Pearls of Elul 5786 - Day Three

August 15 | 2 Elul

The Rabbinic volume known as Genesis Rabbah (14:9) teaches that there are five different Hebrew names that we have for the human soul.

They are: nefesh, ruaḥ, neshama, yeḥida, and ḥaya.

We might wonder why the Jewish tradition has five ways of referring to this non-material part of who we are.

One of those Hebrew names – nefesh – appears in a famous passage from the Torah (Exodus 31:16-17) that begins with the Hebrew word V’shamru:

The people of Israel shall keep Shabbat,

Observing Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time.

It is a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel.

For in six days Adonai made heaven and earth,

And on the seventh day God ceased from work vayi-nafash.

That last word, usually translated as “and was refreshed” is deliberately left in Hebrew transliteration above to draw attention to Shabbat being dedicated to matters of the nefesh – that is to say, to matters of the soul. It is a day dedicated to en-soul-ment.

This is just a reminder to take time today – and every Shabbat – to pay attention to your soul and to provide it nourishment.