Soul and Intelligence

 Nefesh HaChaim (14) And thought, it is in the category of the Neshama. She teaches man knowledge and understanding via the holy Torah, and therefore the origin of its abode is in the brain, the tool of thought, and she is the highest category of them all. And so they said in Bereshis Rabbah “She is called by five names...”, “the Neffesh is the blood..., Ruakh..., Neshama is the nature of the creature”— meaning his knowledge and thoughts, as was explained by the Arukh and Rashi.

Nefesh HaChaim (15) The word “Soul-Neshama’s” meaning is “breath”, and in this way it appears to the eye that a person’s breath is a gaseous flow that arises from the heart, from below to above. And also in this way it is the characteristic of “returning light” and not a feature of higher spirituality. However, the matter that is referred to by the term “breath”, the intention is not man’s breath, rather it is as metaphor for His breath, as is written “…and He blew into his nostrils the breath of life”.

Nefesh HaChaim (15) However, the aspect of Neshama is the breath itself, whose innermost essence hides itself in concealment and its  blessed wellspring is within the breath of His mouth, For its essential aspect does not enter at all within the body of man. First Adam, before the sin, merited to its essence, and by reason of the sin it departed from within him and remained only hovering above him. Except for Moses Our Teacher  who merited to have its essence within his body, and therefore he was called “the man of God-Elohi”m” 

Nefesh HaChaim (15) And the Neshama is what gives to man an extra measure of understanding to intellectually grasp the inner intelligence hidden in our holy Torah. And as is written in the Sitrei Torah of Zohar Lekh L’kha 79b: “Neshama awakens in man understanding. And in the Zohar Chaddash, Root 64a: “And I will awaken in you with lofty wisdom…”. And refer in the Etz Chayyim (Sha-ar Mokhin D’kahtnoot, chapter 3), and this is what it says: “Surely not all men are worthy to earn it, and know that one who has the power in his actions… then he will have a wondrous memory in Torah, and will understand all the secrets of Torah… and all the secrets of Torah will be revealed to him correctly

Nefesh HaChaim (15) The Neshama is “the breath of God-Shadda”i”, meaning the breath of His mouth; its essence does not impress and reveal itself within man, for she dwells in the heavens, metaphorically within His mouth, only that she gives him understanding in the sparks of light above him, to make him understand the depths of the Holy Torah’s hidden aspects.And what is written in the Zohar and the Kabbalists  that the aspect of the Neshama’s abode is in man’s brain, they intended the sparks of brilliant light that impart intelligence to his mind and intellect, not her actual essence

Nefesh HaChaim (16) “For God will give wisdom from His mouth, knowledge and understanding” where they said: “To what does it resemble? To a king who had a son. His son came from school and found a platter of food in front of his father. His father took one piece of it and gave it to him…, He said to him: ‘I do not request anything other than a part of what is within your mouth’. What did he do? He gave it to him. … .” That is, what the beloved son is requesting to attain is that He should impress upon him from the sparks of the light of the aspect of Neshama, whose source is deeply hidden in the breath of His mouth. And they provided further hints in their holy phrasing, that the metaphor they used was a young child who comes specifically from school. They reliably informed us that there is no worldly entrance to attain the aspect of the sparks of the light of the Soul-Neshama if not via the engagement and in-depth study and reflection in the holy Torah, from within a state of holiness, for the two of them originate from a single source, 

Soul and Money

 Lekutei Moharan (68) All souls desire and hunger after money; and they hunger after and love not only money itself, but even a person who has money. It is common for people to be drawn to him and to adore him on account of his money. We see this empirically, and it is also written, “whereas the wealthy man has many friends.”

Lekutei Moharan (68) The soul originates from the same supernal source from which money issues, devolves and comes into being. Money’s origin, from which it extends downward, is undoubtedly an aspect of holiness and a source of holy influx. But afterwards, in the process of devolving, this influx acquires corporeality and becomes money. Thus the reason the soul desires money is that the soul and money share the same source. 

Lekutei Moharan (68) Even so, one should not hunger after money. As has already been explained many times, avarice is very disgraceful. Rather, one should hunger after and love the place from which money originates and devolves. And it is in this aspect that “Rebbi would honor the rich,” as our Sages taught (Eruvin 86a) ; on account of their having money, which emanates from an exalted realm. 

 Nefesh HaChaim (01:14) And thought, it is in the category of the Neshama. She teaches man knowledge and understanding via the holy Torah, and therefore the origin of its abode is in the brain, the tool of thought, and she is the highest category of them all. And so they said in Bereshis Rabbah “She is called by five names...”, “the Neffesh is the blood..., Ruakh..., Neshama is the nature of the creature”— meaning his knowledge and thoughts, as was explained by the Arukh and Rashi.

Lekutei Moharan (61:03) And all these intelligences receive from the comprehensive guiding force, which is the all-encompassing intelligence. This is the soul, which guides all their motions, in the aspect of “the soul from the Almighty enables them to understand” i.e., the soul infuses them with their intelligence. 

Bereishis Rabbah (14:09) The soul has five names: nefesh, neshamah, hayyah, ruah, yehidah. Nefesh is the blood: For the blood is the nefesh. Ruah: this is so called because it ascends and descends: thus it is written, Who knoweth the ruah  of man whether it goeth upwards, and the ruah of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth  Neshamah is the breath; as people say, His breathing is good. Hayyah: because all the limbs are mortal, whereas this is immortal in the body Yehidah (unique): because all the limbs are duplicated, whereas this is unique in the body.

Trump expected to tell Turkey he is ready to restore access to F-35 jets

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-901669

US President Donald Trump is expected to tell Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he is prepared to allow the country to rejoin the F-35 stealth fighter program, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing four senior administration officials.

The report comes as Trump heads to Ankara for a NATO summit, where he is expected to meet Erdogan. The summit is set to begin on Tuesday evening.

According to the New York Times report, the officials differed on the details of how Trump would seek to work around congressional and legal restrictions, but suggested there could be an exchange of letters on the subject between the two leaders.

Democrats have abandoned Graham Platner

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/democrats-abandon-graham-platner-endorsements-support-00988421

Democratic leaders in Maine and Washington, along with a growing pack of Platner’s close supporters, abandoned his Senate campaign on Monday after POLITICO reported that a woman who dated him said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner called the allegation false.

Just hours after the story published, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Platner to “immediately withdraw” as the Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race. The battleground contest is crucial for Democrats’ chances of winning the Senate in November.

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, which had been fundraising with Platner, said Monday that it was “time for him to end his campaign.” Senate Majority PAC, the largest super PAC backing Senate Democrats, said it is “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race” following the latest allegations.

Trump’s red card call stirs political storm around World Cup

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/06/politics/trump-world-cup-balogun-red-card-infantino-analysis?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=most-popular-article-end&tenant_id=popular.en

For 24 days, the World Cup seemed to achieve a rare feat in America in 2026: It had almost nothing to do with Donald Trump.

But in an extraordinary twist following an appeal from the president, star US goal-scorer Folarin Balogun will play in the knockout clash with Belgium on Monday, despite being sent off in the previous match and earning a one-game ban.

Trump’s call to Infantino and FIFA’s ultimate decision lifted a controversy about soccer refereeing into an international incident surrounding the world’s most popular sporting showcase

Netanyahu rejects Vance’s claim Trump is Israel’s only friend, says ‘many’ seek ties

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-rejects-vances-claim-trump-is-israels-only-friend-says-many-seek-ties/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back in an interview with Fox News on Sunday against US Vice President JD Vance’s recent claim that US President Donald Trump is Israel’s only ally, insisting that Jerusalem still has “many friends” around the world, while still highlighting its unique relationship with Washington.

Netanyahu also took the opportunity to reiterate that he and Trump share the same goals when it comes to Iran, but stressed that even if Washington doesn’t reach a nuclear deal with Tehran, he will ensure that it never obtains a nuclear weapon so long as he is prime minister.

The premier was questioned during the interview about public disagreements between Washington and Jerusalem over the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran to end the war that began on February 28.

Netanyahu sends urgent message to Trump before Turkey

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/429734

"Turkey is a great country," Netanyahu said, but argued that its current leadership openly calls for Israel's destruction, occupies part of Cyprus, and promotes extremist ideology. "I don't think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets because that will upset the balance of power in the Middle East."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a public message to U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the NATO summit, urging Washington not to approve the sale of F-35 fighter jets or advanced aircraft engines to Turkey while emphasizing that relations between the two leaders remain strong despite occasional disagreements.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu warned that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government poses a growing strategic challenge, citing its support for Hamas, its rhetoric against Israel, and its regional ambitions.

Nose and Soul

 Rabbeinu Bachya (Bereishia 02:07) He blew in his nostrils a living soul. You should know that the nose is an instrument of the soul. The soul enters man by way of his nose and it leaves him by the same route. This is why the sages have stated that if someone takes a fall that one has to examine him including his nose.The fact that the nose is divided makes it appear like a letter shin. This is an allusion to the name of G-d which in this manner is engraved on the body of every human being who has been circumcised.We know that the nose is the organ by means of which we smell and that the soul derives pleasure from certain fragrances. This is the reason the Talmud Berachot 51 prohibits us from even smelling incense or other fragrances intended for idolatrous purposes. 

Soul of Man is from G-d

 Rav SR Hirsh (Bereishis (02:07) living soul—the soul of the animal was formed from the earth, just as its body was; whereas in man, only the body was taken from the earth, while it was the Lord who breathed into him the breath of life. This is man’s distinction—the source of his freedom. It is not merely his rational spirit, but also his vital soul that surpasses that of the beast.

Chizkuni (Bereishis 02:07) “He blew into his nostrils a living soul.” G-d personally blew the breath of life into the human being, something He had not done for any of His other creatures. Why was all this necessary? This was in order to enable man to have the wisdom, i.e. holy spirit, to enable him when viewing all the animals to name them correctly after having discerned how each was different from the other.

Kli Yakar (Bereishis 02:07) And He blew into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living being. Rashi explains that although animals also have a living soul, man is the most alive of them all, as knowledge and speech were added to him. However, his interpretation is forced since the verse doesn’t specify that this being is more alive than all others. The Akeidat Yitzchak explains that this “soul of life” refers to the vital spirit that exists in humans fundamentally and primarily, and through this, man becomes a living being when the second and third levels of perfection are added, following the pattern of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. The rabbi thought that Rashi agreed with him, but this interpretation is also not appropriate to accept, as it refers to “living being” as the final level of perfection, when this term is also used for animals and beasts of the field. Therefore, my heart imagines differently, rather interpreting the opposite of their words entirely. The “soul of life” is the eternal intellectual soul — go and learn who is the One who breathes, and you will find this speaks of the divine portion from above. The verse is saying that although God breathed into man an intellectual soul of life, nevertheless man was initially in his creation just a simple living being like other animals, for man is born a wild donkey’s colt. The main perfection depends on his diligent effort and good choices when he opens his eyes of intellect as he matures. But at the beginning of his creation, even though the soul-breath of life was already blown into him, nevertheless the soul is not within him in actuality, only in potential. If he does not gird his loins with zeal to go out at the head of the vanguard to fight God’s war, he remains in his animal nature and is comparable to a beast. However, when an ox or sheep or goat is born, on that same day it is created with all its perfection and has no additional perfection to attain. The verse reveals this to us so that man should not err about himself, saying that without effort and toil he will achieve his perfection which was already created with him, relying on this advantage found in his creation. For this is not so — rather, everything depends on the work of his hands, as he always has the ability to exchange and convert nature to intellect and intellect to nature. For this reason, it does not say in man’s creation and God saw that it was good, because at his creation it was not yet apparent what his goodness and beauty would be.

Ramban (Bereishis (01:26) AND G-D SAID: ‘LET US MAKE MAN. G-d said, Let us make, that is, I and the aforementioned earth, let us make man, the earth to bring forth the body from its elements as it did with cattle and beasts, as it is written, And the Eternal G-d formed man of the dust of the ground, and G-d  gave the spirit from His mouth, the Supreme One, as it is written, And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And He said, In our image, and after our likeness, as man will then be similar to both. In the capacity of his body, he will be similar to the earth from which he was taken, and in spirit he will be similar to the higher beings, because spirit is not a body and will not die. In the second verse, He says, In the image of G-d He created him, in order to relate the distinction by which man is distinguished from the rest of created beings. 

Ramban (Bereishis 02:07) And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This alludes to the superiority of the soul, its foundation and secret, since it mentions in connection with it the full Divine Name. And the verse says that He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life in order to inform us that the soul did not come to man from the elements, as He intimated concerning the soul of moving things, nor was it an evolvement from the Separate Intelligences. Rather, it was the spirit of the Great G-d: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and discernment. For he who breathes into the nostrils of another person gives into him something from his own soul. It is this which Scripture says, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding, since the soul is from the foundation of understanding by way of truth and faith.

Redak (Bereishis 02:07) G-d blew into man some of the spirit prevailing in the highest regions on earth. Whereas the life force of the animals is described as, something abstract but originating in physical earth, man’s life force is called here soul, to alert us to the fact that the origin of this life force is not physical, has not been supplied by earth, in fact could not have been supplied by earth. Our verse illustrates what G-d had meant when He had announced that man would be, “in Our image, Our likeness.”. This is so in spite of the fact that sometimes man is equipped additionally with ruach and nefesh . The expression soul  is reserved exclusively for describing man, whereas the other two expressions, describing non-tangible animalistic forms of energy called “life-force,” are shared by man and beast 

Man has Mazzel

 Rav SR Hirsh (Bereishis (02:07) Man possesses a mazal—there is within him something that transcends all calculation; the human spirit will watch over him, even when, to our eyes, there appears to be no hope left...

Bava Kamma (02b) Man has Mazzel while animals don’t. 

Soul has 5 Names

 Bereishis Rabbah (14:09) The soul has five names: nefesh, neshamah, hayyah, ruah, yehidah. Nefesh is the blood: For the blood is the nefesh ‘. Ruah: this is so called because it ascends and descends: thus it is written, Who knoweth the ruah  of man whether it goeth upwards, and the ruah of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth  Neshamah is the breath; as people say, His breathing is good. Hayyah: because all the limbs are mortal, whereas this is immortal in the body Yehidah (unique): because all the limbs are duplicated, whereas this is unique in the body.

Soul in Life and Death are Different

 Moreh Nevuchim (1:70) The soul that remains after the death of man, is not the soul that lives in a man when he is born; the latter is a mere faculty, while that which has a separate existence after death, is a reality; again, the soul and the spirit of man during his life are two different things: therefore the souls and the spirits are both named as existing in man; but separate from the body only one of them exists. 

Knowledge of Science taken from us and Given to Goyim

 Likutei Maharan (61:03) The wisdom of astronomy/astrology—knowing all the changes and future occurrences brought about by the spheres of the firmament—was taken from us and given over to the nations. Initially, this wisdom was given exclusively to us, as it is written, “since this is proof of your wisdom and discernment for the eyes of the nations”—and our Sages expounded: What is this wisdom and discernment that is recognized by the nations? Say that this refers to calculating the seasons and the constellations  .