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Chelek Elokah Mimaal


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#1 mamash

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Posted 25 August 2011 - 09:08 PM

What does the concept of chelek eloka mimaal mean, and how does it not interfere with concept of yichud Hashem? I'm assuming that this does not literally mean that we have a piece of Hashem inside of us, but I think there is a misconception that it does. Also, Is it a machlokes whether or not the neshama is a chelek elokah mimaal?

#2 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 04 September 2011 - 08:05 AM

The Neshama is a creation. But it is different than every other creation. So much so that the term "creation" when referriing to the Neshama means something different than "creation" when referring to everything else. The creation called a Neshama was created from the highest "source" possible, and directly from Hashem - not through the usual succession which starts with the spiritual and ends with the physical. The phrase "Chelek Elokah Mimaal" is borrowed from the Posuk in Iyov (31:2) וּמֶה חֵלֶק אֱלוֹהַּ מִמָּעַל וְנַחֲלַת שַׁקי מִמְּרֹמיםִ and the source of the idea is the Sefer HaKanah, though oftentimes you will see it quoted from the Zohar (because the content is there, though not the exact quote), which comments on the Posuk ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים - that מי שנופח משלו הוא נופח. "He Who blows, blows from Himself."

As far how literal it is, the following is from the introduction to the Sefer Shefa Tal:
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ידוע שנשמות של אומה ישראלית הם חלק אלוה ממעל אשר על זה רמז הפסוק (דברים לב, ט) כי חלק ה' עמו ור"ל חלק ממש כחלק שנחלק מאיזה דבר הוא שוה ודומה בעינו לאותו דבר שנחלק ממנו ואין הבדל והפרש בינו ובין אותו דבר רק שאותו דבר הוא הכל והכלל שהוא יותר גדול מהחלק שנחלק ממנו אבל בעצמותם הם דמים ושוים כמו כן אין הבדל והפרש בין הנשמה ובינו יתעלה וית"ש רק שהוא ית' וית' הוא הכל הוא האור הכולל האור הגדול הבלתי סוף הבלתי תכלית והנשמה היא חלק אור וניצוץ שנחלק מאור הגדול ב"ה וב"ש וכמאמר שלמה המלך ע"ה נר אלקים נשמת האדם ר"ל נהשמה של אדם היא נר וניצוץ מאור אלקים ודקדק בלשונו ואומר נר אלקים ולא אמר אור אלקים כדי לרמוז שהנשמה בשלשה מדריגתה שהם נפש רוח נשמה כולם הם ניצוץ מאור אלקים וזה נרמז בלשון נר אלקים פי' נ"ר נוטריקון נפ"ש רו"ח ור"ל הנפש הרוח והנשמה שהם ג' מדריגות בנשמה הם כולם נצוצות קדושת מאור אלקים והיינו נר אלקים נשמ"ת אדם

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You will find the idea articulated various ways all over our Seforim. This is what allows us to be able to create Torah with a סברא - because the svara comes from the Neshama, which is חלק אלוק ממעל. It is why the Neshama wants to connect to Hashem - because by nature it wants to return to its roots. The Magen Avrohom (224) says the reason we make a Bracha of שחלק מחכתמו ליראיו - is because ישראל הם חלק אלוה ודבקים בו.

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This is no more a contradiction to Hashem's Achdus than the existence of anything else in the world that is not Hashem.The same way a chair or a table do not contradict Hashem's Achdus, even though they are physical things and Hashem's Achdus defies boundaries and precludes anything "outside" of Hashem, so too the existence of a Neshama does not contradict Achduso. In fact,the bigger question is: How can anything NOT be a חלק אלוה ממעל?

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The answer to that, and to your question about the Neshama, has to do with the Tzimtzum, which is not a topic for this website. See here. Without an understanding of that concept, you will not have a real answer to this question. But still, we have to walk before we can run.

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As far as whether there is a Machlokes about this, there is no disagreement as to whether a Neshama is a "Chelek Elokah Mimaal". You will find this, as I said, all over Rishonim and Achronim. And in Chazal as well. It is accepted by our Mesorah as fact. However, there is a disagreement as to what this means. See for example Nishmas Chaim by R. Menashe ben Yisroel, (2:9) who quotes the Shefa Tal I mentioned above and disagrees with it, indeed because of Hashem's Achdus. But the disagreement is merely whether the Neshama is a literal "part" of Hashem's literal "Atzmus," and it is not difficult to reconcile the two opinions, saying that of course the Ramak and Shefa Tal did not mean that either.

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Just as you will find ubiquitous references to the Neshama being Chelek Eloka Mimaal, you will also find much discussion regarding exactly how this can be and what exactly this means - for starters, see Tanya (Ch. 2), and Nefesh haChaim (Ch. 1).



#3 mosheemes

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Posted 25 December 2011 - 06:22 PM

I read most of your "What can we prove about Hashem" article (the pdf) so far, and when I came across this:

But Hashem found a way around that. What He did was,
He created people out of a part of Himself. Meaning, your Soul was ‚sliced,‛ so to speak, from Hashem's essence. It is really a part of Hashem, but with your sentience superimposed on it. It’s like Hashem took pieces of Himself, with all the ability to make decisions, and animated those pieces by bestowing on them their own personalities.


I thought of something I read in Rav Shimshon Pinkus's book on 'Emuna'. He said mekublani me'rabbosai that the inyan of cheilek Eloka mimaal is not literal, and it's very important to understand this. It means that Hashem made our neshomos out of something so close to His essence that it's almost indistinguishable from a part of Him. But of course, it can't be an actual part of Him, because He has no parts. That's what I understood from what he wrote, at least. Could you clarify this?

#4 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 28 December 2011 - 03:04 PM

I moved your post and the posts above from the "Hashem" section into this new section. The above posts address most of your question.

While it is true that it is not possible to have literal parts of Hashem, to say that Hashem made the Neshama out of something that is "almost indistinguishable from a part of Him" also cannot be literally true. In fact, such a statement does not make the idea any more comprehensible. "Indistinguishable" means that someone is unable to tell them apart, that they are similar either per se or the way they appear to the senses. But about Hashem we know אין לו שום דמיון כלל. To say something is similar to Hashem also cannot be meant literally.

The Tanya himself really addresses this issue and he says that because Hashem has no parts, therefore this whole idea is impossible to grasp. But as I mentioned above, it is no more or less impossible to grasp than the larger issue of how something can have any existence. It is all part of the same question. And the question is inevitable because human beings can only understand what they experience; the human brain does not create information - it absorbs it and processes it. Just as a blind man cannot comprehend the difference between blue and white, even though he can prove "on paper" that there are different types of light, so too, because we have not experienced anything outside of our world of finiteness, cannot comprehend anything outside of the boundaries of that world, even though we can know "on paper" that things outside of those boundaries exist. And we can get some kind of "on paper" description of them, like, למשל, a blind person can know data about different wavelengths of light.

The entire idea of things being "closer" or "farther" from Hashem, or the idea of something "emanating" from Him, are things we can know through the data, but because we live in our world of finite physical boundaries, we can never be expected to conceptualize them.

#5 mamash

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 10:20 PM

I read most of your "What can we prove about Hashem" article (the pdf) so far, and when I came across this:


I thought of something I read in Rav Shimshon Pinkus's book on 'Emuna'. He said mekublani me'rabbosai that the inyan of cheilek Eloka mimaal is not literal, and it's very important to understand this. It means that Hashem made our neshomos out of something so close to His essence that it's almost indistinguishable from a part of Him. But of course, it can't be an actual part of Him, because He has no parts. That's what I understood from what he wrote, at least. Could you clarify this?



Is what Rav Pincus saying perhaps touching on the machlokes between the Shefa Tal and Nishmas Chaim - on whether the neshama is a literal part of Hashem's atzmus- mentioned above?

#6 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 10:26 PM

Not really. It's not even correct to refer to it as "the machlokes between the Shefa Tal and Nishmas Chaim." The Nishmas Chaim is an outlier opinion. We definitely do not hold that way. The Shefa Tal is just a sample of what, basically, everyone says.

#7 rocksdontfly

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Posted 15 January 2012 - 08:11 PM

The Neshama is a creation. ...

The answer to that, and to your question about the Neshama, has to do with the Tzimtzum, which is not a topic for this website. See here. Without an understanding of that concept, you will not have a real answer to this question. But still, we have to walk before we can run.


why isnt

Tzimtzum ok to discuss here?



#8 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 15 January 2012 - 09:05 PM

Because you need to walk before you can run and the Tzimtzum is the marathon.

#9 rocksdontfly

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Posted 16 January 2012 - 08:25 PM

I see... how would one build a foundation or I guess prepare to learn ab tzimtzum? should we start learning/building early in school so we can eventually learn ab this important topic?

#10 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 19 January 2012 - 08:21 AM

I see... how would one build a foundation or I guess prepare to learn ab tzimtzum? should we start learning/building early in school so we can eventually learn ab this important topic?

All Torah is important, because it is Torah, but it is much more important for you thoroughly know (a) all the Halachos that you need to fulfill, and (b.) fundamental Jewish Hashkafa. As the Chofetz Chaim said (it's been said way before the Chofetz Chaim but it is usually quoted in his name) if someone does not know all the Hilchos Shabbos thoroughly, it is not possible for him to go one Shabbos without Chilul Shabbos.

From what I see, it is difficult for someone to go through even one Seduah of Shabbos without breaking Shabbos unless he knows the Halachos.

And that's just Shabbos. Halachos of Brachos, Bentching, Davening, Yom Tov, monetary laws and Kashrus (basar b'cholov, keeping a kitchen Kosher etc.) are all vital.

And then there's Hashkafa. As much effort as you need to put in to Hilchos Shabbos if you don't want to be a Mechalel Shabbos, an equal amount of effort - perhaps more so - must be put in to learning Hashkafa if you don't want to harboring anti-Torah ideas all your life. You have 13 Ikarim to learn, and those Ikarim are, well, the Ikar. You need to know and understand them. Then, before you get to the Tzitzum, you need to know about the Mesorah; Hashgacha; Bitachon; Torah Shekiksav and Baal Peh; how the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Horah work; the meaning and importance of Torah learning; of Shabbos; what Krias Shema is about .... and much more.

You don't need to even think about thinking about Tzimtzumim until you're first done with all that, and then, if you are a man, finishing Shas and Poskim; and if you are a woman, facilitating your husband and sons in learning Shas and Poskim.

You have much to prepare for in your school years that you need to know and do. Please understand that the Torah is infinite, and no matter how much you learn it is nothing compared to what you still have not learned. There is always more out there. And sometimes the Yetzer Horah tries to distract us from what we need to know by trying to get us to focus on what we don't - at least not right now.

The Bais Halevi once gave a Moshol for this. You go to a circus and you see someone walking on this hands. You are very impressed. Until the person next to you whispers in your ear "I know that guy. He walks nicely on his hands but he doesn't know how to walk on his feet!"

Now he's not an acrobat; he is a cripple.

Same with learning. If someone knows a lot it is impressive. But if he knows exotic things without the basics, he is a cripple where Torah knowledge is concerned.

I know many people who have learned things that they are not ready for - even more down to earth things than Tzimtzumim, such as Tanya and the like - and have become idol worshipers, literally making Hashem into a physical thing, without even realizing it, all because these Seforim were written for people who know and understand a lot of background about Judaism. Without that, they can easily fall into the trap of the Yezter Horah.

So don't worry about these things. There is a lot of Torah out there. We need to walk before we can run.

You want to prepare for such advanced topics? Learning how to walk prepares you for running. Learning all you need to know at this point prepares you for the next point.