The Intellectual Soul (pt. 1): "In the image of G-d"

The Intellectual Soul (pt. 1)

All mankind is created “in the image of G–d”

The Mishnah states:[1]

Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of G–d; it is by special divine love that he was informed that he was created in the image of G–d. As it is stated: “For G–d made man in His own image.”[2]

The Tosafos Yom Tov notes that the Mishnah cites a verse addressed to Noach and his descendants, who were not Jewish. He interprets that “beloved is man” refers not only to Jews, but to all mankind. All mankind is created “in the image of G–d,” and is therefore beloved to G–d. And since human beings are beloved to G–d, all mankind should also respect, value, and love one another.

Of course, although in this context “man” refers to all mankind, not only the Jewish people, it surely includes Jews as well. Although Jews possess an additional soul that is “literally a part of Hashem above,”[3] they too were created “in the image of G–d.”

The Intellectual Soul

What indeed does it mean to have been created “in the image of G–d,” and why is this “beloved to G–d”? To state the obvious, G–d has no image or form, neither material nor spiritual.[4] Rather, echoing the Rambam,[5] Chassidus explains[6] that “the image of G–d” refers to the Nefesh HaSichlis, the Intellectual Soul.

The Intellectual Soul is the mind, the spiritual faculty that enables a person to think in a uniquely human way. Its goal is to transcend personal interest and pursue abstract, objective truth. This is alluded to in the verse, “The spirit ... of man rises upwards”[7]; i.e., man—and the faculty that defines man as different from animals, the Intellectual Soul—naturally yearns upward, to transcend itself.

Both Jews and non-Jews possess an Intellectual Soul. However, the Jew’s Intellectual Soul is higher than the non-Jew’s, for it “senses spiritual refinement, so although it is by nature human intellect, it has a feel for spiritual refinement.”[8]

This sensitivity to spiritual refinement enables the Jew who follows Torah properly to truly transcend his own self-interest in his intellectual strivings.

By contrast, the non-Jew’s Intellectual Soul naturally relates to the world in a coarse, materialistic way, lacking the Jew’s natural sensitivity to the spirituality that underlies the world.

The non-Jewish Intellectual Soul comes fully manifest in secular wisdom, which is the culmination of the intellectual efforts of the finest of non-Jewish minds.

This wisdom naturally fosters a feeling of arrogance; in fact, it fosters a feeling of the utmost arrogance. Thus, ongoing study of secular wisdom without the spiritual fortification that Torah study provides will spoil the student spiritually until he or she ultimately degenerates to a state of spiritual and moral coarseness.[9]

To be continued, with the help of Hashem.

Based on the Rebbe's Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 15, pp. 58 ff.

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[1] Avos 3:18.
[2] Bereshis 1:17.
[3] Tanya ch. 2.
[4] See the Yigdal hymn: “He has no semblance of a body, nor is He corporeal.” Cf. Derech Mitzvosecha, Shoresh Mitzvas HaTefillah ch. 2.
[5] See Guide for the Perplexed 1:1:

Now man possesses as his proprium something that is very strange in that it is not found in anything else that exists under the sphere of the moon, namely, intellectual apprehension. In the exercise of this, neither sense, nor any part of the body, nor any of the extremities are used; and therefore this apprehension was compared to G–d’s apprehension, which does not require an instrument, although in reality it is not like the latter apprehension, but only appears so at first.

It is because of ... the divine intellect conjoined with man, that it is said of man that he is “in the image of G–d” and “after His likeness”—not that Hashem, may He be exalted, is a body and possesses a shape.

Likewise, Rashi explains kidmuseinu, “after our likeness” to mean “with the power to comprehend and discern.”
[6] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5702, p. 104 ff.
[7] Koheles 3:21.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5709, p. 52 ff.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


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Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

On Our Mission in the Mundane World

(in honor of 9-10 Kislev)

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The ultimate Truth of all is that Hashem is the one and only true, absolute reality. 

There is a lofty realm in which this truth is completely, undeniably real and obvious, akin to the experience of standing in the outdoors and basking in the sunlight directly. This is the supernal realm, or “world,” of Atzilus, a level in a state of constant, all-consuming bittul, nullification, to G–dliness; it has no sense of any independent existence from Him. This is known as bittul bi’metzius, “total nullification.”

But from the levels below, Hashem chooses to conceal His absolute reality and this enables them to become beings that are self-aware. They have a sense of yeshus, of independent existence from Hashem. (For more on the difference between Atzilus and the worlds below it, see here.)

There are various degrees in this concealment. The first general level, which we will discuss in this post, is expressed in the words of the Havdalah prayer, “to separate between the holy and the mundane.” Here Hashem conceals His light only partially. This is comparable to the beneficial effect produced when a curtain is placed in front of a window of bright sunlight. This concealment allows the light to illuminate the room in an acceptable, pleasant way.

Likewise, Hashem placed a “parsah” (lit. “curtain”) that conceals the awesome light of the world of Atzilus, where the absolute truth of Hashem’s reality shines openly. This enables the creation of the three lower worlds of Beriyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah (known collectively by the acronym b’ya), which sense their own independent existence. Yet this concealment is only partial, for the “light shines through,” enabling the beings in these worlds, the angels, to sense Hashem’s reality enough that they can surrender themselves partially to Hashem. This is known as bittul ha’yesh, “nullification of ego.”

This is akin to the difference between Shabbos and the weekdays:

Shabbos is a time of open, transcendent divine revelation (see here), when the Jew rises completely above all worldly concerns and devotes himself exclusively to Hashem. This is comparable to the bittul bi’metzius in the world of Atzilus.

On the other hand, of the weekdays the Torah instructs: “For six days you shall work,”[1] for then one must pursue one’s livelihood (see here). This requires that one lower oneself spiritually into an environment of divine concealment that allows for one to feel selfishness. This is comparable to the divine concealment and yeshus that prevails in the worlds of b’ya.

The Jew’s mission, however, is bittul—to bring awareness of Hashem to illuminate this experience. Every morning, before he goes out into the world and falls into the preoccupations related to his livelihood, he should remind himself that the world can’t possibly exist on its own, and so its existence surely comes from G–dliness. Likewise, during prayer, and then afterward, even in the very midst of his grueling business dealings, he should remind himself that it is Hashem alone Who grants him “strength to perform deeds of might.”[2] This means that he should trust in Hashem alone, and not in any mortal. Moreover, he should remind himself, this trust itself is the key to his material success, for we are assured, “cast your burden upon Hashem, and He will sustain you.”[3]

Through this one breaks through the concealment, brings divine light even into the lowliness of the world (see here). Moreover, he elevates to Hashem all the energies that he had invested in his mundane matters, bringing them to assume the refined status of chullin shena’asu al taharas ha’kodesh, mundane matters that were performed in a pure and holy manner. He thereby performs bittul ha’yesh, fulfills the purpose of his creation, and merits a personal revelation of G–dliness.

Adapted from the Mitteleh Rebbe's
Ma’amarei Admur HaEmtza’i, Hanachos 5577, pp. 274-276; cf. p. 281.

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[1] Shemos 20:8.
[2] Devarim 8:18.
[3] Tehillim 55:23.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Chilling "coincidence": A sign from Above

Chilling “Coincidence”:
A Sign from Above

Rabbi Y. Oliver

This is a glaring, chilling “coincidence.”

On Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5769, Gavriel Holtzberg and his pregnant wife, Rivkah, shluchim to India, were slain by terrorists and died al kiddush Hashem, along with others. May their blood be avenged.

Just now, on the very same day in 5773, four years later, Mira Sharf, shluchah to India, also pregnant, was slain by terrorists and died al kiddush Hashem, along with others. May their blood be avenged. (Her husband Shmuel, yibadel lechaim tovim, shliach to India, was critically injured, but survived, as did her children. May they have a full recovery and be comforted.)

Our first response should be to cry out, “Hashem, ad mosai?!” Enough suffering in golus!

But then we must take notice. This is an open sign of Hashem’s hashgachah, His direct involvement in our lives. What is He trying to tell us, the worldwide community of chassidei Chabad in particular?

I don’t presume to know for certain what the lesson might be. But Chazal say, “If one sees suffering coming upon himself, he should inspect his deeds.”[1] He should make a cheshbon nefesh, and see if he can find any sins that might have caused this misfortune, and do teshuvah for them.

This applies not only to the Jew as an individual, but also to the Jew’s community, as the Rambam rules:[2]

It is a positive obligation stated in the Torah to cry out to Hashem in prayer whenever a great calamity should befall the community. … This is counted among the paths of repentance, that when a calamity arrives and people cry out and sound the Shofar, everyone will know that it was because of their wrongdoing that this evil befell them … and this will cause the calamity to be removed from them. If, however, they do not cry out … arguing instead that this event happened to us as part of the natural way of the world and that the calamity happened by chance, this approach is cruel, because it causes people to persist in their wrongdoing and thus brings about further disasters … . Moreover, the Sages ordained that people should fast over every calamity that overtakes the community, until Heaven shows them compassion.

So when tragedy befalls a community, it’s the fault of the entire community, and the community must know that. (It’s certainly not the fault of any non-Jew, although that evil scum will certainly get his just deserts, for no non-Jew has the power to harm any Jew unless Hashem so decreed it. As the Gemara states,[3] the Beis HaMikdash would not have been destroyed unless “their Mighty One had given them over, and Hashem had trapped them.”[4])

This is true of any tragedy in the community (as I write here), but all the more so when it occurs in a way in which we see Hashem’s hashgachah so openly, as is the case here, Rachmana litzlan.

So let us not let this tragedy pass us by, in effect treating it as if, chas vesholom, “the calamity happened by chance.” Let us search within, consult with our friends, and turn to our venerated Rabbonim and Mashpi’im in earnest: What can we do to improve as chassidim? Are there areas in which we are falling short, and even going against what the teachings of Chassidus demand of us, Rachmana litzlan? In which areas are we not devoting ourselves to do perform good deeds—and and the hora’os of Chassidus and the Rebbe in general, and his call to spread Yiddishkeit and Chassidus far and wide in particular—as much as we could? And let us make good resolutions to change, and follow them through, with the help of Hashem.

This is the true Jewish response to suffering. Let’s do it, and may Hashem see our sincere teshuvah, have mercy upon us, spare us from all future harm and sorrow, and send Moshiach now.

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[1] Berachos 5a.
[2] Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Ta’aniyos, 1:1-4.
[3] Gittin 55b-56b.
[4] Devarim 32:30.


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Essential spiritual food and clothing

Essential spiritual food and clothing

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Generally speaking, livelihood includes two kinds of basic needs: food and clothing. These are both necessities for livelihood, i.e., physical survival, for a person must have some food and clothing to survive. However, they serve very different functions.

Food is an ohr pnimi, an “internal light”—an influence that comes down and adapts to the level of the recipient on its terms, who internalizes and unites with it. So when a person eats, he takes the food inside, and once it has been digested, it becomes one with his flesh and blood. This then enables one’s physical life to continue, for the food becomes converted into blood and other nutrients that spread throughout the body, strengthening it and making it a fit vessel for the soul to become fully vested in it, enabling the soul to continue giving life to the body.

In contrast, clothes represent an ohr makif, an “encompassing light,” an influence that does not descend to the level of the recipient, but encompasses him. Likewise, clothes do not actually become one with the wearer; rather, they surround him and benefit him by providing warmth, maintaining modesty, expressing his identity, and so on.

The same is true of spiritual livelihood and spiritual health, which depend upon the combination of two parallel kinds of divine service—Torah and Mitzvos.[1]

Torah is compared to eating, as it is written, “Come and partake of My bread,”[2] and “Your Torah is in my innards,”[3] for the Torah is an ohr pnimi that a Jew is obligated to intellectually “digest” and unite with.

In contrast, Mitzvos are compared to clothing, for they elicit upon the Jew an intense ohr makif, a sublime divine light, that descends upon the Divine Soul, the Bestial Soul, and the body, but does not permeate the Jew’s personality, which primarily constitute the intellect and emotions.[4]

So when Hashem instructs in the Torah to fix regular times for Torah study, to perform Mitzvos, davven with a minyan, and so on, these are not merely worthy actions that we do because we want to make Hashem happy, or the like. Nor are they merely a fulfillment of our duties to Hashem. Although they include all the above, we should realize that Torah and Mitzvos simply provide our soul—which constitutes the Jew’s true self (see here)—with the “food” and “clothing” that it needs in order to survive and thrive.

The Rebbe Rashab’s Sefer HaMa’amarim 5653, p. 262-263.

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[1] Zohar 3:7b.
[2] Cf. Tanya ch. 5.
[3] Mishlei 9:5.
[4] Tehillim 40:9.
[5] Cf. Tanya chs. 5, 25, 46.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Jacob Ostreicher (Yaakov Yehuda ben Shaindel), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

Dedicated by Dovid and Bracha Tsap as a merit for their daughter Sara Rachel bas Hinda Zelda Bracha, in honor of her birthday on 10 Cheshvan.


Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.

Bringing the Spiritual to Dominate Over the Material

(The essay below is published in honor of the birthday of
the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden, on 20 Cheshvan—today.
May his merit protect us.)

Bringing the Spiritual to
Dominate Over the Material

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

Hashem created us in the default state of valuing the material above the spiritual—in Hebrew, “hisgabrus ha’chomer al ha’tzurah.” At first glance, and especially in light of the materialistic and degenerate culture and times in which we live, changing this around may seem unrealistic and even unattainable.

Yet Torah, and the teachings of Chassidus in particular, teach that in fact, we are not doomed to remain in this state. We can and must choose to transcend it, but try as we might, we cannot truly do so on our own.

Without an airplane or similar device, a human being cannot fly up into the sky. Likewise, without special tools, we are trapped in our natural, default state of regarding the material as of foremost importance.

What are the tools that enable this inner change? In general, this is the purpose of all of Torah and Mitzvos.[1] However, in Torah itself, the area that facilitates this inner change in the most thorough and lasting way can be found, in our generation, in the teachings of Chassidus.

It is written, “From my flesh I see Hashem.”[2] This encapsulates the purpose of the teachings of Chassidus—to explain in great depth and detail the faculties of the soul, and how they interact with one another. Since the Jew’s soul descends from the higher spiritual worlds,[3] everything in our inner selves parallels the world at large, and can thus be used to understand it.

Thus Chassidus uses as its mashal, analogy (pl. meshalim), the soul’s faculties—“my flesh”—in all its intricacies, through which we are able to “see Hashem”—to understand the nimshal (concept being explained by the analogy) of sublime levels of Hashem’s greatness.

In particular, by learning about and becoming aware of and sensitive to the soul’s faculties, one can come to truly know and understand the ten Sefiros (divine emanations), and all the levels of Seder Hishtalshelus (the entire spiritual cosmos—see here), which Hashem created “So that we would come to know His greatness”[4] through them.

One should reflect upon these levels thoroughly and with great concentration (this is known as hisbonenus—see here). This enables the Neshamah to shine, elevating the person to a state of inner closeness and attachment to G–dliness, and the appropriate time to engage in this reflection is during Tefillah, prayer (see here and here).

This leads one to fulfill the goal of Chassidus: to bring the spiritual to dominate over the physical.[5] For when the Neshamah shines, one naturally casts aside materialistic desires and preoccupations (“chumriyus”—see here), and views all the physical as nothing but a tool to be used to fulfills the Torah’s instructions, “All your actions should be for the sake of Heaven,”[6] and “In all your ways, know Him.”[7]

May Hashem help us to go from strength to strength in this endeavor!

Based on the Rebbe Rashab’s Hemshech 5672, Vol. 3, pp. 1310-1311.

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[1] Cf. Tanya, ch. 32: “...כי יסוד ושורש כל התורה הוא להגביה ולהעלו' הנפש על הגוף מעלה מעלה”.
[2] Iyov 19:26.
[3] Tanya, ch. 3, beg.
[4] Zohar 2:42b.
[5] In the original, “hisgabrus hatzurah al hachomer.”
[6] Avos 2:12.
[7] Mishlei 3:6.


Dedicated by Dovid and Bracha Tsap as a merit for their daughter Sara Rachel bas Hinda Zelda Bracha, in honor of her birthday on 10 Cheshvan.


Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Alan Gross (Aba Chonah ben Hava Chana), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for (at least) $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.