above" (חלק אלוק ממעל): it is from kedushah, "utter tov" (תכלית הטוב), set against the nefesh ha'behamis (the animal soul), which is from kelipas nogah and is "ra" (evil) [15966/maamar_019 :: §61–64]. The two souls are called "sur meira" — turning aside from evil [15966/maamar_019 :: §61]. The Divine soul is the essence of the Jew's aliveness: "though Yisrael's main chayus is the nefesh ha'Elokis" [58838/maamar_012 :: §32], "and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life" [58838/maamar_012 :: §33].

How the Rebbeim develop it

"Chavivin Yisroel." In the Mishnah of Avos ("chaviv adam she'nivra b'tzelem... chavivin Yisroel she'nikre'u banim laMakom"), the Rebbeim read "chavivin Yisroel" as referring to the nefesh ha'Elokis: the neshamas of Israel are "banim laMakom," children of the Omnipresent — as a son is drawn from his father's moach, so the neshamah is drawn from His thought and wisdom ("Yisroel alu ba'machshavah") [31682/maamar_024 :: §20–21, §31]. "Chaviv adam" does not refer to the Divine soul (which is only in Yisroel) but to the nefesh ha'sichlis, the intellectual soul [31682/maamar_024 :: §32–33].

"Neir Hashem." The Divine soul is called "the lamp of Hashem" ("neir Hashem nishmas adam," Mishlei 20:27): as a lamp lights the darkness, the neshamah lights the body's darkness. It is "ruach ha'adam ha'olah lema'alah" — the spirit of man that ascends above — drawn only to spiritual matters and delighting only in spiritual delights, while the animal soul is "ruach ha'behemah ha'yoredes lematah," drawn to the physical [31682/maamar_024 :: §61–62].

Enclothement in the animal soul. The nefesh ha'Elokis does not stand alone: it clothes itself in the nefesh ha'behamis in hislabshus and tefisah, and in that enclothement it comes into "hagshamah" — materialization — taking on the animal soul's natural manner [15966/maamar_019 :: §65–67]. Its divine sight is thereby mediated: when clothed in the natural soul, its "sight in Divinity" is only intellectual sight, not literal sight; literal sight in Divinity's essence is reserved for the future [15966/maamar_019 :: §75–86].

The order of avodah. A classic question: why does avodah begin with "gor'in" — diminishing the animal soul's desires — rather than "mosifin," adding to the Divine soul's power? The answer is the rule "kelipah kadmah le'peri" — the husk precedes the fruit: the nefesh ha'behamis comes first, and the nefesh ha'Elokis is revealed only after thirteen years; coming, it is concealed and hidden within the animal soul's materiality ("rasha machtir es hatzaddik") [58838/maamar_012 :: §19–27, §92–102]. Since the Divine soul is hidden in the animal soul, the animal soul's diminishment must come first.

Power over the animal soul. The nefesh ha'Elokis effects the animal soul's zikuch (refinement) and birur (clarification) precisely through its enclothement within it; and "he certainly has powers in the nefesh ha'Elokis to overcome them" [15966/maamar_019 :: §108–109]. The Torah was given to strengthen it: called "oz" (strength), it draws the revelation of the Infinite Light into the nefesh ha'Elokis so it is revealed and overcomes the animal soul; called "tushiyah," it weakens the animal soul's power [58836/maamar_005 :: §101–106]. The soul was even given a power above its own root — the oath "be a tzaddik" ("mashbi'in" read as satiation) draws power from the Awtsmoos of the Infinite Light, above the root of both souls, which stand in tohu and tikkun [58836/maamar_005 :: §107–118]. In itself the nefesh ha'Elokis is in the level of a tzaddik; only because of the animal soul could it become otherwise [58836/maamar_005 :: §110–111].

The third soul as intermediary. Between the two utterly distant souls stands the nefesh ha'sichlis, the intellectual soul, as the middle (ממוצע) — as between soul and body a middle is needed, so here [31682/maamar_024 :: §63–65].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources