As far as I can tell, there is no word for “body” in Biblical Hebrew. The word for body in modern (and Rabbinic) Hebrew is “guf”. The word “guf” appears only twice in the Tanach, in Divrei Hayamim, and it means “corpse”, which is not exactly the same thing. (Maybe the Tanach has another word for body, but if it does, I’m not aware of it.)
Souls, on the other hand, are all over the place in Tanach. (The Tanach has three words for soul: neshama, nefesh and ruach.)
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Our Bodies, Our Souls, Part 1: The Real Slim Shady
Two of the first of the Jewish morning prayers are “Asher yatzar” and “Elokai neshama”. Some prayer books place them one after the other, and some prayer books insert the the blessings of the Torah in between.
“Elokai neshama” is about the soul, and “asher yatzar” seems to be about the body. “Asher yatzar” is ostensibly about Man: it begins “Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who created Man with wisdom.” The blessing is not about the wisdom that is or is not obtained by human beings, but rather the Divine wisdom showcased in the design of the human body.
There’s a funny thing about “Elokai neshama”. “The soul that you gave me is pure...in the future, you will take it from me...later, you will return it to me...” the soul is a gift that God gave to me. So who am I? Apparently, “I” am a body that happens to possess a soul, not a soul that happens to possess a body. The Real Slim Shady is Slim Shady’s body, not Slim Shady’s soul.
“Asher yatzar”, the blessing of the body, reinforces this point. God created Man. What is “Man”? Man is a magnificent, organic machine--a body. I am a human being; a human being is a body; I am a body.
“Elokai neshama” is about the soul, and “asher yatzar” seems to be about the body. “Asher yatzar” is ostensibly about Man: it begins “Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who created Man with wisdom.” The blessing is not about the wisdom that is or is not obtained by human beings, but rather the Divine wisdom showcased in the design of the human body.
There’s a funny thing about “Elokai neshama”. “The soul that you gave me is pure...in the future, you will take it from me...later, you will return it to me...” the soul is a gift that God gave to me. So who am I? Apparently, “I” am a body that happens to possess a soul, not a soul that happens to possess a body. The Real Slim Shady is Slim Shady’s body, not Slim Shady’s soul.
“Asher yatzar”, the blessing of the body, reinforces this point. God created Man. What is “Man”? Man is a magnificent, organic machine--a body. I am a human being; a human being is a body; I am a body.
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