Sources: Tanya Chapter 1, Part 2

Just as the tailor makes a garment according to the form of a person’s body, so G-d, blessed is He, made the body, which is the garment for the soul, in the form of the image of the soul. That is, He made 248 organs plus 365 veins that connect them. The blood and life-force surge from organ to organ by means of these veins, similar to pipes. Once the body was formed, G-d blew the spirit of life into it. This spirit is comprised of 248 spiritual organs and 365 spiritual veins that are invested within the 248 organs and 365 veins of the physical body. With this, the organs of the soul act through the organs of the body, which are their tools, like an axe in the hand of the lumberjack. Proof of this, is the fact that the physical organs only perform their functions so long as the soul resides within them; the eyes see and the ears hear etc. However, upon the departure of the soul, the eyes dim and all sense and feeling vanishes from the 248 organs.

Know that when the first man sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, both his body and soul took on a composition of good and evil. This is the matter of, “the dross of the serpent”, that was instilled in Eve and Adam. This dross brought about illness, disease and death, both spiritually and physically. This is the secret of the verse, “For on the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die” – meaning the death of the soul, as well as the death of the body.

Therefore, the body of man was formed from the four elements of the physical world that have both good and evil included in them. These are fire, air, water and earth. However, man’s body was formed from the choicest portion of these elements. Nevertheless, this choice portion also has an admixture of evil in it. Man’s four humors (i.e. the white, black, red and green humors were formed from the grossest portion of these elements. For the body to be healthy, these humors must be balanced. However, if there is an imbalance, and any one of them overpowers the positive characteristics of the others with its negative characteristics, this results in illness and disease. If it is even more overpowering, death may result.

Now, the pure soul, which is compared to the fruit, consists of 613 organs and veins and resides within the 613 organs and veins of the impure soul, which is compared to the shell (Kelipah) covering over the fruit. In turn, they both reside within the 613 organs and veins of the body. Thus, the organs of the pure soul reside within the organs of the evil soul and the organs of the evil soul reside within the organs of the body.

...And it combines with the Inanimate Soul within it, which is higher and greater. However, still being inanimate it has not become nourishment yet, therefore one who foreswears nourishment may still consume water and salt. And afterwards, when eating a vegetable, the Vegetative Soul within it attaches to the 'Vegetative Soul' within man which is higher, and thus it grows, while the body of the vegetable will be expelled as refuse. And so too when Man consumes an animal the refuse is expelled and the Animal Soul that was within it attaches to the "Animal Soul" within Man which is higher and more internal than it and thus it grows. And this is the mystical secret of bodily nourishment, for the Animal Soul within Man is not yet considered 'soul', rather it is 'body'. For the four souls, Inanimate Vegetative Animal and Articulate represent the Four Elements for they are each comprised of the four elements and the complete the body of Man, and are the physical compartment into which spreads the final garment, the spiritual bodies of Assiyah ie. the kellipot. For just as the physical earth serves as the husk and body of the more internal roots of the inanimate, vegetative and animal souls so do the spiritual forms of Assiyah enter first. Understand the order of these levels well. And then from the Kellipat Noga of (the Mystical Secret of the Tree of) good and evil is drawn into the Animal Soul within Man, and within this Kellipat Nogah which is comprised of the Good and Evil Inclinations, is clothed the innermost spiritual level of Assiyah, the soul of them all. This is what is called "The Soul of Man" and "The Soul of Angels". This is the (true) soul (inner life) of the Animal Soul and it is nourished from (the Animal Soul) just as the Animal Soul is nourished from the vegetable etc. However, it is only nourished from the body which is of the Kellipat Noga Good and Evil Inclinations. Thus, the opacity of the Animal Soul within Man which rises towards the Soul of Assiyah is nourished from her and this causes the body to sin. But what caused the opacity in the Animal Soul within Man to begin with? Certainly it is due to the Animal Soul within an actual animal, which is the externality of the Animal Soul within Man. This is why when Man sinned he would bring a sacrifice from among the animal kingdom, for it was they that caused the sin. And the Vegetative and Inanimate Souls are even more opaque than the Animal Soul and they surely contributed to the sin, therefore libations and meal offerings as well as salt accompanied each offering.

(16) For I will not always contend, I will not be angry forever: for the spirit will be humbled before me, as well as the souls which I have created.

(11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have assigned it to you for making expiation for your lives upon the altar; it is the blood, as life, that effects expiation.

(9) Returning to the explanation of the acquisition of good character traits through the clarification of the four elements; know that all the bad character traits are rooted in the evil and Kelipah of the four levels of the fundamental soul. Because of this, all bad character traits may be categorized into four kinds, as follows:

(10) A) The Element of Fire: This element is the source of arrogance, which is called, “A Coarse Spirit”. This is because it is the lightest and highest of all the elements. It includes anger, because, when his will is not done, an arrogant person becomes angered. If he would always be humble and recognize his own shortcomings, he would not lose his temper. From this we see that arrogance and anger are one and the same quality. This character trait has three offshoots;
1) Being pedantic. If not for haughtiness, a person would never be pedantic, similar to what we explained regarding anger.
2) Seeking to dominate others and to be honored by them. This is because he believes he is their superior.
3) Hatred toward anyone who is his superior. This too is an offshoot of arrogance.

(11) B) The Element of Wind (Air) This element is the source of the kind of speech which is called, “Idle Chatter”. That is, talking about needless matters which have no bearing on anything, neither spiritually nor physically. This character trait has four offshoots;
1) Speaking words of flattery.
2) Speaking lies.
3) Speaking the “evil tongue” about others.
4) Speaking words of boasting and self-aggrandizement to others.

(12) C) The Element of Water This element is the source of lust and the desire for pleasure. This is because water causes all manner of pleasurable things to grow. This character trait has two offshoots;
1) Envy. This leads to stealing another’s property or seducing his wife or the theft of anything that someone else possesses which he wants to delight in.
2) Jealousy. If his friend is wealthy or the like, which he wishes he could be; he will harbor jealousy toward him.
D) The Element of Earth

(13) This element is the source of depression in all its details. It has one offshoot; 1) Laziness. This causes him to be slothful in studying Torah or fulfilling the mitzvoth, either because he is depressed by the difficulty of acquiring the vanities of this world or because of troubles that befall him. Such a person will never be happy with his lot, in any matter. Moreover, no matter how wealthy he becomes, it will never satisfy him.

(14) From the above, we find that there are four sources of all the bad character traits. These are arrogance (including anger, which adheres to it), idle chatter, lust for pleasure and depression. Their sources are the four Kelipot of the Yetzer HaRa (The Evil Inclination) in the fundamental soul. The opposites of these are four good character traits whose sources are the four good elements of the fundamental soul.

David said: There are three distinguishing marks of this nation, the Jewish people. They are merciful, they are shamefaced, and they perform acts of kindness.