Bereishit 2:7
וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים
vayipach be'apav nishmat chayim
He blew in his nostrils a living soul.
The nose is an instrument of the soul. The soul enters man by way of his nose and it leaves him by the same route. This is why Chazal (our Sages) in Yoma 85 have stated that if someone takes a fall that one has to examine him including his nose. This is based on Bereishit 7:22, "all who had the spirit of a living soul in their nose...died." It is one of he wondrous phenomena of the creation of man that the letter ש (shin) associated with this instrument (organ), the fact that the nose is divided makes it appear like the letter ש. This is an allusion to the Name of G-d שדי (Shakkai), which in this manner is engraved on the body of every human being who has been circumcised. This is the mystical meaning of Iyov 32:8, "the breath of Shakkai that gives them understanding."
We know that the nose is the organ by means which we smell and that the soul derives pleasure from certain fragrances This is the reason the Talmud Berachot 51 prohibits us from even smelling incense or other fragrances intended for idolatrous purposes. The smell of any fragrance leaves behind a memory. We have it on the authority of the Torah in connection with the sacrificial offerings VaYikra 6:8 that smell acts as a reminder. "Its pleasant fragrance is a memorial (portion) unto HASHEM," i.e. the person in whose name this frankincense has been offered will be remembered by G-d as having accumulated merit.
Maimonides in his introduction to Pirke Avot, Chapter 1, claim that the soul is a single force which however has three sub-categories:
1) the category which houses our desires, something we have in common with the animals.
2) the source of growth, something possessed both by animals and all manner of plants.
3) the ability to think coherently, the soul of wisdom.
All these functions are part of a single soul.
Avraham Ibn Ezra in his commentary on Kohelet 7:3, claim that there are three distinct souls operating within man all of which are distinct from one another. The intelligent souls is an entity of its own, the potential to grow is an independent force. The animal kind of soul, which is the seat of all desires, i.e. the desire to eat, drink, procreate or simply indulge in sex, as well as the desire to sleep, area all part of the animalistic soul in man and constitute a separate soul. They are part of what man has in common with the animal kingdom. The seat of that particular soul is the liver. This "soul" is called on occasion נפש (nefesh), and on occason רוח (ruach). Its seat is in the liver. In Devarim 12:20 it is called nefesh when the Torah writes, "when your soul desires to eat meant..."
The נפש הצומח (nefesh hatzomeach) is the force that enables man to grow physically. He shares such a force with all the trees, etc. Just as trees possess such built-in powers, man too possesses such a growth potential. As distinct from the seat of all desire which is presumed to be in the liver, this force does not have a specific location but is present in all parts of man's body. It remains active until a certain point his life. The soul of intelligence is something exclusive to man, something he shares with beings in the higher worlds, beings which live forever in their sacred domains. The seat of this soul is in man's brain, and it is generally referred to as נשמה (neshamah) This is what the Torah described as the נשמת חיים (nishmat chayim which G-d "blew" into Adam's nostrils. Also in Yeshayahu 42:5 writes, "He gives a soul (neshamah) to the people on it [earth]." There are numerous similar verses throughout the Scriptures.
According to the view of the philosophers who believe that each person has three separate souls, we find support for Chazal in Sanhedrin 65 who report that the famous teacher Rava created a human being (Golem). When he brought this creature before Rabbi Zeyra, Rabbi Zeyra spoke to him whereas the creature could not answer back. Thereupon Rabbi Zeyra said to the Golem, "You are man-made; go back to the dust you have been made of." This passage in the Talmud is proof that man has three distinct souls. Rava, who was familiar with Kabbalah, and had studied the Sefer Yetzirah, had infused this creature with the "soul" which governs motion. He was unable, however, to provide his creature with the power of speech. The power of speech stems from the soul called חכמה (chachmah).
However, our verse (2:7) here is proof that there is only one overall soul, but that it contains three different potentials without these different abilities having different origins. The reason is that Adam, as distinct from subsequent human beings, was merely a clod of earth; this is why the Torah states, 'G-d fashioned man dust from the earth" (2:7), as soon as Adam's form had materialized G-d "blew" into him this soul of which it is said, "man then became a living creature," i.e. he became able to move just as the fish and the animals of which the Torah had said that they had been "a swarm of living creatures. This is the meaning of the word חיה (chayah) that thanks to this "soul" Adam became a living creature whereas originally he had been inert unable to move, just like a stone.
Regardless of which view one has of the soul, all Jewish Sages and philosophers are agreed that the part of the soul which survives physical death is the נפש החכמה (nefesh hachachmah), "the soul which is rooted in the emanation chachmah." The body has absolutely no share in the mental and spiritual development of a person except that it serves the as the vessel, the container within which such mental and spiritual forces are able to function and to make it the base of their operations.
Dead people do not possess any mental or spiritual energy. The existence of such mental and spiritual energy is exclusively due to the living. It is clear then that what we have called נפש (nefesh), or נפש חיה (nefesh chayah), is a phenomenon that lives only within what we call "nature," for it is certainly true that this "natural soul" is able to absorb wisdoms of a variety of degrees. When the body dies it dies as part of "nature," and "nature" is unable to receive any input from such a dead body, i.e. the wisdom it used to possess.
Two remarkable principles has thus been established:
1) man is composed of two major components or essences. Part of man's essences lives as an integral part of "nature," in fact due to the existence of "nature." Without nature that part of man simply could not exist.
2) The second part of man's essence dies through the very fact that it is bound to "nature." This second part is the body. The reason both the soul and the body share such experiences is that they have been joined together so that (to a limited degree) each one has to share the experiences of the other. The body gets an inkling of what live's potential is all about because it has become joined to the soul. The soul experiences what death is all about because it has become tied to the mortal body. Death may be considered as a punishment for the soul who has allowed itself to be misled by the body. It follows that essentially the soul is suppose to live forever; its death is incidental. The reverse is true of the body which essentially is mortal but lives temporarily by merit of the soul it hosts.
Once body and soul part company, each one resumes its natural destiny, i.e. the body dies and the soul lives on forever. In both cases this separation means that a temporary, unnatural union or partnership has been broken up, each partner returning to its essential habitat.
The major foundation of our beliefs remains our holy Torah which is the source of our life. All true philosophers derive their wisdom only the Torah. True wisdom is always the fruit, i.e. the product of profound Torah study. The matter of the survival of the soul after the death of the body is made plain by the very fact that the soul G-d infused in Adam was called נשמת חיים (nishmat chayim), "a soul of life." This means the soul was "hewn" from the very source of life. The reason is that we know that the soul is derived from the source of wisdom, the emanation chachmah. The word "chayim" when part of the term "nishmat chayim," reminds us of Iyov 32:7-8 "I thought: 'let age speak; let advanced years declare wise things. But, truly it is the spirit in men.'" We find that in Iyov the words חכמה (chachmah) and רוח (ruach) appaer side by side. The author is telling us that רוח, "the spirit, the soul," is the source of חכמה (chachmah), wisdom. If our verse saw fit to call the soul שמת חיים, this is an allusion to Kohelet 7:12, "and wisdom [the emanation of wisdom] preserves the life of those who possess it." This is also what G-d assured the prophet of when He told him to promise the High Priest Yehoshua that his soul would be in the company of the angels if he would observe G-d's commandments (Zecharyah 3:7). The wording is "and I shall enable you to be able to walk among these who are stationary." The angels are spiritually stationary as they do not possess an evil urge the defeat of which would enable them to make spiritual progress.
The words ויפח באפיו (vayipach be'apav), "He blew into Adam's nostrils," are to alert us to the fact that this soul was not part of the basic four elements the terrestrial universe is made of, although רוח (ruach), "wind or spirit" is one of those four elements. Man's soul shares five characteristics with G-d (Berachot 10). It is similar to G-d in all its virtues, at the same time being superior to the soul of the angels. The reason is that the soul of man was created on the first day of creation as compared to the angels who were created only on the second day. It is an accepted rule that phenomena which were created sooner are superior to those which were created later. We have an explicit statement in Sanhadrin 93 that the righteous are superior to the angels.
Whatever man's mouth can tell about the attributes (virtues) of G-d to the extent that He is the Creator is possible only because the soul of man is a direct creation of this Creator. Thus a famous quote: "Know your souls so that you may gain knowledge about your G-d."
וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
vayehi ha'adam lenefesh chayah
man became a living creature
During the entire report about the creation you will not find that the word ויהי (vayehi) was applied directly to something which had not been created, except to Light and to man. The message is that man's soul will endure forever just as the original Light will endure forever as both had been created on the first day. This fact inspired the liturgical poet Rabbi Yehudah Halevi in a poem commencing with the words, "G-d's established the souls together with the original Light, the first of G-d's creative activities." The meaning of the whole verse is, "the main purpose of the existence of human beings is on account of their spiritual soul."
May HASHEM continue to enlighten us with the Light of His Torah.
-Chazal
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Bereishit Pardes - Creation
Bereishit Pardes - Gan Eden
Bereishit Pardes - Etz HaChayim - Etz HaDaat Tov vaRa
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