{"id":24,"date":"2009-12-30T18:16:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T18:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theneshamaanditsparts.wordpress.com\/?p=24"},"modified":"2009-12-30T18:16:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-30T18:16:30","slug":"nurture-or-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/2009\/12\/30\/nurture-or-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurture or Nature?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are we born with a Nephesh, Ruach, <\/em>and a Neshama <\/em>or do we earn them? At one point (1, p. 206a) the Zohar indicates rather broadly that while the Nephesh <\/em>is \u201cruled over\u201d by the Ruach <\/em>which is <\/em>\u201con a higher level than the Nephesh<\/em> and maintains it appropriately\u201d, the Neshama<\/em> which is the highest level \u201crules over the other two\u201d. It then states, though, that all three elements are only \u201cincorporated in people who merit them by their Divine service<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

As it explains, when a person is born, he\u2019s granted a Nephesh <\/em>\u201cwhich is a \u2026 means by which he can be rectified\u201d. Once he comes to \u201cpurify that level, he\u2019s then rectified (further) by being crowned with a Ruach<\/em> which is a holy level that descends upon the Nephesh<\/em> so as to crown the person who merits it\u201d. Once he\u2019s \u201celevated by means of a Nephesh <\/em>and Ruach<\/em>\u201d and he then further elevates himself serving G-d appropriately, a Neshama<\/em> \u201cthen descends upon him \u2026 so that he might be crowned with a high and holy level.\u201d So it seems that we nurture the higher elements of our being.\u00a0(Also see Zohar 2, p. 94b and 3, p. 70b; as well as Shabbat<\/em> 104a and Yoma<\/em> 39a.)<\/p>\n

But the Zohar seems to say otherwise elsewhere (unless it\u2019s only talking about a person who has indeed earned all three levels). We\u2019re taught (Zohar 2, p. 141b) that Nephesh, Ruach, <\/em>and Neshama<\/em> are intertwined and interdependent, and that \u201ceach exhibits its strength in (one of) 3 places (after death). The Nephesh<\/em> remains in the grave (with the body) until the body decomposes in the soil \u2026 The Ruach<\/em> enters the earthly Garden of Eden (as opposed to the Heavenly one) and it assumes the shape the body had on earth and likewise dons the (celestial) garment it\u2019s to wear there \u2026 The Neshama<\/em> immediately ascends to the place (in Heaven) its derived from \u2026 So when a person is in need (of help) when he\u2019s in distress and he goes to (his parents\u2019 gravesite to ask them to intercede for him in Heaven), the Nephesh<\/em> (of one or both of his parents) is incited and it goes to \u2026 incite the Ruach<\/em>, which goes to incite that person\u2019s parents (at their gravesite), who then go to incite the Neshama<\/em>, and God then shows mercy on His world\u201d. (For more on visiting gravesites see Ta\u2019anit<\/em> 16a and 23a; Baba Metzia<\/em> 85b; and Zohar 3, p. 70b and 71b.)<\/p>\n

At a couple of other places (1, p. 79a; and Zohar Chadash<\/em>, Breishit<\/em> 10c and 15d) the Zohar makes the point that the Neshama<\/em> works with the Nephesh<\/em> to rectify the body once one reaches bar<\/em> (or bat<\/em>) mitzvah<\/em> age, which seems to say that the two (along with the Ruach<\/em>) are always together. (Though see Ketem Paz<\/em> to Zohar 2, p. 94b where he indicates that one only gets a Neshama<\/em> after age 40, which is why the early masters never taught their disciples mysticism until that age.)<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, see Zohar 1, p. 218b where it\u2019s pointed out that even wrongdoers have a Neshama<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are we born with a Nephesh, Ruach, and a Neshama or do we earn them? At one point (1, p. 206a) the Zohar indicates rather broadly that while the Nephesh is \u201cruled over\u201d by the Ruach which is \u201con a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iqmI-o","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/neshamah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}