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The Striving of the Soul

“The soul of man is a lamp of G‑d” (Proverbs 20:27). Just like the flame of the lamp strains upwards, seeking to tear free of the wick and rise heavenward—though this would spell its own demise—so, too, does the G‑dly soul in man constantly strive to tear free of the body and the material existence, and be nullified within its source in G‑d.

—Likkutei Amarim 19

Internal Battleground

The body is likened to a small city. Like two kings who wage war over a city, each desiring to capture it and rule over it—that is, to govern its inhabitants according to his will, so that they obey him in all that he decrees for them—so do the two souls, the G‑dly and the animal, wage war against each other over the body and all its organs and limbs. The desire and will of the G‑dly soul is that it alone should rule over the person and direct him, and that all his limbs should obey it and surrender themselves completely to it and become a vehicle for it, and serve as a vehicle for its ten faculties [of intellect and emotion] and three “garments” [thought, speech and action] . . . and the entire body should be permeated with them alone, to the exclusion of any alien influence, G‑d forbid. . . . While the animal soul desires the very opposite . . .

—Likkutei Amarim 9

Two Types of Pleasure

There are two types of pleasure before G‑d. The first is from the complete nullification of evil, and its transformation from bitterness to sweetness and from darkness to light, by the perfectly righteous. The second [pleasure] is when evil is repelled while it is still at its strongest and mightiest . . . through the efforts of the “intermediate man” (beinoni). . . . As in the analogy of physical food, in which there are two types of delicacies that give pleasure: the first being the pleasure derived from sweet and pleasant foods; and the second, from sharp and sour foods, which are spiced and prepared in such a way that they become delicacies that revive the soul . . .

—Likkutei Amarim 27



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