The “Guf HaNeshamot” and the Body of Christ

According to Genesis 2, by the end of the sixth day the heavens and the earth were “completed” – meaning finished. Jewish interpretation concluded that the “heavens” were inclusive of all spiritual reality; meaning every heavenly realm, spiritual being, and even every human soul. If every soul has existed since the sixth day, it would follow that the souls of mankind have been residing somewhere in heaven, awaiting the time of their birth. According to the Talmud, this location is known as “Aravot”:

‘Aravot is that in which there are Right and Judgment and Righteousness, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, the souls of the righteous and the spirits and the souls which are yet to be born… The spirits and the souls which are yet to be born, for it is written: For the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, and the souls which I have made. (Is. 57:16)- Talmud Chag. 12b

It should be stressed that the Hebrew word translated as “soul” is “Neshamah”, which carries an entirely different meaning than our English word. In English, we associate our identity and consciousness with “soul”. However, the Hebrew term “Neshamah” does not refer to any aspect of human identity, or anything terrestrial in origin. The “Neshamah” instead, refers to the piece of the divine that is paired with every human at birth, which, like a battery, brings life to the physical body. This is derived from Genesis 2:7 – which states: 

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Neshamah] of life, and the man became a living being [a living Nefesh].” 

The breath of life (Neshamah) that God “breathed” came from God’s lungs so to speak. It therefore originates within God. 

The “Aravot” is also known as the “Guf HaNeshamot” – “Neshamot” is the plural form of Neshamah:

“Come see, that when the Holy One, blessed is he, created the world, He looked forward and saw that in the future Israel would stand and receive his Torah, and he cut from his throne all the souls (HaNeshamot) who were prepared to be set in them. And He made above one treasury where all the souls he cut from his throne would stand there. And He called it:…Guf Haneshamot.” – Zohar Chadash, Bereshith 403-404

“Guf ” means body, therefore this holding place is not regarded as a space with a capacity to hold Neshamot – but rather, it consists of Neshamot the way that a body is made of cells! If we can assume that this body has a head, the question is: Who or what is the head of the Guf HaNeshamot? Again, Jewish tradition points to Genesis 2:7

“And YHVH Elohim formed the man of dust from the earth, and breathed in his nose the breath [Neshamah] of LIVES [Chayim/plural], and the man became a living soul.”

According to the text, God breathed within Adam the breath of many lives. The Neshamot of all mankind were but cells within the spiritual body of Adam. This is the intended meaning behind a strange passage found in the “Shemot Rabbah” – which allegorically describes future generations “hanging” on the body parts and appendages of Adam:

“What means: ‘…and it is known what happens to man?’ [Ecclesiastes 6:10] When it was that the first Adam’s mass was cast, the Holy One, blessed is He, showed him each and every righteous one who was prepared to stand from him: some were hanging on the head of Adam, and some were hanging on his hair, and some were hanging on his forehead, and some on his eyes, and some on his nose, and some on his mouth, and some on his ear, and some on his earlobes.” -Shemot Rabbah 40:3

The scripture referenced in the allegory is Ecclesiastes 6:10, which states: 

“Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known.”

In the Hebrew, the word translated by the NIV as “humanity” is actually “Adam” – implying that all of humanity is within Adam. The prophet Ezekiel makes a similar sentiment, however, in a much less obscure manner. Ezekiel, speaking on behalf of YHVH, in no uncertain terms tells Israel: “You…are Adam…”

“And they shall know that I, YHVH their Elohim, and with them, and they are My people – the House of Israel,” says Master YHVH. And you, my flock, the flock from my pasture, are Adam, and I am your Elohim,” says Master YHVH.” – Ezekiel 34:30

Adam, having forfeited his federal headship, suffered a spiritual fall that left his stature “diminished”: 

“As is known, the word “Adam” is an acronym for “Adam, David, Messiah.” Adam’s size was from one end of the earth to the other, and included in it all the souls of Israel (Chagiga 12a). After the sin, however, his stature was diminished.” – Baal Shem Tov, Me’or Einayim, Pinchas, Ki Savo, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, translated by R’ Eliezer Shore, BST Publishing, pg. 164-165

A spiritual pathology spread from Adam and expanded outwards to infect the entire Guf Neshamot. The unity of the body shattered. The Neshamot of mankind were now separate from each other. In addition, every person after Adam, upon conception, also inherits a degree of separation from their respective Neshamah. This will later express itself as the “sin nature” or in Jewish terms, the “Yetzer HaRa”. 

“Know that when the first Adam sinned, he spoiled [damaged] all the nitzotzot [“sparks” – representing every individual] of his nefesh, and his ruach, and his neshamah” – Sha’ar HaGilgulim 3:2

The fall places upon every person born from Adam, the burden of spiritual exile; a sense of separation from each other, separation from their Neshmah, and separation from God. Our lives therefore become oriented around the pursuit to alleviate the pain of separation. This ends in part, when a man and a woman enter into marriage to form a unity:

“For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

However, corporately, humanity is destined to collectively join as a wife to a groom to rebuild the “Guf” that was damaged in Adam. If Adam was the former head, who is destined to replace Adam?

“Thus, Messiah shall consist entirely of all the souls of Israel – all six hundred thousand – as it was before the sin of the first Adam.” – Me’or Enayim, Pinchas 13

Jewish tradition regards the Messiah as possessing something called a “Yechida” – a point of light that allows all Neshamot to converge within him:

“The five levels of soul: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chaya and Yechida. The first level of Nefesh exists in all living. Ruach and Neshamah can be achieved by righteous people. The level of Chaya was given to Moses and for other high level souls in the spiritual level. Only one soul can have the level of Yechida and it is the Mashiach that is called ‘King’. His soul level is one with the Endless light…”- DailyZohar.com #1325

“[The Messiah has]…the general yechida of all the souls of Israel, the ultimate “crown” of all of God’s Creation, the Divine “intermediate” which reveals primordial Infinity to finite created reality.” – R’ Yitzchak Ginsburgh, Adam Kadmon, Primordial Man, Inner.org

Just as in the Messiah, all the exiles of Israel will return physically to the land in order to catalyze a revival of National Israel, so too, will the Messiah gather all the scattered Neshamot to himself in order to revive all of humanity spiritually, joining all people into one body of Christ.

With all of this in mind, we are now informed to fully understand Paul when he writes:

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” – Ephesians 1:22-23

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” – Ephesians 4:14-16

“After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body.” – Ephesians 5:29-30

Compare the allegory of “Shemot Rabbah” describing the souls of the righteous as attached to Adam’s body parts, with 1 Corinthians 12:15-20:

“Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”