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neshamah, chayah, and yechidah (Bereishit Rabbah 14:9). Kabbalah be classified as positive commandments. Thus, all the prohibitions
and Chassidut explain that the five names depict five ascending relating to the second commandment are in essence included in the
soul levels. Nefesh, the lowest soul level, refers to what is commonly first commandment.
named “the animal soul,” the instinctual, behavioristic drives most Fourthly, Kabbalah also teaches that the Ten Commandments
associated with the body that guide human actions. Ruach, or “spirit,” and God Himself, as it were, are condensed into the opening word
is related to the emotions; neshamah, the inner soul, is deemed the anochi, which the Zohar explains is an acronym for the phrase, “I
seat of the intellect; chayah, “the living one,” refers to the interaction have written Myself down and given it to you.” This is not merely 8
between consciousness and its super-conscious origin; and yechidah, another instance of condensation in the Ten Commandments, for this
“the single, unique one,” relates to the Divine aspect of soul. parallels the epic event wherein God contracted and condensed His

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh explains that according to Chassidut infinite Being to allow creation to come into being; here He condenses
when an individual seeks to go from a state of slavery to one of Himself, in a manner of speaking, into the finite Hebrew letters that
freedom, to ascend from one level of spirituality to a higher plane, can subsequently be learned and transmitted from generation to
the four lower levels of soul need to first experience an “ego death,” generation.
so that the fifth and highest soul level is then free to ascend to the Fifthly, just as the beit, the first letter of the Torah, contains all of
next level. Only through such a nullification of the lower self can the creation in embryonic form, so too the alef, the first letter of “anochi,”
Godly essence of the soul be truly redeemed.
which is the first word in the Ten Commandments, in essence contains
the entire Torah. Furthermore, the beit of “bereishit,” whose numerical
value is two, symbolizes the seeming duality in this world, whereas
the alef of “anochi,” whose numerical value is one, represents the
££Music and Prophecy
£Music and ProphecyMusic and Prophecy essential oneness underlying all reality. (See the portion of Vayikra
for more on the meaning of the alef, its significance as the first letter
of the Ten Commandments, and its connection to creation. Also see
the letter alef in The Hebrew Letters by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh.)
Crossing the Reed Sea and observing the Egyptians drowning in
the sea marks the end of the Jewish people’s exile in Egypt, the Having described the Divine process of contraction as manifest
culmination of years of slavery and oppression (Exodus 15:1-19). in creation and the Giving of the Torah we can now ask: How is
The Midrash teaches that God’s revelation at the sea was so great this understanding translated into our own lives? Human beings are
that the simplest handmaiden witnessed more than even Ezekiel the created in the image of God; therefore, understanding the dynamics
prophet did in his Vision of the Chariot (Mechilta 15:2). The people of creation and the expression of God’s will provides us with tools to
spontaneously transformed the Divine revelation they experienced actualize our own potential as well as function on a higher spiritual
into joyous song. level when interacting with the world around us. The fundamental
realization that behind all multiplicity lies an essential unity, behind
According to tradition there are ten archetypal songs sung
throughout history; the Song of the Sea is one of them. Nine have the veil of seeming circumstance is God’s Providence, provides us
with the impetus to analyze the myriad bits of information and
already been sung and were recorded in the Tanach while the tenth stimuli bombarding us daily. It trains us to organize, prioritize, and
culminating song is to be sung in the Messianic era. These songs were seek out essential underlying principles and causes.
sung by men and women, kings and judges, lone individuals and the

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