Whispers of Creation - Part 13
"Body > Soul"
With Rabbi Ari Sollish
(Recorded live at The Torah Center ATL on January 8, 2023)

There's a fascinating mitzvah detailed in the book of Exodus. The verse talks about the obligation to extend our compassion to animals and do the right thing -- even if the animal in need belongs to someone we dislike.

Here's the verse in full: "When you see the donkey of your enemy collapsing under its burden, and you are inclined to refrain from aiding him, you shall nevertheless aid him" (Exodus 23:5). 

Pretty straightforward, right? Do the right thing!

Well, the Baal Shem Tov, who lived about 3000 years after this mitzvah first appeared, revealed a stunning mystical perspective hidden within this instruction, about how we are to view and treat our physical bodies. 

See, the Hebrew word for donkey, "chamor," also means materiality. So, initially -- the Torah is saying -- you may see your body materiality as your enemy, resisting your soul's objectives, collapsing under the "burden" of the mitzvot. You may therefore be inclined to fight the body by denying its needs and mortifying it. Says the Torah: You must aid your soul's "enemy.. Purify the body, refine it, do not break it.

It's a beautiful mystical teaching, speaking to the sacredness of not just the soul, but the body.

In this session of Kabbalah Cafe we explore the sacred nature of the body. We discover that the body doesn't just also contain a measure of holiness -- no, on a very real level, its holiness far exceeds the holiness of the soul.

Whispers of Creation - 13 - Body > Soul

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Dusk Pyramid

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