According to the sages, the human soul enters into the world after excepting its mission from the Heavenly Court. The Nefesh, the vital life force of the soul (Leviticus 7:14), descends through the upper worlds and connects with the zygote at conception.
Upon exiting the womb, the body limits the perception of the soul to its new physical realities. The body restricts the soul's perception and prevents it from remembering its past, enabling true free will. With no memories or attachments that might influence our decisions, we begin the journey of life unencumbered and free to choose our path.
As the soul experiences life in a non-spirit, physical reality, its job is to repair the world by performing righteous deeds and meritorious acts (Tikkun Olam). However, each person (body + soul) is not forced to participate in its primary mission because it has been given the ability to choose its course. After all, in our time-space continuum, the perception of God has been concealed. Thankfully, God has left us clues about his existence in creation. So much so that the Jewish Rabbi, Paul, writes in Romans 1:20,
His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Upon our death, our soul returns to its spiritual home, to the one who created it, and brings all of its life experiences from our physical reality into the Heavenly realm. Whatever spiritual wealth it has acquired in this world is laid at the feet of the Creator as gifts it has earned on earth. These gifts are worthy of merit because they have been earned in an environment where the person chooses freely to partake in righteousness.
Angels escort the soul to paradise when the body ceases to function. When one of God’s children passes, the angelic escort guides and protects the soul on the trip back to the world of souls. The transition from the world of concealment to the world of truth is disorienting and confusing. The soul doesn’t remember the way home. Therefore, the righteous angelic servants of God surround, protect and guide it on its way. Psalm 91:11-12 says,
He will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.”
In this week’s parsha, just like Jacob, who left the land of promise (the world of truth) to labor under Laban (the world of concealment), the soul has left paradise to labor in the physical reality. At the end of Jacob’s term, he returns to the land of Canaan with the wealth he has acquired. So too, the soul returns to God with the righteous acts it has performed in the flesh.
Ecclesiastes 12: 7 reads,
And the dust returns to earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Jesus and the sages agree that righteous souls reside in the Garden of Eden, while the unrighteous souls experience punishment in Gehenna; a great chasm separates the two destinations. In both cases, the souls wait for the final judgment, followed by the resurrection of the dead, which culminates with the world to come. The Olam Haba. Where,
No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. - I Cor. 2:9
May we each begin to acquire for ourselves spiritual wealth, and may our souls find the journey from this life to the next accompanied by the righteous angels of God.
If you have found this post helpful in any way, please feel free to subscribe and share it with friends and family.
Thanks!
Ty