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DEUTERONOMY | 12:23 nefesh — DEUT579 And now I will make known to you the wisd...

DEUT579 And now I will make known to you the wisdom of the nefesh, the ruach, and then the neshamah, so that you may fear the Holy One Blessed be He. The nefesh is in the liver, for "the blood is in the nefesh" [this verse]. It is the location of the desire for eating, drinking, cohabitation, and the attendant lusts. For the liver is full of blood and it lusts to sate a man with pleasures, enjoyment and delights. This is the intent of (Mishlei 27:7): "The sated nefesh will spurn honey drippings." The ruach is in the heart. It seeks lordship, greatness, and kingship in the heart of a man, causing him to pursue honor. It is for this reason that haughtiness of heart is referred to as "grossness of ruach." It lifts a man's heart to lordship, self–aggrandizement and pride. The neshamah is the fount of wisdom. It resides within the mind as a king amidst his battalions. It partakes partially of the glory of its Creator, so that it spurns the delights of men and the vanities of their amusement and generates wisdom and knowledge. All of its thoughts are to serve the Holy One Blessed be He in fear, and it contemplates what will transpire in the end, when the body dies and deteriorates, and how it will return in purity to Him Who created it and placed it within the body.

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Source KeyTZADIK
Verse12:23
Keyword(s)nefesh
Source Page(s)617-9
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