The source of Jewish souls in the letters of Torah

The source of Jewish souls in the letters of Torah

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

(This is a continuation of the posts here, here, and here.)


The Jewish souls’ origin in Torah is also related to the letters in a Sefer Torah, which also number 600,000. Thus, the name “ישראל” is an acronym[1] for “יש ששים רבוא אותיות לתורה.”


The Neshamah of every single Jew stems from his or her corresponding letter in the Sefer Torah, which originates from the source of his or her soul in Torah above.


The Alter Rebbe asks:[2] Aren’t there far fewer letters in the Sefer Torah (to be precise, there are 304,805 letters)? He answers that the number of 600,000 includes the unwritten vowel sounds, each of which indicates a letter. For example, a komatz is an alef, a chirik is a yud, a cholam is a vav, and so on. However, we do not know exactly how to calculate which vowels are counted as letters in order to reach the number of 600,000.[3]


The Rebbe Rashab explains[4] that there are two kinds of letters: Letters of thought and letters of speech. When one thinks, one also uses letters, but these letters are far more abstract and spiritual than letters that come down in the relatively coarse medium of speech.


Likewise, the letters of Torah exist on both these levels: The letters of a physical Sefer Torah are comparable to Hashem’s letters of speech. But at the level of Chochmah of Atzilus, the Torah exists in the form of letters of thought. The Hebrew vowel sounds (Nekudos) are not necessarily written, but they allude to letters that one thinks. Thus, letters of thought include the more rarefied letters that relate to the Nekudos. And so on the level that Torah exists in Hashem’s thought, as it were, there are far more letters—altogether, 600,000. And since “The Jewish people arose in Hashem’s thought”[5]; i.e., the Jewish people stem from the level of Torah as it exists in Hashem’s thought, as it were, therefore the Jewish souls also number 600,000.


Moreover, just as thoughts are united with the thinker, so is a Jew united with Hashem by connecting with His thought. To explain, letters of thought are far more united with the soul than letters of speech; thus, although both thought and speech are referred to mere garments of the soul and not its essence, thought is called a “united garment,” while speech is referred to as a “separate garment.” Likewise, “The Torah binds the Jewish people with Hashem”[6] because the Jewish soul is rooted in the level of Hashem’s thought, which is united with Hashem in a far more complete way than the rest of the creations, which stem from Hashem’s speech, as it were.


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[1] Megaleh Amukos 186.
[2] Likkutei Torah Behar 41b, 43d.
[3] See the commentary of the P’nei Yehoshua on Kiddushin 30a, for additional solutions.
[4] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5663-5664, p. 309. Ibid., p. 131. Cf. ibid., p. 368.
[5] Bereshis Rabba 1:4.
[6] Zohar 3:73b.

This post was dedicated by Shmuli Markel and family (Shmuel Leib ben Esther and Sara Rochel bas Chaye Nechomoh), and by Yisroel Meir Raphael and family. Also dedicated by Yosef ben Chaim Goldenberg, now in the US Army; may Hashem continue to watch over him with many blessings and for a safe and healthy return to his family from Afghanistan.



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Cultivating a Tefillah state of mind

It happens regularly that we walk into Shul, begin reciting the words of Tefillah, and suddenly find our minds bombarded with all kinds of extraneous thoughts, from the mundane, to the banal, to the unworthy, to the outright forbidden. Even when we genuinely try to focus our attention, much of the time our thoughts still wander, and for most of us, we succeed at best partially.


Indeed, the struggle to remove extraneous thoughts from one’s mind and focus on the words of the prayers is immense.


And this stems from the fact that the goal is uncompromising: all thoughts other than meditating on Hashem’s greatness and the meaning of the words one is reading must be rejected. This even means that one should not read the words of Tefillah with one’s lips while reflecting in the back of one’s mind on topics in Torah. This is the reason that before Tefillah one should not study pilpul, intensive Talmudic analysis, but only practical halachic rulings. After studying pilpul, the mind is still excitedly grappling with complex ideas, and so even without consciously intent, one’s thoughts are prone to drift off from Tefillah to one’s studies. In contrast, practical halachic rulings do not engross the person, and so we are not concerned that such study will bring on stray thoughts during Tefillah.


If even thoughts of Torah should be rejected during Tefillah, one should surely reject thoughts of the mundane. This includes dispelling otherwise permitted and constructive thoughts, such as thoughts of one’s livelihood. It is especially difficult to clear one’s mind if one is emotionally distraught from hardship in some area of one’s personal life (may Hashem spare us).


This is also the reason that during Tefillah one should keep looking inside the Siddur at all times, for allowing one’s gaze to wander around Shul can trigger distracting thoughts. Moreover, since “letters illuminate,” gazing at the printed words helps focus one’s concentration.


In the case of Shacharis, we know that various specific preparations are prescribed with the goal of fostering the appropriate mental state (see here). So instead let us discuss Minchah and Maariv, for it is not written (as far as I am aware) that one ought to make a point of preparing for these Tefillos through a session of Torah study and hisbonenus (contemplation of Hashem’s greatness). (The reason for this is that the preparations for Shacharis are said to extend throughout the day, to Minchah and Maariv.) Nevertheless, this does not mean that it is acceptable to rush in from one’s car such that one enters the Shul at the exact moment that the Minyan begins (and that’s in a good scenario).


This is reflected in the Talmudic ruling: “Rav Chisda said: [When entering Shul] one should always enter a measure of two doors-worth and then pray” (Berachos 8a). One explanation of this is that one should wait briefly before starting to read the words of Tefillah.


During this time one should make a conscious effort to mentally cast aside all the aspects of day-to-day life that were preoccupying one until then, in order to enter the calm, lucid state of mind conducive to proper concentration. In Yiddish this process of transition is known as “shtelen zich davvenen.”


So instead of arriving at the 2 pm Minyan for Minchah at 2:00:39 short of breath and zipping through Ashrei in order to make it in time to answer Kaddish, do yourself a favor and come just five minutes earlier. Relax a bit, say Korbanos slowly, glance in a sefer, put a coin in the pushkeh, and remind yourself simply about what you are about to do—the purpose of all the words you are about to read: You are about to be granted the opportunity to stand directly before Hashem and praise Him, plead that He grant your requests for sustenance, and then thank Him for His kindness.


It will make all the difference.

Adapted from Kuntres HaTefillah, p. 23.