Sacred Texts  Judaism  Index  Previous  Next   p. 203   SAID
Rabbi Abba: "'Nephesh hahaya' (living soul) truly denote the
souls of Israel. They are the children of the Holy One and holy
in his sight, but the souls of the heathen and idolatrous
nations whence come they?" Said Rabbi Eleazar: "They emanate
from the left side of the sephirotic tree of life, which is the
side of impurity, and therefore they defile all that come into
contact with them. It is written, 'Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, and creeping thing and beast of
the earth after his kind' (Gen. 1-24). Wherefore does the word
'lemina' (after his kind) occur twice? It is to confirm what has
just been stated, that the souls of Israel are pure and holy,
but the souls of the heathen being impure and unholy are
symbolized by the creeping thing and beast of the earth, and
therefore, like the foreskin in circumcision, are cut off. It is
written also, 'Let us make man in47a our image and after our
likeness,' indicating that in