Achieving Spiritual Growth
Kabbalistic Insights from the Zohar on Parashas Mishpatim 5782
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The Zohar on Mishpatim (page 94b) discusses the five stages of spiritual growth: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida. These five stages are not only levels of
awareness of Hashem for every person, but they are also levels of personal relationship with Him. And they are not achieved all at once, but one step at a time.
תָּא חֲזִי, בַּר נָשׁ כַּד אִתְיְלִיד, (ויקרא רכ"ד ע"ב) יָהֲבִין לֵיהּ נַפְשָׁא מִסִּטְרָא דִּבְעִירָא, מִסִּטְרָא דְּדַכְיוּ, מִסִּטְרָא דְּאִלֵּין דְּאִתְקְרוּן אוֹפַנֵּי
הַקּוֹדֶשׁ
The first stage of spiritual growth is called Nefesh, and begins when a person is born. Nefesh is the animating lifeforce of the body. It corresponds to the world of Asiyah, of action. The level of Nefesh is physical and an aspect of pure animal. There are animals that are pure and there are those that are not. The kosher animals that
we are allowed to eat are pure animals. Both animals and humans have a Nefesh HaBehemis (Animal Soul), which has a certain bodily strength and light, which is the animalistic character of a person. The Zohar says this comes from a level called Ofnei HaKodesh, literally the holy wheels, including a level of Angels called Ofanim.
The second stage is
Ruach:
זָכָה יַתִּיר
If the person is worthy, meaning he is following the Torah and doing the right things in his life, then
יַהֲבִין לֵיהּ רוּחָא
Heaven gives him Ruach.
מִסִּטְרָא דְּחַיּוֹת הַקּוֹדֶשׁ
Ruach, says the Zohar, comes from the level of the Angels called Chayos HaKodesh. This is the World of Yetzirah or the World of Formation. It is connected with emotion and relationship.
The third stage is Neshama.
זָכָה יַתִּיר, יַהֲבִין לֵיהּ נִשְׁמְתָא
The level of Neshama is connected with the world of Briyah.
מִסִּטְרָא דְּכֻרְסְיָיא
The Throne is always connected with the concept of the world of Briyah.
וּתְלַת אִלֵּין, אִינּוּן אָמָה עֶבֶד וְשִׁפְחָה
דִּבְרָתָא דְּמַלְכָּא
Those three levels, of Asiyah, Yetzirah, and Briyah, are called the Amah (the Maidservant) Eved (the Slave), vShifcha (the Higher-Level Maidservant).
And then, if a person
really works on himself, and he is even more worthy, he attains to the fourth level.
זָכָה יַתִּיר, יַהֲבִין לֵיהּ נַפְשָׁא בְּאֹרַח אֲצִילוּת,
He returns to the level of Nefesh again, but it is the
Nefesh of the world of Atzilus, the highest world. That is, the lowest part of the highest world, which of course is higher than the level of Nefesh in the lower world of Briyah, mentioned previously.
And that, says the Zohar,
מִסִּטְרָא דְּבַת יְחִידָה
is from the side of the only daughter.
What is the only daughter? The sefirah of Malchus in the world of Atzilus is called the
daughter.
וְאִתְקְרִיאַת אִיהִי בַּת מֶלֶךְ
And she is the princess, the daughter of the king.
Then,
זָכָה יַתִּיר, יַהֲבִין לֵיהּ רוּחָא דְּאֲצִילוּת
If he is even more worthy, he attains to the level of the Ruach of Atzilus.
That is called,
מִסִּטְרָא דְּעַמּוּדָא דְּאֶמְצָעִיתָא
The
Middle Pilar.
There are three pillars: Judgment, kindness, and mercy. Mercy is the middle pillar. It includes Da’as, Tiferes, and Yesod, and the level of Ruach of Atzilus is connected with the Middle Pillar, with Tiferes, specifically, which is the middle of the Middle Pillar.
וְאִקְרֵי בֵּן לְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (דברים י״ד:א׳) בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַיְיָ' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
When a person reaches this level, he is called the son of the king.
The next level up:
זָכָה יַתִּיר, יַהֲבִין לֵיהּ נִשְׁמְתָא, מִסִּטְרָא דְּאַבָּא וְאִמָא
If he is even more worthy, he
attains to the level of Neshama of Atzilus.
הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב, (בראשית ב׳:ז׳) וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים
This is the real Neshama. Attaining to the level of Neshama of Briyah is more
common. Being at the level of the Neshama of Atzilus is something else. It is basically the root of our being, about which the verse in Bereishis (Genesis, 2:7) says Hashem put life in Adam, referring to that level of the Neshama of the Atzilus.
מַאי חַיִּים
What life did Hashem give Adam?
אֶלָּא אִינּוּן י"ה
This is the yud and the heh of the holy name י–ה–ו–ה. Those two letters, the
yud and the hei, are connected with the concept of Abba and Imma that was mentioned prviously; it is the source of the Neshama of Atzilus. Obviously Hashem is the Source; He’s the Source of the source, and here we are talking about the more direct source of the level of Neshama. And what is the Life? Is the light that is coming from the yud and the hei, Abba and Imma.
דְּעָלַיְיהוּ אִתְּמַר, (תהילים ק״נ:ו׳) כָּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ
And this is what we say in Tehillim (Psalms) 150, “Kol HaNeshama tehaleil [Yud-Kei].” We are talking about that level of Neshama of Atzilus, that she is the one that can really praise Hashem.
וְאִשְׁתְּלִים בֵּיהּ
ידו"
And this is the completion of the Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei.
What we learn
Obviously the Zohar continues, but this series is about the essential principles, the most important concepts, and for general spiritual growth. This is the simple understanding of the article, and it is also important for the kabbalistic meditations of the morning service each day, in which we are meditating on the elevation of the different parts of the being.
As mentioned in the introduction to our Siddur Zichron David, every morning, in our meditation throughout the morning service, we start at the level of Nefesh of Asiyah, and we ascend from there to Ruach of Yetzirah, and then to Neshama of Briyah, until we arrive at the world of Atzilus in the Amidah (the Standing Prayer / 18 Benedictions).
All of this process is described as the general map for a person’s growth in life, but it also corresponds to the smaller scale of the spiritual involvement that each one of us has every moment—every tefilah (prayer), every brachah (blessing), every time we are trying to do those meditations of spiritual elevation from one level to another.
This is the ladder. These are the levels of the ladder that we ascend and descend. We begin with the physical body and the Nefesh Behemis, the animalistic part of us that gives the physical body its strength. This is the beginning of our spiritual being. From there, we ascend level by level. We go up all the way to the source of our Neshama in Atzilus.
Hashem will help all of us to grow and to achieve the tikkun of each level, to be able to be worthy, to go in and start our work on the next level and b'ezras Hashem, may Hashem be happy with the work of Yeshivas HaMekubalim Nefesh HaChayim and King David Kabbalah, and help us to grow and to share all of these wonderful concepts, and all of this inspiration, and the meditation techniques. B'ezras Hashem,
may it include more, and more people—so please do share.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach,
Rabbi Ya’akov Avraham Shepherd
Rosh Yeshiva & Kollel
Yeshivas HaMekubalim Nefesh HaChayim
King David
Kabbalah
https://kingdavidkabbalah.com
