Musar su Genesi 46:27

And in order to set one's mind at rest in this, I have thought it fit to introduce an exalted thought here which is rooted in the Yerushalmi adduced by Semag, that if one were walking on the road and struck one of his feet with the other and, in doing so, fell to the ground and hurt his body, his face and also that foot — aside from the fact that it would never enter his mind to take revenge of that foot by [desisting] from healing it, he would also harbor no hatred whatsoever against it. For what is the foot and what are his body and his face — they all are one [body], but divided into organs. Rather, he would reason that his sins caused this. Here, too, if it happened that his friend did not benefit him with a certain good that he asked of him, or even if he grieved or insulted him in some way, he should not avenge himself and harbor hatred against him. For who is his friend and who is he? Both are from one root, as it is written (I Chronicles 17:21): "And who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?" And it is written [Bereshith 46:27): "All of the soul of the house of Jacob that came etc." It is not written "souls," to teach us that all the souls of Israel above are reckoned as one soul. It is just that each one is an entity in itself. As with a man in his entirety — even though, as a whole, he is one man, still, he has organs which are "heads" to him, like the head and the heart; and there are those beneath these, like the hand and the foot. And it is also into one rest that all of Israel will gather in the end — under the Throne of Glory — as it is written (I Samuel 25:29): "And the soul of my lord will be bound in the bond of life with the L-rd your G-d, etc." It is just that because in this world, where everyone is clothed in his own matter by himself, and because each of his affairs and undertakings is an entity in itself that a man imagines himself to be a distinct person and not "one" with his fellow Jew at all — but this is not so.

ואהבת לרעך כמוך . Philosophically speaking, we have demonstrated that the Jewish people are considered as a single unit; the seventy souls that came to Egypt are described as נפש, a single composite soul (Genesis 46,27), as distinct from the clan of Esau whose members are always described in the plural, to emphasize their diversity (Genesis chapter 36). You may well ask how you can be expected to love your fellow Jew just as yourself (19,18), when the reason you are to admonish him is that he commits transgressions which are apt to make you share in his punishment? The answer may be that we find many times that a person breaks his own hand or damages his own eyesight. He did not do so willingly, but the fact that it happened was a punishment for him. One does not stop loving oneself because one has caused oneself the loss of a hand or the loss of an eye. Similarly, one must not stop loving a fellow Jew who may have been or may become instrumental in causing one damage.

כהן-לוים-ישראלים, in descending order, are similar to נשמה-רוח-נפש. The Torah describes "Adam" on three levels, Genesis 2,7, ויהי אדם לנפש חיה. In Genesis 6,3, we find רוח האדם. Finally, in Genesis 2,7, we find him also as נשמת האדם. Kabbalists have described this parallel relationship and have claimed that this is the source for our reciting one hundred benedictions daily. The Israelite, who represents the נפש level, gives ten percent of his harvest to the Levite, who represents the רוח level. The Levite in turn, gives ten percent of what he has received to the Priest, who represents the נשמה level. This means the Priest is entitled to the "number" one (one out of a hundred). The author of Shaarey Orah as well as the author of Tolaat Yaakov have elaborated on the significance of these various numbers in the alphabet. We find the whole Jewish people referred to as נפש (singular), when Jacob and his family moved to Egypt (Genesis 46,27).