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Nefesh habahamis

נפש הבהמית

The animal soul (nefesh habahamis)

One of a Jew’s two souls, clothed in the blood to give the body life; from kelipas nogah, mixed of good and evil, with its own intellect and middos; the G‑dly soul must refine it.

The word The text also speaks of the soul of an actual animal (נפש הבהמה, e.g. the animal brought as an offering). Nasso 7:11 and Shir HaShirim 27:2 set the two apart: נפש הבהמית שבאדם is an intellectual, speaking soul; the soul of an animal is a living soul only.

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 4, ¶1Every Jew has two souls. The vital, animal soul is clothed in the blood to give life to the body; it came down from a high place through many intermediaries and concealments, so it is a mix of good and evil, the source of bad middos and of human intellect. The G‑dly soul comes without intermediary and descends into it to battle it, refine it and turn it to good (the name Yisrael).נפש אחת נקרא נפש החיונית והבהמית ומלובשת בדם האדם להחיות הגוף
  2. Likkutei Torah, Nasso 7, ¶11The animal soul in a person is an intellectual, speaking soul, far above the soul of an actual animal. Its root is the “man” within the faces of lion and ox of the Ofanim and holy Chayos; like the Ofanim, which storm at what is beyond their grasp, it can be stirred “with greater strength” until its desire turns into love of G‑d, above the G‑dly soul’s own love.שהרי נפש הבהמית שבאדם היא נפש המשכלת ומדברת שגדלה וגבהה מעלתה לאין קץ על נפש שבבהמות ממש
  3. Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 13, ¶4The animal soul is taken from kelipas nogah and is made up of the ten Sefiros of nogah, intellect and middos, the counterpart of the ten holy powers of the G‑dly soul. The light clothed in it is like the dark part of a flame held by the wick.כי הנה הנה״ב נלקחה מבחי׳ ק״נ וכלולה מע״ס דנוגה שכל ומדות
  4. Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23, ¶23The animal soul also understands, but is drawn after physical things; it can grasp this world and also G‑dliness, and is a mix of good and evil (the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as against the G‑dly soul’s tree of life). In prayer, when the G‑dly soul’s contemplation prevails, its intellect and middos are nullified into those of the G‑dly soul.נפש הבהמית שהיא ג״כ נפש המשכלת אלא שהיא הנמשכת אחר הגשמיות שהיא מק״נ
  5. Torah Ohr, Noach 3, ¶2The soul’s descent into a body and animal soul, busy with worldly worries, is for the sake of an ascent: the boundless love “with all your might” comes specifically from the animal soul, as an ox is stronger than a man, because the animal soul is from the world of Tohu.וזהו דוקא ע״י האהבה הבאה מנפש הבהמית כמו שאנו רואים למטה שכח הבהמה גדול מכח האדם

Stated differently

Whether the animal soul is drawn from the dregs of the Ofanim or from their inner aspect

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 34, ¶6דהנה נפש הבהמית היא הנמשכת משמרי האופנים

The animal soul is drawn from the dregs of the Ofanim: from the outer “skin” of the love and fear of the Chayos of the Chariot, through nogah, the mixture of good and evil.

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27, ¶2נלקחה מבחי׳ שמרי האופנים ופסולת שבהן שעדיין לא נבררו

The animal soul in a person, being separate, is taken from the dregs and waste of the Ofanim not yet refined; the inner part of these is the human animal soul, with intellect and middos, and their outer part is the soul of an actual animal.

Likkutei Torah, Reeh 12, ¶8נפש הבהמית היא נמשכת מפנימית האופנים [משא״כ משמרי האופנים נמשך השפעה החיצונית]

The animal soul is drawn from the inner aspect of the Ofanim, whereas from the dregs of the Ofanim comes the outer influence.

How the root of the animal soul stands relative to the root of the G‑dly soul

Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3, ¶6שהנפש הבהמית בשרשה ומקורה היא יותר נעלית מהנפש אלקית

In its root and source the animal soul is more exalted than the G‑dly soul, which is why it has the power to make things sprout; it is from the dregs of the Ofanim, the face of the ox.

Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14, ¶9ונה״ב שרשה מתהו משא״כ נה״א היא מבחי׳ תקון

The animal soul is rooted in Tohu, while the G‑dly soul is from Tikkun, and so the G‑dly soul is the one that refines; when the animal soul is subdued it rises higher.

Likkutei Torah, Emor 4, ¶35ומשם ג״כ שרש נה״ב ששרשה מי״ב בקר אבל הנה״א שרשה מפנימי׳ המל׳ ומז״א עצמו

The animal soul is rooted in the twelve oxen, from the outer aspect of Malchus (called “beast” when it descends into Beriah), while the G‑dly soul is rooted in the inner aspect of Malchus and in Zeir Anpin itself.

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 4, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Nasso 7, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 34, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 23, ¶23Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3, ¶6Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 13, ¶4Torah Ohr, Noach 3, ¶2

Where it appears

In 378 paragraphs of 166 maamarim.

Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.

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