The Arizal continues this theme of reincarnation and the soul level of being in his commentaries in ‘Apples from the Orchard’ during the section covering Mishpatim.
‘The mystical explanation of all this is as follows. Every person possesses (at least) a soul (nefesh) from the world of Asiyah. Even if this soul is derived from a higher level of the world of Asiyah, it is still no more than a nefesh. This soul is called “the nefesh of Atzilut,” or “the Canaanite slave-girl.”
Each description of the Mitzvoth then refers to different levels of the soul. For example the ‘Canaanite slave’ refers to this level of nefesh called ‘nefesh of Atziluth’.
The Jewish bondsman (eved) refers Ruach that is associated with Yetzirah the world Formation.
The Jewish maidservant is a symbol of the ‘neshamah’ level of soul associated with Beriah. So we see that what appears to be strict laws of behavior concerning master and slave actually alludes to our soul levels.
Shemos: 21:15. And one who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Shemos: 21:17. And one who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Father and mother here both refer to the root of the soul. Striking or cursing the root of the soul is saying that the evil inclination has become too much and that the soul due to its inherent inability to make corrections in this life must then reincarnate to effect the Tikkun needed to transcend that evil inclination.
The punishment is the same here ‘death’ because no further correction is possible within this reincarnation.
Shemos: 21:30. insofar as ransom shall be levied upon him, he shall give the ‘redemption of his soul’ (pidyon nafsho) according to all that is levied upon him.
This is another example of how the soul level is being accounted for. What this is saying is that whatever we are engaged in how its consequences and that those consequences are responsible in large part for what transcendence or abasement the soul undergoes.
What assumes importance then is pidyon nafsho or the redemption of the soul. We may also take this redemption of the soul a step further by recognizing that even our thoughts undergo these transformations that our soul goes through. It is this process that Torah is alluding to with these various mitzvoth. The evil inclination may suggest a thought but it is up to our adherence to Hashem to not only reject that thought as a basis for our attention but by turning away we remove the energy that has prompted the errant thought in the first place. We will discuss this more next time. Stay tuned!
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