Commentary: On the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 10

Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the whole world, etc.

Explanation: although there are places where the Lord’s power and His wonders are more apparent than elsewhere, like Mount Sinai, Mount Moriah, and Bethel, and similar places, nevertheless He fills the entire world. [ . . . ] Similarly, the soul fills the entire body, although there are places in the body where the soul’s power is more evident than in others, such as the brain, and the heart, and the tongue. Nevertheless, [the soul] fills the entire body, for we see that the hands as well as the feet have a permanent art [i.e., well-defined function], and the permanent arts originate only from the power of the wise soul, for among all irrational animals you do not find any that possess an art. Do not answer me with the bee’s hive and the spider’s web and the worm’s silk and the sparrow’s nest: for when you look at all of them you see that their art is permanent only in man’s works and art. This is what Bless the Lord, O my soul, my innermost organs, bless His Holy Name (Psalms 103:1) corresponds to: just as His Holy Name fills the entire world, so every internal organ is filled with the power of the soul. This is the praise and blessing [proclaimed by] the inner organs.

Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, sees, but is not seen, so the soul sees but is not itself seen.

Explanation: Sees here means [the same as in the verse] my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge (Ecclesiastes 1:16), and both refer to knowing. That is, the Holy One, Blessed be He, knows all things inasmuch as they are all His handiwork, but is not known in and of Himself, although He fills the entire world, but only through His actions: this is so because, being incorporeal, He cannot be perceived by the senses but can only be apprehended by the intellect. Just so, the soul knows all things, lower and upper, nearby and far away, until its knowledge reaches the First Cause; and although it fills the entire body, yet, being incorporeal, it is not known in and of itself, but only through its actions. The spirit of the animal, by contrast, does not truly know anything, and comes close to being known in and of itself, because it is a body, subtle like the body of the air, and accordingly descends down to the earth [after death]. This corresponds to and forget not all His benefits [O my soul] (Psalms 103:2): the great kindness that God bestowed [on man] is the wise soul through which it knows [or: you know] all things.

Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, nourishes the whole world, so too the soul nourishes the whole body.

Explanation: because He sustains upper and lower beings and nourishes them. So too the soul nourishes the body. Explanation: it sustains [the body], and this is why [man] walks upright, so as always to look and gaze upward, toward the soul’s abode where it longs to return. But all the irrational and mortal animals walk with their faces turned toward the earth, for their spirit was taken from it and there it returns.

It should be added that the soul really [can] nourish the body and can sustain the body with very little or no food for many days. This happens when the soul’s power exerts itself until it receives the supernal power. Moses and Elijah provide proof thereof. For our Master Moses (blessed be his memory) stood without food or drink for a number of days equal to the number of his years, but nevertheless increased in great power and awesome light, because of the power he received from the World of Wisdom and because he benefited from the Splendor of the Shekhinah. The same applies to Elijah on earth, who walked a long distance during forty days without any food or drink [see 1 Kings 19:8]. From all this it is clear that the soul truly nourishes the body. [ . . . ]

Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, is pure.

Although He fills the entire world and maintains it and even though there are places in the world that are vile, yet He is pure everywhere, just like the light of the sun (one of His powerful servants), which even when [shining] on trash is pure and unsoiled, just as it is pure and lucid when [shining] on water. So too the soul is pure: even though there are vile places in the body and the soul fills the entire body, it is nevertheless pure, because filth adheres to [material] bodies only; not being a body, the soul is pure. But the spirit [nefesh] of beasts is impure, because it is a body. This corresponds to [the verse] O Lord my God, Thou art great indeed, clothed in majesty and splendor (Psalms 104:1): i.e., [Thou art] not [clothed] in anything that is not pure, for such things have neither majesty nor splendor.

Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, abides in the innermost chambers.

Explanation: whoever wishes to inquire into His knowledge and seeks to apprehend Him will not be able to find Him until he searches the chambers of Wisdom and Philosophy, chamber within a chamber. Consider the following analogy: If we investigate the cause of man, we find that his cause is the father, the mother, and the four elements. The cause of the four elements is the spheres. And the cause of the spheres is the Sphere of the Intellect, which is not a body. And its cause is the First Cause. Similarly, the soul resides in the innermost chambers. For when we investigate the soul we say that it is not composed of the four elements, as is the human body; nor is it one of the four elements, nor a sphere or a heavenly body. Rather, it is a simple spiritual substance, emanated by the power of the Sphere of Intellect. This corresponds to Let sinners cease (Psalms 104:35). This means that they [the wicked] will perish, but the souls of the just will be preserved under the Sphere of Intellect, which is the Throne of Glory.