Еврейская мысль к Берешит 9:6

Our philosophy is reflected in our daily morning prayer which commences with the words "My G'd, the soul You have placed within me is pure. You have created it, You have formed it, You have breathed it into me." In Deut, 4,4-7, Moses describes the need to preserve a state of purity, when he refers to the nations describing Israel as "this great nation clever and full of insights." All the above explains the last line in the book of Psalms "the whole soul praises the Lord." When we read in Avot that man is beloved because he was created in G'ds image, this too refers to the pure soul that man has been endowed with. All of the foregoing was meant by Bar Kapparah when he described the soul as "the Divine illumination."

These are but a few of the problems that trouble theologians and philosophers concerning the term neshamah, soul. The subject is swept under the rug for fear that it would produce mass desertions from (organized) religion. Job expressed his intellectual anguish about this in the words "I am at an end, I do not know my soul, I despise my life" (Job 9,21). Silence on the subject only deepens doubts and frustration. Discussion is apt to lead others astray who had never been alert to the fact that a problem existed, due to the shallowness of their thinking. Uttering doubts to oneself only, maybe a means to find solutions without having a negative impact on others. David, who had wanted to know the date of his death, wanted to find out if his task on earth could be completed in the time span allotted to him. He who lives one day at a time, not knowing how much time he has to complete a project, surely must be in constant terror lest all his work be in vain.

Since the deluge had been the great rehabilitation of the human race or what had remained of it, man's image had been completely restored. It was he who had insured the survival of the animals, having tended to them and fed them on a round-the-clock basis for an entire year. Man had thereby acquired the right to exercise dominion over them in greater measure than ever before. By serving man as food, the animal is actually elevated in stature, seeing that serving a master of higher stature is a promotion vis a vis serving a master of more humble stature. Of course, the need to consume meat, as opposed to the ability to digest heavenly food such as the manna, is a relative shortcoming in man. More of this in the section dealing with manna. Once the consumption of meat had been permitted, certain restrictions such as the consumption of living tissue or blood from a living animal were imposed. The reasons for this will be discussed in Chapter 64. Also, should the animals act contrary to their supposed nature, they are warned of heavenly retribution. They must know that they are not to attack and kill man, nor are they allowed to feed on human remains. In the case of man versus man, the main concern of the legislation is man killing man, since injuring him for food consumption is uncharacteristic. Possibly, the wording indicates heavenly retribution in cases where witnesses are lacking and murderous intent cannot be presumed. Only man, "he who spills the blood of man" (Genesis 9,6), is subject to retribution by a human Court of Law. Animals will be dealt with by celestial tribunal only. Only after the Torah had been given to the Jewish people do we find a law that makes beasts subject to human justice, as in the case of the bull which has gored a human being, especially if that bull was the property of a human being, who is charged with negligent supervision (Exodus 21,29).