🔊61 ליקוטי אמרים: פרק יט-1

(1) To elucidate still further, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of the verse, “The candle of G–d is the soul (neshamah) of man.”1 Proverbs 20:27.

(2) What it means is that the souls of Jews, who are called “man,”2 Yevamot 61a. are, by way of illustration, like the flame of the candle, whose nature it is always to flicker upward, for the flame of the fire intrinsically seeks to be parted from the wick in order to unite with its source above in the universal element of fire which is in the sublunar sphere, as is explained in Etz Chaim.

(3) And although it would thereby be extinguished and emit no light at all below, and even above, in its source, its light would be nullified, nevertheless this is what it seeks in accordance with its nature.

(4) In like manner does the neshamah of man, including the quality of ruach and nefesh, naturally desire and yearn to separate itself and depart from the body in order to unite with its origin and source in G–d, the Fountainhead of life, blessed is He, though thereby it would become null and void, completely losing its entity therein, with nothing remaining of its former essence and being.3 This passage does not mean extinction of the soul, only its cessation as a distinct entity. Nevertheless, this is its will and desire by its nature.

(5) “Nature” is an applied term for anything that is not in the realm of reason and comprehension.

(6) In our case, too, the inference is that this will and desire of the soul are not within the realm of reason, knowledge, and intelligence that can be grasped and understood but beyond graspable and comprehensible knowledge and intelligence, for this nature stems from the faculty of chochmah found in the soul, wherein abides the light of the En Sof, blessed is He.