Mishneh Torah Foundations

The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being who brought into being all existence. All the beings of the heavens, the earth, and what is between them came into existence only from the truth of His being.

The Holy One, blessed be He, recognizes His truth and knows it as it is. He does not know with a knowledge which is external to Him in the way that we know, for ourselves and our knowledge are not one. Rather, the Creator, may He be blessed, He, His knowledge, and His life are one from all sides and corners, in all manners of unity.
Were He to live as life is [usually conceived], or know with a knowledge that is external from Him, there would be many gods, Him, His life, and His knowledge. The matter is not so. Rather, He is one from all sides and corners, in all manners of unity. Thus, you could say, "He is the Knower, He is the Subject of Knowledge, and He is the Knowledge itself." All is one.
This matter is beyond the ability of our mouths to relate, [or our] ears to hear, nor is there [the capacity] within the heart of man to grasp it in its entirety. [In expression of this concept, Genesis 42:15] states: "chay (By the life) of Pharaoh" and [I Samuel 25:26] states "chay, (By the life) of your soul," but [I Samuel, ibid.] does not say: "chay, (By the life) of God" but chai Adonai, “As God lives.” [This shows] that the Creator and His life are not two, as are the lives of living beings or the lives of the angels.
Thus, He does not recognize and know the creations in terms of the creations as we know them, but rather He knows them in terms of Himself. Thus, since He knows Himself, He knows everything, for the existence of everything else is dependent on Him.

It is manifest that God is identical with His attributes and His attributes with Him, so that it may be said that He is the knowledge, the knower, and the known, and that He is the life, the living, and the source of His own life, the same being true of His other attributes. This conception is very hard to grasp, and thou shouldst not hope to thoroughly understand it by two or three lines in this treatise. There can only be imparted to thee a vague idea of it. Now, in consequence of this important axiom, the Hebrew language does not allow the expression Ḥe Adonai (the life of God) as it does Ḥe Fara'oh (the life of Pharaoh), where the word ḥe (in the construct state) is related to the following noun, for the thing possessed and the possessor (in this case) are two different things. Such a construction cannot be used in regard to the relation of a thing to itself. Since the life of God is His essence, and His essence is His life, not being separate and distinct from each other, the word "life", therefore, cannot be put in the construct state, but the expression Ḥai Adonai (the living God) is used, the purpose of which is to denote that God and His life are one.

Listen, therefore, to what I shall tell thee, reflect well upon it, for it is unquestionably the truth. It is, indeed, an axiom of the science of the divine, i. e. metaphysics, that God (may He be blessed!) does not know by means of knowledge, and does not live by means of life, so that He and His knowledge may be considered two different things in the sense that this is true of man; for man is distinct from knowledge, and knowledge from man, in consequence of which they are two different things. If God knew by means of knowledge, He would necessarily be a plurality, and the primal essence would be composite, that is, consisting of God Himself, the knowledge by which He knows, the life by which He lives, the power by which He has strength, and similarly of all His attributes. I shall only mention one argument, simple and easily understood by all, though there are strong and convincing arguments and proofs that solve this difficulty.

These four bodies: fire, wind, water, and earth are the fundamental [elements] of all the creations below the sky. Everything that exists - [be it] man, beast, fowl, crawling creature, fish, plant, metal, precious stone, pearl, building stone, mountain, or lump of earth - the body of all these [entities] is a combination of these four fundamental [elements].
Thus, all the bodies which are found below the sky, with the exception of these four bodies, are a combination of matter and form, and their matter is a combination of these fundamental [elements]. These fundamental [elements], however, are a combination of matter and form [as they exist in a hylian state] alone.

You will never see matter without form, or form without matter. It is the heart of man which in its knowledge considers the bodies that are found and knows that they are a combination of matter and form.
It appreciates that there are bodies whose matter is a combination of the four fundamental [elements], bodies whose matter is simple and contains only one type of matter, and forms which have no matter and cannot be seen by the eye. [The latter] are discernible only to the eye of the heart. [We can appreciate their existence, just] as we know of [the existence of] the Master of everything, [though we do] not see [Him] with [our] eyes.

You will never see matter without form, or form without matter. It is the heart of man which in its knowledge considers the bodies that are found and knows that they are a combination of matter and form.
It appreciates that there are bodies whose matter is a combination of the four fundamental [elements], bodies whose matter is simple and contains only one type of matter, and forms which have no matter and cannot be seen by the eye. [The latter] are discernible only to the eye of the heart. [We can appreciate their existence, just] as we know of [the existence of] the Master of everything, [though we do] not see [Him] with [our] eyes.

The soul of all flesh is the form which it was given by God. The extra dimension which is found in the soul of man is the form of man who is perfect in his knowledge. Concerning this form, the Torah states [Genesis 1:26]: "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness" - i.e., granting man a form which knows and comprehends ideas that are not material, like the angels, who are form without body, until he can resemble them.[This statement] does not refer to the form of the body perceived by the eye - i.e., the mouth, the nose, the cheeks, and the remainder of the structure of the body. This is referred to as to'ar (appearance).
It is not the soul found in all living flesh which allows it to eat, drink, reproduce, feel, and think. Rather, knowledge is the form of this [dimension of] soul and it is concerning this form of the soul, that the verse states: "in our image and in our likeness." Frequently, this form is referred to as nefesh or ruach. Therefore, one must be careful regarding these names, lest another person err regarding them. Each name reveals its characteristics.

The form of this soul is not a combination of the fundamental [elements] into which it will ultimately decompose, nor does it come from the neshamah so that it would require the neshamah, as the neshamah requires the body. Rather, it is from God, from heaven.
Therefore, when the matter [of the body], which is a combination of the fundamental [elements], decomposes, and the neshamah ceases to exist - for [the neshamah] exists only together with the body and requires the body for all its deeds - this form will not be cut off, for this form does not require the neshamah for its deeds. Rather, it knows and comprehends knowledge which is above matter, knows the Creator of all things, and exists forever. In his wisdom, Solomon [gave this description (Ecclesiastes 12:7 ]: "The dust will return to the Earth as it [originally] was, and the ruach will return to God who granted it."

When a person meditates on these matters and recognizes all the creations, the angels, the spheres, man, and the like, and appreciates the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, in all these creations, he will add to his love for God. His soul will thirst and his flesh will long with love for God, blessed be He.
He will stand in awe and fear from his humble, lowly, and base [nature] when he compares himself to one of the great and holy bodies, how much more so when comparing himself to the pure forms which are separate from matter and do not share any connection with it. He will see himself as a vessel full of embarrassment and shame, empty and lacking.

This is implied by the prophet's statement [Jeremiah 10:10]: "And God, your Lord, is true" - i.e., He alone is true and no other entity possesses truth that compares to His truth. This is what [is meant by] the Torah's statement [Deuteronomy 4:35]: "There is nothing else aside from Him" - i.e., aside from Him, there is no true existence like His.

These four bodies do not possess a soul, nor are they conscious or knowing. Rather, they are like dead bodies. Each one has its inclinations. However, it is not conscious or knowledgeable [of these inclinations], nor can it change them.
David's statement (Psalms 148:7-8): "Praise God from the Earth, sea-monsters and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and vapor" [does not contradict the above statement]. That verse should be interpreted: Men, praise [God] for His mightiness which is apparent in the fire, hail, and other creations that can be seen below the sky, because their power is always visible to [both] the great and the small.

Every entity which is a combination of these four fundamental [elements] will ultimately decompose into them. Some will decompose after a mere few days, and others will decompose after many years. [However,] it is impossible for everything which is a combination of them not to decompose into them. It is impossible even for gold and ruby not to decompose and return to their fundamental elements: a portion becoming fire, a portion water, a portion wind, and a portion earth.

Since every [entity will] decompose and separate into these four fundamental [elements], why was Adam told: "You will return to dust," [implying that man will return to dust alone]? Because the major part of man's composition is from dust. every [entity that] decomposes will not return to the four fundamental [elements] immediately. Rather, it will decompose and change into another entity. That entity will, in turn, change into another entity, until ultimately, it will return to the elements. Thus, all entities are constantly returning [to their elemental state] in a cycle.

These four fundamental [elements] are in a constant [state of flux], with a certain portion - but never the entire matter - of one changing into another every day and every hour.
What is implied? A portion of the earth which is close to the water changes, dissolves, and becomes water. Similarly, a portion of the water which is close to the wind changes, evaporates, and becomes wind. A portion of the wind which is close to the fire changes, goes through a metamorphosis, and becomes fire.
Similarly, a portion of the fire close to the wind goes through a metamorphosis, changes, contracts and becomes wind. The wind which is close to the water changes, contracts, and becomes water; and the water which is close to the earth changes, contracts, and becomes earth.
This [cycle of] change [proceeds] little by little over the course of time. The entire fundamental [element] will never change – [for example], all the water will never become wind, nor all the wind fire – because it is impossible for [the existence of] one of the four fundamental [elements] to be nullified. Rather, a portion of the fire will change to wind, and a portion of the wind to fire. Similarly, between each pair of these four, change will go on in an unceasing recurrent cycle.

You will never see matter without form, or form without matter. It is the heart of man which in its knowledge considers the bodies that are found and knows that they are a combination of matter and form.
It appreciates that there are bodies whose matter is a combination of the four fundamental [elements], bodies whose matter is simple and contains only one type of matter, and forms which have no matter and cannot be seen by the eye. [The latter] are discernible only to the eye of the heart. [We can appreciate their existence, just] as we know of [the existence of] the Master of everything, [though we do] not see [Him] with [our] eyes.