נפש רוח נשמה חיה יחידהThe Chain of the Soul

nefesh ruach neshamah chayah yechidahIn Gamatria ↗

Five rings of one soul, the highest tied above.

Besides the lower spirit that gives the body life and feeling, which animals share, man has a separate, lofty soul whose purpose is to bind him to the higher roots so that his deeds affect them. Though spoken of as one, it is many levels linked like rings of a chain: the highest joined to the next, the last to the lower spirit, and that to the finest part of the blood. Parts may leave and return, or be added, unfelt by the body, as with the extra soul (neshamah yeterah) that comes on Shabbat. Its five general parts are nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah and yechidah.

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