Nefesh (757 times in Tanach!): soul, blood, life, people, slaves, will
Ruach (378 times!): wind, spirit, life, feeling, prophecy, desire, direction
Neshama (24 times) breath, life, essence, spirit, soul
(2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind--spirit? 'ruach' from God sweeping over the water—
(7) God יהוה formed the Human from the soil, blowing into his nostrils the breath 'neshama' of life: the Human became a living being 'nefesh'.
(17) “For My part, I am about to bring the Flood—waters upon the earth—to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath 'ruach' of life; everything on earth shall perish.
(22) All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life, all that was on dry land, died.
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and what it brings forth,
Who gave breath to the people upon it
And life to those who walk thereon:
I will not be angry forever:
Nay, I who make spirits flag,-e
Also create the breath of life.
By five names is the soul/nefesh called: nefesh, ru’ach, n’shamah, chayah (living one), y’chidah (unique one). Nefesh – this is the blood . . . Ru’ach – for she rises and falls, [as in:] “Who knows if the ru’ach of human beings goes upward?” [Ec 3:21]. N’shamah – this is the visage/character/ofah. . . Chayah – that all the limbs die and (i.e., unless) she lives in the body. Y’chidah – that all the limbs are two by two [but] she is singular in the body.
The soul is like its Creator. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, sees and is not visible, so the soul sees and is not visible. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has no sleep in His presence, so the soul does not sleep. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, bears His world, so the soul bears all the body. All souls are His, as it is said, "Behold, all souls are mine" (Ezek. 18:4).
(א) ׳נפש׳ – שם משותף. הוא שם הנפש החיה הכוללת לכל מרגיש ״אשר בו נפש חיה״. והוא גם כן שם הדם: ״ולא תאכל הנפש עם הבשר״. והוא גם כן שם הנפש המדברת – כלומר: צורת האדם: ״חי יי אשר עשה לנו את הנפש הזאת״. והוא שם הדבר הנשאר מן האדם אחר המות: ״והיתה נפש אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים״. והוא שם הרצון ״לאסור שריו בנפשו״ – כלומר: ברצונו; וכמוהו ״ואל תתנהו בנפש איביו״ – כלומר: אל תסגירהו לרצונם; וכמוהו אצלי ״אם יש את נפשכם לקבור את מתי״ – כלומר: אם יש בדעתכם וברצונם; וכמוהו אם יעמוד משה ושמואל לפני אין נפשי אל העם הזה״ – ענינו: אין רצון לי בהם – כלומר: לא ארצה להעמידם. וכל זכר ׳נפש׳ שבא מיוחס אליו ית׳ הוא בענין הרצון, כמו שקדם לנו באמרו: ״כאשר בלבבי ובנפשי יעשה״ – כלומר: ברצוני ובדעתי.
(ב) ולפי זה הענין יהיה פרוש ״ותקצר נפשו בעמל ישראל״ – פסק רצונו מענות ׳ישראל׳. וזה ה׳פסוק׳ לא תרגמו יונתן בן עזיאל כלל – שהוא הבינו לפי הענין הראשון ופגשו ממנו הפעלות ונמנע לפרשו אמנם כשיובן מזה הענין האחרון, יהיה הפרוש מבואר מאוד: שהמאמר קדם, שהשגחתו ית׳ הניחה אותם עד שמתו, וצעקו לבקש תשועה ולא הושיעם; וכשהפליגו בתשובה, ועצם דלותם, וגבר האויב עליהם – ריחמם ופסק רצונו מהתמיד עמלם ודלותם. ודעהו שהוא מופלג! [ותהיה הבי״ת באמרו: ׳בעמל ישראל׳ מקום ׳מן׳ וכאילו אמר: ׳מעמל ישראל׳. וכבר מנו מזה בעלי הלשון הרבה ״והנותר בבשר ובלחם״, ״נשאר בשנים״, ״בגר ובאזרח הארץ״ – וזה הרבה].
(1) THE Hebrew nefesh (soul) is a homonymous noun, signifying the vitality which is common to all living, sentient beings. E.g. “wherein there is a living soul” (nefesh) (Gen. 1:30). It denotes also blood,” as in “Thou shalt not eat the blood (nefesh) with the meat” (Deut. 12:23). Another signification of the term is “reason,” that is, the distinguishing characteristic of man, as in “As the Lord liveth that made us this soul” (Jer. 38:16). It denotes also the part of man that remains after his death (nefesh, soul) comp. “But the soul (nefesh) of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life (1 Sam. 25:29). Lastly, it denotes “will”; comp. “To bind his princes at his will” (be-nafsho) (Ps. 105:22); “Thou wilt not deliver me unto the will (be-nefesh) of my enemies” (Ps. 41:3); and according to my opinion, it has this meaning also in the following passages, “If it be your will (nafshekem) that I should bury my dead” (Gen. 23:8); “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my will (nafshi) could not be toward this people” (Jer. 15:1), that is, I had no pleasure in them, I did not wish to preserve them. When nefesh is used in reference to God, it has the meaning “will,” as we have already explained with reference to the passage, “That shall do according to that which is in my will (bi-lebabi) and in mine intention (be-nafshi)” (1 Sam. 2:35).
(2) Similarly we explain the phrase, “And his will (nafsho) to trouble Israel ceased” (Judg. 10:16). Jonathan, the son of Uzziel [in the Targum of the Prophets], did not translate this passage, because he understood nafshi to have the first signification, and finding, therefore, in these words sensation ascribed to God, he omitted them from his translation. If, however, nefesh be here taken in the last signification, the sentence can well be explained. For in the passage which precedes, it is stated that Providence abandoned the Israelites, and left them on the brink of death: then they cried and prayed for help, but in vain. When, however, they had thoroughly repented, when their misery had increased, and their enemy had had power over them, He showed mercy to them, and His will to continue their trouble and misery ceased. Note it well, for it is remarkable. The preposition ba in this passage has the force of the preposition min (“from” or “of”); and ba‘amal is identical with me‘amal. Grammarians give many instances of this use of the preposition ba: “And that which remaineth of (ba) the flesh and of (ba) the bread” (Lev. 8:32); “If there remains but few of (ba) the years” (ib. 25:52); “Of (ba) the strangers and of (ba) those born in the land” (Exod. 12:19).
My God, the soul You have placed within me is pure.
You formed it within me,
You breathed it into me,
and You guard it while it is within me.
One day You will take it from me and restore it within me in the time to come.
As long as the soul is within me, I thank You,
O Lord my God and God of my ancestors, Master of all worlds, Lord of all souls.
Blessed are You, O Lord, who restores souls to lifeless bodies.
(א) מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶֽיךָ מֶֽלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם שֶׁהֶחֱזַֽרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ:
(1) I give thanks to You living and everlasting King for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is Your faithfulness.
Revealing all his inmost parts.
להתכשר להיות חסיד, צריך לעשות עוד לפנים משורת הדין, ולא בעשיות גופו לבדו יוסיף לעבוד את עבודתו עבודת הקודש לפנים משורת הדין אף לא במוחו ודעתו לבדו רק גם בנפשו. את נפשו יוסיף להעבוד ה׳ נפשו תתגלה. וכל גוף, נפש, רוח ונשמה שלו יעבדו את ד׳, ואז יבטח בד׳ שיזכהו להיות חסיד, וזה שרש״י ז״ל אומר במס׳ פסחים [דף מ״ח] בעל נפש, חסיד. היא ראשיתה ועיקרה של החסידות שיהי׳ בעל נפש.
If one wants to be a true Chassid/devotee, one needs to go beyond the mere performance of mitzvot and intellectual acumen... One has to infuse their holy service (i.e. Torah, prayer and mitzvot) on the level of nefesh. With the nefesh joined to one's holy service, the nefesh will be revealed. Then their entire being, meaning their body, nefesh, ruach and neshama will serve God, and one can be sure that God will allow them to truly be a Chassid. What is a Chassid? Rashi tells us in his commentary on the Talmud (Pesachim, 40a), “a baal/master of nefesh.” The beginning and core of Hasidism is that a person is a ba'al nefesh.
The one who said that it is until the flesh decomposes can support his position based on that which is written in the following verse: “But his flesh grieves for him, and his soul mourns over him” (Job 14:22). This indicates that the deceased is aware of the pain of his flesh in the grave. The one who said that the deceased is aware only until the tomb is sealed with the top-stone can support his view based on that which is written in a different verse: “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This indicates that when the body returns to the earth, the spirit also returns to its place and is no longer aware of what is happening to the body.
At that time, [God] said to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses. The Angel of Death went and stood before him, and said: Moses, give me your soul. But he scowled at him [and said: The place I sit, you have no right to even stand – and you ask me to give you my soul? So he scowled at him] and chased him away with a rebuke.
The Holy Blessed One said again to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses.
Finally, the Holy Blessed One said to Moses: Moses! You’ve had enough of this world. The World to Come has been prepared for you since the six days of creation. As it says (Exodus 33:22), “God said, here is a place near Me; stand on that rock.” The Holy Blessed One took Moses’ soul and stored it under the Throne of Glory. (As it says [I Samuel 25:29], “And the soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life.”) And when He took it, He did it with a kiss. As it says (Deuteronomy 34:5), “[Moses died…] by the mouth of God.” And not only Moses’ soul is stored under the Throne of Glory, but also the souls of all the righteous are stored there! As it says (I Samuel 25:29), “[If anyone sets out to pursue you and seek your life], the soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life.” Could it be that the souls of the wicked are there, too? The verse continues: “but He will fling away the lives of your enemies like a slingshot.” [(To what can this be compared?) It can be compared to someone who takes a stone and places it in a sling;] even though he flings it from place to place, he does not know where it will land. So it is for the souls of the wicked, which cast about and go wandering the world, and have no place to rest.
The Holy Blessed One said again to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses. He went back to the place, and looked for Moses, but could not find him. He went to the Great Sea and said to it: Did Moses come here? And it said: I have not seen him since the day that Israel passed through me. He went to the mountains and hills and asked them: Did Moses come here? [They said to him: We have not seen him since the day that Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai. He went down to the Underworld and to Oblivion said to them: Did Moses come here? They said: We have heard his name, but we have never seen him. He went and asked the angels: Did Moses come here?] They said to him: God knows his path and his place. God stored him away for the World to Come, and no living creature knows where. As it says (Job 28:12–14, 22), “Where will wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? No human knows its measure, and it cannot be found in the land of the living. The Deep says, it is not in me, and the sea says it is not by me…. Oblivion and Death say: in our ears we heard a rumor.” Even Joshua was sitting in despair over Moses [for he did not know where he was], until the Holy Blessed One said to him: Joshua, why are you in despair over Moses? For “Moses My servant is dead.” (Joshua 1:2).
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and what it brings forth,
Who gave breath to the people upon it
And life to those who walk thereon:
Are gone at the breath of His nostrils.
...כַּדָּבָר שֶׁכָּתוּב. כָּל עַצְמותַי תּאמַרְנָה ה' מִי כָמוךָ. מַצִּיל עָנִי מֵחָזָק מִמֶּנּוּ. וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיון מִגּוזְלו. מִי יִדְמֶה לָּךְ. וּמִי יִשְׁוֶה לָּךְ. וּמִי יַעֲרָךְ לָךְ. הָאֵל הַגָּדול הַגִּבּור וְהַנּורָא אֵל עֶלְיון. קונֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ: נְהַלֶּלְךָ וּנְשַׁבֵּחֲךָ וּנְפָאֶרְךָ וּנְבָרֵךְ אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשֶׁךָ. כָּאָמוּר, לְדָוִד, בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה'. וְכָל קְרָבַי אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשׁו:
And the breath of all mankind.
my soul cries for You, O God;
(5) and the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.” (1985)
(2) Deliver me, O God,
for the waters have reached my neck; (1985)