The First Type
Gate of Reincarnations" Chapter Seven, Section 1
Translation by Yitzchok bar Chaim;
explanation by Shabtai Teicher
The Rav will explain in this section that there are three
different types of soul.
We have already explained that there are some souls that were not
part of Adam's soul when it was
first created. These are truly completely "new souls", whereas the
souls that were already included in Adam
are called "old souls" by comparison, of which there are two types.  | | " New souls...were never included in the soul of Adam..." | | |
This is a continuation of the last chapter. The new souls
are those that are being born anew from the Unification of Face to Face. Since
they are new, they were never included in the soul of Adam. The old souls that
were included in the soul body of Adam were born from the Unification of
Back to Back, but of these the Rav is now adding that there are two types.
Thus, there are three types, the first being those which were not
included in Adam and which are considered to be completely new souls.
The second type of soul is a result of Adam's sin, after which
his limbs "fell off" and he was reduced until he was no higher than
one hundred cubits. This is the secret of
the verse "...And You laid Your hand upon me".
(Psalms 139:5) Just as it happened to his body, so too did it happen to his
soul.
This is in the Talmud, Chagiga 12a. As a result of Adam's sin, G-d
laid His hand upon him and diminished his stature. | | " Before the sin, he spanned five spiritual worlds, whereas after the sin he only spanned one..." | | |
Prior to Adam's sin, he was said to have been five hundred
cubits high. If taken literally, then he would have been between 750 to 1000
feet high. In Kabbala, it means that before the sin, he spanned five spiritual
worlds, whereas after the sin he only spanned one.
We have already seen that the sparks that constituted the
spiritual body of Adam fell into the kelipot. This is what it
means that "his limbs fell off" and corresponds to the diminution of
his physical stature as a result of the sin. However, some of the sparks
remained part of him, i.e. included within him.
The sparks of his soul that remained within him after the sin
were necessary for Adam himself. After the sin, he
fathered Cain and Abel, and, as the sages (Pirkei d' Rebbe Eliezer, Chapter 21) and the
Zohar say, it was from these sparks that
they came. These constitute the second type of soul.
In other words, some sparks did not fall, but remained
within Adam for the sake of his own existence, and most of these were
transmitted to his children, Cain and Abel. These constitute the second level
of souls that will be discussed in this chapter.
The third level is those sparks of his soul that left him at the
time of the sin and which returned to the depths of the kelipot.
Note that the Rav writes explicitly that they "returned" to the depths of the kelipot.
The sages alluded to them by calling them "limbs that fell
off". It was from this third level that the soul of Seth, the (third) son
of Adam was taken. To link to the previous article in this reincarnation series,
Hidden Effects of Sin, click here
To link to the next article in this reincarnation series,
New Souls, click here
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