Bilvavi Part 2 - Chapter 04 The Senses of the Soul

Hashem Can be Felt Only through the Soul

We have explained that there is emunah in the intellect and emunah in the heart, and that the difference between them is that with the intellect, one only knows about concepts, but with the heart, one can really feel the existence of a thing.  Just as one can see and hear, so can one (with the heart) sense the Creator.

So that one will in fact sense the Creator as a real entity, he must awaken in himself a certain faculty.  If we have not yet been able to feel Hashem, we can be sure that this faculty is still dormant within us.

What is this faculty that allows us to sense the Creator, and how do we uncover it?

As we explained, a person must sense the Creator as one feels his own hand and foot.  One does not need to externally touch the hand, but rather, he feels it as part of himself.  A person has 248 limbs and 365 sinews, and the sense that feels these limbs is the sense of one's own being.

Let us now contemplate and understand:  If a person wants to sense the Creator, to feel that Hashem is part of him, is this a bodily faculty?  After all, of the Creator, it says, "He has no likeness to a body and has no corporeal qualities."  Hashem is totally beyond physicality.  It is simple and clear, then, beyond a doubt, that there is no way in the world to feel Hashem with the bodily senses.

When Chazal that "Hashem, the Torah, and Yisrael are one," they refer to the soul, which is a "portion of Hashem from above," a Divine element, so to speak, emanating from the Infinite.  If so, when one portion seeks to sense the other portion of the same entity, it can. But the body, which is not Divine, certainly cannot sense Hashem.

The only way in which one can sense his connection with the Divine and feel inherently attached to Hashem is through the soul.  The soul is, so to speak, a "portion" of the Creator.  (Note: This concept is mentioned many times in this chapter, and it may not be taken to literally mean that Hashem, the Infinite, is divided into pieces.  Hashem is One and indivisible.  The idea, rather, is that the soul is very closely associated with Hashem. The author writes in the following chapter that the soul comes from the World of Atzilus, which is not the Infinite, but the highest of the four worlds.  The translator was instructed by the author to clarify this point.)

If a person uses his body, he cannot sense that the Creator is part of him, and if he does, he is tremendously delusional.  Only if a person uses his soul, the Divine aspect that exists in every Jew, can he feel the Divine emanation, and its source - Hashem.

This is the simple reason that one who does not toil in a manner that brings him to deveikus cannot feel Hashem as a reality.  As long as a person uses the bodily senses and the recognition of the intellect, there is no way for him to reach Hashem and sense Him.  The body - including the intellect, which is a component of the body and its highest element - cannot sense Hashem in any way.  The body does not have a Divine quality, and cannot sense the Divine.  Hashem and the body are of two different worlds.  Bodily senses and Hashem are two things that cannot join together.  (Certainly, in a deeper sense, there is the concept of "no place is void of Him [Tikkunei Zohar 122b]," but here is not the place to elaborate on that.)

If so, first of all, the main task of a person is to recognize his soul, to sense the G-dliness in it, and to thereby sense its "other part," which is Hashem.

Emunah in the Heart - Only for a Jew, not a Gentile

Anyone, even a Gentile, can possess intellectual faith, but only a Jew can achieve emunah in the heart, because his Divine element is that which senses the Creator, and a Gentile does not possess this Divine element.  It specifically states, "Hashem, the Torah, and Yisrael are One," but a Gentile cannot sense the Creator as a real entity.  He can notice Hashem's Providence, and realize that He is the ultimate G-d and Master, but only Jews can relate to Hashem as a Reality that can be sensed.

As long as the faith is only in the intellect, as ordinary information, one is still on the level of a Gentile.  He is not using his uniquely Jewish faculty. He is using the capability described in the phrase (Eichah Rabbah 2:13), "Believe that there is wisdom among the nations."  However (as the phrase concludes), "Do not believe that there is Torah among the nations."  Since "Hashem, the Torah, and Yisrael are One," just as the Gentiles do not possess the Torah, so do they not have the ability to actually sense Hashem.

If so, if a person really wants to achieve true emunah, the kind that can be sensed, so as to feel Hashem as a real Being and part of one's existence, he must reach his own soul.  Once he reaches the soul, he will certainly be able to sense the Creator.

When a person has been successful in reaching his soul, by its very nature, the soul will sense Hashem, because the Creator and the soul are one.  No specific work is needed for the soul to sense the Creator, because the soul naturally senses its other part, Hashem Himself.  The main question is, how can a person reach the state where his soul will be exposed, and he will live with it and feel it, and thereby, feel the Creator? (It's true that in a deeper sense, there is the avodah in which one nullifies his soul to G-dliness, but here is not the place to elaborate on that.)

We shall consider a bit of the beginning of creation.  With Hashem's help, we will see how clear this all is, so that it will become "in your mouth and heart to fulfill it" (Devarim 30:14).

"Man Became a Living Soul" - A Speaking Spirit

The formation of the souls of Israel preceded the world.  In creation, the physical tools were created, but the pure soul of each one of us preceded the creation of the physical world, as Chazal stated (Bereishis Rabbah 1:4), "The idea of creating Yisrael was the original thought."

If so, we must wonder, what was created on the sixth day, when man was created?

The pasuk says (Bereishis 2:7), "Hashem formed man from dust of the earth, and blew into him a soul of life." In other words, the soul of life was not created on that sixth day.  Rather, it is as the well-known comment of the Zohar, that "He who blows, blows from within Himself."  This is part of Hashem's being, an element of the Divine from above.  The Divine soul preceded creation, but on the sixth day, Hashem attached the soul to the physical body.

What was the result of that formation of body and soul?

The pasuk says, "and man became a living spirit." The words of the Targum are known: "and it was in man a speaking spirit."  This pasuk contains the entire true way to awaken the soul of man.

When we understand Hashem's bonding of body and soul, and the result of this bonding, we will understand how to return to the pristine element, the soul.

"And man became a living spirit - a speaking spirit."  This pasuk teaches us an awesome secret: the connection of body and soul forms in a man the power of speech.  The power of bonding of body and soul is the faculty of speech!

From this, we learn the true foundation for perfect avodah:  the ability to awaken the soul comes from the "speaking spirit" in the person!  Through it, the body bonds with the soul, and when a person uses the power of speech properly, he can awaken the soul which preceded the world.  He will access the condition of "He who blows, blows from within himself," and really connect to G-dliness.

When a person has the privilege to use this power in order to awaken and recognize the soul, he will naturally be privileged to recognize the soul's "other part," Hashem.

Speech Bonds the Body with the Soul

We will simplify the matter a little, so as to understand it well, with Hashem's help.

Here is a parable:  A person enters a store and buys a mixer.  He receives a large box with many pieces. One is for the frosting, one is for kneading, one is for grinding, one is for crushing, and so on.

When he gets home and wants to use the mixer, he takes it out of the box, assembles it, puts the dough in, but the appliance doesn't work!  He doesn't understand what happened.  He considers that perhaps the part used for mixing the dough was ruined, so he tries to use another part.  He puts together the part used for frosting cakes, and that doesn't work either.  The same applies with the tool for cutting vegetables.

"It seems that the whole appliance is damaged," he says to himself.  "Not terrible, that's why I have a warranty."

He returns to the store and approaches the salesman and says, "I'm very sorry, you are fine people, and a respectable store, but even in such a store, things sometimes go wrong.  It seems that this appliance is damaged. I have no complaints, but I paid a lot for this, and I want a replacement."

"Fine," says the salesman, "let's check it out."

He takes it out of the box, assembles the parts, places the plug in the socket, and everything works just fine.

The salesman turns to the buyer and says, "Perhaps there is a problem with the electric power in you house, or there is a problem with the socket you used?

"No, no!" responds the buyer, "there's a totally different problem. The instructions don't state that the plug must be put in the socket, so it remained out.  I assembled everything as written, pressed the button, and the appliance didn't work.  This was carelessness on the part of the manufacturer for not mentioning it in the instructions."

The salesman answered with a smile, "The manufacturer didn't think there are people like you.  He was certain that everyone understood this simple point.  But maybe it is a good idea to tell him add to the instructions, ‘Place the plug in the socket.'"

Hashem created man, and we refer here to every Jew in every situation.  Hashem gave each individual the Torah.  We were all at Mount Sinai and received the Torah, as it says (Devarim 29:14), "He who is with us here today before Hashem our G-d, and he who is not here today."  Hashem says to us, "See, I have placed before you today life and good, death and evil... I summon heaven and earth as witnesses, I have given you life and death, blessing and curse; choose life."

If so, a person must seek this "life."  What does he do?  He starts learning, fulfilling mitzvos, and so on.  But we have a pasuk going back to the time of creation saying what life truly is: "And man was a living soul," and this life comes from the combination of body and soul.  If one learns Torah and fulfills mitzvos without involving the living soul that Hashem gave us, he cannot attain a palpable closeness to the Creator.  A person has a tool, the body, in which is the inner source of life - the soul.  If one only uses the body, without involving the soul, it is no wonder that he does not cleave to Hashem and sense Him through all his Torah and mitzvos.  The person then wonders: why do his Torah and mitzvos not make him close to Hashem?  

The answer is that just as in the example with the mixer, it has no life without electricity, so in our topic, a body can be devoid of the life of the soul.  Our avodah is to "choose life," and without a soul, one cannot choose life.

With the body alone (and even the intellect, as great as it is, is only an aspect of the body), a person cannot attain the "living soul."  Without using the real faculty called the "soul," there is no hope for one to reach Hashem!

The one faculty with which one can reach Hashem, to feel Him as a real entity, as it says, "He who blows, blows from within himself," is the power of the soul.  The soul is present in the body, and the body conceals it.  How can one reach the state in which his soul will be exposed?  He must use the faculty formed from the body and soul, the power of speech.  When he uses it, he attaches the soul to the body, and then the soul can become exposed.

King Shlomo, alav hashalom (of blessed memory) taught us an important principle.  "All a person's effort is for his mouth" (Kohelles 6:7).  We must know that this pasuk is not just a magical remedy, or some nice idea.  Here is a fundamental point about how to serve Hashem!  "All a person's effort is for his mouth," means that speech is the faculty through which one can truly serve Hashem.  If one wishes to overlook it, he cannot reach Hashem!   

Two Kinds of Speech

Let us now consider the following:  Moshe Rabbeinu, when sent to Pharaoh, had a "heavy mouth and a heavy tongue" (Shemos 4:10).  Where was he healed?  When did he merit a complete recovery?  Only at Mount Sinai, when Hashem tore through all the heavens and displayed that "there is none other than Him."  The power of "there is none other than Him" was the force that cured Moshe's power of speech.  As long as the soul was not exposed, Moshe's speech was not complete.  Only once there was a total revelation of G-dliness, Moshe's speech reached the level of real speech.

One may ask: Why, then, are we able to speak properly?  Most people, after all, have not exposed their soul.

Sadly, because this is the case, the truth of the matter is hidden from us.  The truth is that Moshe's soul didn't allow him to speak, because it wanted his speech to be an expression of the soul.  When the speech was about to emerge from his body, the soul blocked it, and didn't allow the body to speak.

A person can, chas veshalom, take the power of speech, lower it from its proper level, and speak with the body.  This is speech of the body, not of the soul.  Likewise, we find that animals have their own "language" and birds communicate by chirping, while it never says of them, "a living soul - a speaking spirit."  If so, a person can speak, while his words will be like those of the beasts and birds, merely empty chattering!

In other words, a person learns Torah and speaks, does mitzvos and speaks, but one kind of speech awakens the soul, while the other is just noise and chatter.  The essence of Torah, the essence of the Divine portion, which awaken within the person the point of truth, are missing.

There is a wondrous comment about this in the Yerushalmi (Berachos ch. 1).  Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, "If I would have stood on Mount Sinai when the Torah was given to Yisrael, I would have asked Hashem to create for people two mouths, one for Torah and one for worldly matters.  Just as a person has two ears and two eyes, he would have requested two mouths.

Why, for what purpose?  The reason our speech doesn't connect us to our souls is that we have lowered our speech to the level of "bird chirping."  If man would have had two mouths, as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai wanted, even if with one mouth, he would talk like a bird, he could still arouse the soul with the other.

But Hashem's will was that man should not have two mouths, but only one that would be either holy or profaned to the level of bird chirping.

We have learned a great principle:  The way to reach palpable emunah, to awaken the soul and reach true closeness to Hashem, is "I believe because I spoke" (Tehillim 116:10).  In the coming chapters, we will, with the help of Hashem, explain at length how to use speech in a way that will awaken and expose the soul within us.  May Hashem help us to attain true knowledge about each aspect of His service.