Journeys of the Soul Ii
Why? The question that everyone asks at one point in life or another. Why did G-d put us here? In the context of the soul, the question assumes greater poignancy. Why would G-d force the soul to leave its “secure” station in the world of souls to enter into a world of impurity and deception. At best, the soul, after surmounting all the obstacles and clearing all the hurdles, will not reach the level of passion for G-d as it had before it entered the body. Why then, would G-d want the soul to undergo this torture?
And torture it is. For the soul, anything short of a G-dly experience is painful. It’s like taking a fish out of water or a person out of air.
True, it was explained in the preceding chapter that the “descent was for the purpose of ascent.” The question then becomes how does the soul, or, in what way does the soul, ascend and grow as a result of the tortuous existence within a physical body?
Jewish Mysticism, particularly Chassidic literature, provides us with a way to understand the benefits that accrue to the soul from its existence within our physical world.
STANDING AND GOING
Elijah the prophet describes his state of existence before his soul entered this wold in the following manner: “And I have stood before Him among these travelers.” The soul, no matter how pure and sublime, is referred to as an “o’med-a standing entity.” This same appellation is applied to the angels as well. Souls and angels stay in one place. Whereas, the soul, when it inhabits a body and struggles in this physical universe, is called a “mehalech-a traveler.”
Thus, the first difference between the soul in this world as compared to the soul before its descent is that there it is stationary and here it is mobile.
There are now two matters that must be clarified. Firstly, how do we define the terms “standing” and “mobile” in relation to the soul? And secondly, how does the soul become mobile in this world?
Life is characterized by growth. But there are two kinds of growth: One that is gradual and incremental. The other is where growth is by spurts and can be described as a leap.
The difference between the two is not only quantitative, but it is qualitative.
When a person, for example, goes from one level to another, they are never really fully removed from the level from which they had left. One can always backtrack and end up at the same point from which they had left.
If the distance between point a and point b is close, and the distance between point b and point c is close, then the distance between point a and point c is likewise close and relative. And no matter how many points one traverses, as long as the distance between one point and the next one is relative and finite, they are all connected. No matter how far one has come from their point of departure, they are still considered as if they had never left that point. They are still standing on one place.
This scenario describes the state of the soul (and angels) before they engage this physical world. Certainly, there are innumerable levels of change that the soul experiences. The soul’s comprehension of it’s G-dly source grows every instant, thus enabling the soul to grow incessantly. Nevertheless, all these changes are finite and relative. In their essential state, these movements that the soul has undergone, cannot be characterized as true movements. And the changes that the soul has experienced have not changed the soul’s inherent identity and chemistry. The soul has not budged an inch from its original level of comprehension and stature no matter how many gradual and incremental changes the soul has undergone. When you add a finite quantity to another finite quantity, you end up with essentially the same finite quantity.
To give the soul the capacity to truly grow and travel, the soul had to have been thrust into a body and exposed to a hostile physical existence that is everything but what the soul was accustomed to in its pre-descent state.
When the soul experiences resistance, it is then capable of unleashing the hidden Divine energy that transcends its own limitations. The soul then realizes an aspect of its essential identity that is unlimited and infinite.
To illustrate this point, Jewish Mystical literature provides us with at least three analogies: One that is physical, one that is physiological and one that is human.
From the book Safe Kabbalah, Part Three: Journeys of the Soul by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
