Kabbalah/Chassidut

 

The Multiple Souls of Adam

Translated and annotated from Sefer Baal Shem Tov by Rabbi Eliezer Shore
(first posted on KabbalaOnline.org)

 

"Then the L-rd your G-d will return your captives from exile, and He will have mercy upon you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the L-rd your G-d had dispersed you" [Deut. 30:3]

Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the part of the Moshiach that relates to his own soul. As it is known, the word "Adam" is an acronym for the names "Adam, David, Moshiach." Adam's size was from one end of the earth to the other, and included in it all the souls of Israel. After the sin of eating the forbidden fruit, however, his stature was diminished. Like Adam originally, Moshiach's soul will be made up of all the 600,000 souls of the Congregation of Israel, as it was before Adam's sin.

Therefore, every Jew must make ready that portion of his own soul that corresponds to that of Moshiach until the entire structure of the worlds is fixed and established. Then there will be a universal Unification, without end. May it be soon in our days!

[from Me'or Einayim, Pinchas; translation from Sefer Baal Shem Tov and commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Shore; first posted on //BaalShemTov.com]

 

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Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov ["Israel, Master of the Good Name (of G-d)," 1698-1760], a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed the Chassidic movement and his own identity as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He passed away on the festival of Shavuot in 1760. He wrote no books, although many claim to contain his teachings. (Also referred to as "the BeShT", from an acronym of Baal Shem Tov.)

Rabbi Eliezer Shore studied in yeshivot in New York and Israel for many years,and received rabbinic ordination. He currently lives in Jerusalem, where he is a writer, storyteller, and Torah teacher.

 


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