Nefesh HaChayim, Gate I

And too, regarding the arousal above via the aspect of thought, King Dovid (OBM) stated (Tehillim 33:16): “He who forms together their hearts/minds and understands the direction of all their actions... .” And it should have said: “who understands all their actions...” And previously in chapter 12, we explained it in relation to action. And we can also explain it in relation to thought.

And thus, does it make sense that two people should perform the same sin, and being so, that their punishments are not equivalent? [It is so] because one’s intelligence and grasp is greater than his peer, because the root of his soul is from a higher place and more elevated than his peer, and the punishment is related to the blemish that it caused above, and the blemish that each one causes reaches to the root of his soul-Neshama.

As we learned in the Tikkoonim (at the end of Tikkoon 43): “One who blemishes below also blemishes above to the place from where his soul-Neshama is quarried261Quarrying is the process by which stone is mined from its source in a rock formation in the Earth. The Tikkoonim refers here to the Quarry of Souls (Heb.: makh-tzahv ha-n’sha-mote), the common source of all souls in Israel..” And also there (Tikkoon 70, 123:1): “And when man performs sins, relative to that person does his sin rise to the source from where his soul-Neshama is quarried... and his punishment is adjusted according to his level.” And so also wrote the Ariza”l in Sha-ar Ha-yikhoodim262This reference can be found at the very beginning of third ah-naf of Sha-ar Ha-yeekhoodim. The most commonly available editions of Sha-ar Ha-yeekhoodim are comprised of the third and fourth ah-nafim of the Pri Etz Chayyim. The second ah-naf (referenced earlier) is not usually included there, but can be found as part of a manuscript in Yeshiva University’s Gottesman Library., and the beginning of the section on rectifying sins263Heb.: tikkoon ah-vo-note, and in the Pri Etz Chayyim in the introduction to the chapter on Shabbat (chapter 11) and in Gilgulim. We can not compare one who sullies the courtyard of the king to one who sullies the palace; how much more so the throne, or the robes of splendor, and even more so the crown.

Even though, in a world that is more elevated and sublime, the sin has no power to cause within it as significant a blemish or impression, even so his punishment is still greater. For one who is appointed to polish and burnish the King’s crown, if he left on it even a tiny speck of dust, there’s no way to compare the extent of his punishment to the punishment of one who is appointed to clean the King’s courtyard, even if he left or placed within it a large amount of mud or clay. And therefore God’s judgments are many in the infinite different details of punishment, each one according to the level of the blemish at the root of his soul-Neshama, from which world it is quarried.

Also, two people’s punishment won’t be equal by reason that their thoughts weren’t equivalent at the time they performed the sin, and the blemish drawn through the worlds is also according to the thought at the time it was performed. And if one attached his thoughts more to the sin, it is certain that he is worthy of a greater punishment, for then the blemish reaches (heaven forefend) to still higher worlds. And for this reason, one who unintentionally performs a sin receives a lesser punishment than one who does it purposely. And therefore they said (Yoma 29) that thoughts about sin are more severe than the sin itself264As Rav Chayyim explained this is the case when the root of their soul came from a higher place, and they focused their intention..

And what is written (T’hillim, cited above): “He who forms together their hearts/minds...”—that is, that He envisions the thoughts of their hearts/minds as our sages explained in tractate Rosh HaShanna 18:1. “And understands the direction of all their actions”—as if to say that the lofty Former (blessed be His name) envisions and understands the thoughts of their hearts/minds that joins in their actions, and judges each one according to the thought in his heart/mind at the moment he performed the sin.

And so said King Solomon (OBM) (Kohelet 12:14): “For each action [emphatic] will God-Elohi”m bring to judgment related to that which is hidden...”—intending to convey that in addition to the punishment for the physical action of the sin, God-Elohi”m (blessed be His name) will also bring to judgment the entire action, to repeat the judgment also on the hidden thought, how and in what manner it occurred at the moment of action.

And so he also said (Mishlei 3:19): “God-YHV”H founded the earth with wisdom, established the heavens with deep understanding; the depths of the oceans were cleaved with knowledge.” He included in this generally all the worlds: “earth” is the middle world, “heavens” is the general category of the upper worlds, and “depths of the oceans” is the general category of the lower worlds.

And he said after this: “my son, may it not escape265Heb.: ya-looz-oo your eyes”. We’ve found the term “eye” a few places in TaNa”Kh in relation to topic of thought, as it says (Kohelet 1:16): “and my heart saw...,” “the wise man, his eyes are in his head” (2:14). And the term “escape”266Heb.: v’ya-lee-zoo we found in the Mishna as a term of distortion (or crookedness), as in “crooked is he, and makes his Father in heaven depart from above him” (end of Kil’ayim). This is what is written: “My son, please spare and have compassion on the dear worlds that were created with wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, and take care that you shouldn’t cause (heaven forefend) a distortion or corruption with one thought that isn’t good (heaven forefend).”

And these three aspects: action, speech and thought, they are the three general inner aspects of man that are the three aspects: soul-Neffesh, soul-Ruakh and soul-Neshama. For action, it is in the category of Neffesh, as is written (Bamidbar 15:30): “and the Neffesh that you shall make,” (Vayikra 18:29) “the Neffesh [plural] who do...” and many others, such as (Devarim 12:23) “for the blood is the Neffesh”, that the Neffesh inhabits and clothes itself in man’s blood, and therefore the crux of attributing its abode to the liver is that it is full of blood. The circulation of blood in all the parts and divisions of the limbs, the implements of action, is what provides them with vital ability and arousal, so that they will be able to enact and to perform what is in their potential. If the circulation of blood should cease from a limb, that limb will wither and won’t have the ability to do anything, and it is a dead limb.

And speech, it is in the category of Ruakh, as is written (Shmuel Bet 23:2): “God’s spirit-Ruakh spoke within me,” and (Yeshayahu 11:4) “with the spirit-Ruakh of his lips,” and as Onkeloos translated on the verse (Bereshit 2:7): “and the man became a living soul-Neffesh”: “a speaking spirit-Ruakh”. And so it appears to the eye that with each speech action, a person’s mouth emits a spirit267Heb.: ruakhand vapor268Heb.: heh-vel. And the abode of the Ruakh, its essence and origin is in the heart, for speech’s spirit and vapor, its essence and origin arises from the heart.

And thought, it is in the category of the Neshama. She teaches man knowledge and understanding via the holy Torah, and therefore the origin of its abode is in the brain, the tool of thought, and she is the highest category of them all. And so they said in Bereshit Rabba, chapter 14: “She is called by five names...”, “the Neffesh is the blood..., Ruakh..., Neshama is the nature of the creature”— [“nature”] meaning his knowledge and thoughts, as was explained by the Arukh and RaSh”Y (OBM).