"Within your soul, there are infinetely precious
things that can never be taken away from you"

What is Neshuma? - It is the Yiddish word, when literally translated... means soul .
 
In general terms, many people refer to a person that has a kind heart, someone considered by others to be a good person, or a person who has done a good deed for someone else who is either less fortunate than themselves, or going through a difficult time, as a guta neshuma (a good soul), but its meaning and understanding go a lot deeper...

There are many teachings and interpretations as to how ones neshuma (or soul) is made up, but it is believed to consist of three primary elements...

Nephesh... This means spiritual soul, although it is the living being; It feels hunger, it has emotion, it can hate, it can love, it loathes, it weeps, and most importantly, because it is living, it can die... It is the source of one's physical nature. Nephesh moreover has neshuma as an aspect. The words are therefore similar to the 'body' and the 'character' in the physical realm. However, nephesh and neshuma are both spiritual 'forces'... To confuse matters somewhat, a nephesh can be any animal (including humans), but only humans can have neshuma... This would suggest that a human nephesh is set apart from the nephesh of animals... Animals are just the body plus life force. Humans are the body, plus the life force, and the reasoning mind... Therefore, in simple terms, nephesh is the animating spiritual force; while neshuma is the humanising spiritual personality and disposition...

Ruach... Means wind, although it is considered to be the middle soul, or spirit... It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and bad... In modern day phrasing, it equates to ones psyche, or ego-personality...

Neshuma... Means literally spiritual personality, and is sometimes referred to as the higher soul, or super-soul, although the true biblical translation of neshuma, literally means living soul... This distinguishes man (and woman) from all other life forms. It relates to the intellect, and it allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of Hashem (G-d). Neshuma returns to the source, the world of platonic ideas, where it enjoys 'the kiss of the beloved'...

It is therefore said that man (and woman) has three souls, the animal, namely nephesh, the wind, namely ruach, and the living soul, namely neshuma... Tradition has it that the nephesh belongs to the body, the ruach or spirit to heaven, and the neshuma or soul, to paradise. This sets out very precisely the neshuma's position... Talmudic and ancient commentaries point out that there were animals with human shapes, or proto-humans if you will, but they lacked the neshuma...

In the natural man or woman, the neshuma is in a state of sleep, rather like a new-born child, in that it only wakes at crucial turning points in a life... According to Kabbalah teachings, the soul is sent down into the world often against its will, because it is quite happy at its own original level. For reasons best known to Hashem (G-d), we all come here to learn certain lessons and are therefore directed into particular lives... If a person wishes to develop his or her neshuma (soul), he or she has to implement the desire consciously...

Finally, please also take a few moments to look at the following pages within this website, namely, loshon hara... and... chai...

PLEASE NOTE: The comments and information concerning neshuma, and other expressions or interpretations that appear on this page, are intended to be as a guide and for information purposes only. It is not to be considered as an exhaustive authority upon the subject, and is based solely upon the author's own knowledge, understanding and readings... There are many authorities on the subject that have argued for hundreds of years as to the full understanding and meaning of both the word neshuma, and the subject of the soul, and the argument as to its true meaning, along with the discussion, will continue for hundreds of years to come...

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