We are created from the image of G-d
We have to appreciate what we are. When you think about all this, that’s what we are. How do we treat each other so badly? If you think about what this means…. Scientists estimate that there could be a hundred million species of animals, insects, plants, whatever. They’re all physical. If we realize what an Adam–human is, and you know what that’s called, b’tzelem elokim—image of G-d.
If man is in the image of G-d, how do we treat each other so badly? Why are we always looking at wars? What is wrong with us, “us” being the human race? What is wrong with the human race? It’s just incredible to observe. Man can be great or man can be vile. Why are people so vile? If you look around the world, the world is filled with evil. I’m not just talking about Jews; I’m also talking about the goyim because even a goy has a nefesh elyona. G-d let them have nefesh elyona. He could have taken it away.
The problem with a goy, a non-Jew, is that he only has a nefesh, and does not have the yechidah, chaya, neshamah, or ruach. More specifically, a goy does have these but they are all part of the nefesh. What does that mean? For instance, each of the five parts itself is divided into five parts, therefore, the lowest part called the nefesh has a yechidah, chaya, neshamah, ruach, and nefesh. In other words, the nefesh itself is subdivided into five parts. So, a goy does have a ruach but it’s the ruach of the nefesh.
Only a Jew has the first four parts irrespective of the nefesh elyona, the bottommost part of the neshamah. That’s what gives Jews the ability to connect and change the sefiros. That’s how a Jew can do the tikkun. He can only do the Tikkun because he’s connected to all aspects of reality through the five parts of his neshamah. That’s how he can rectify everything. That’s what makes a Jew, a Jew.
When G-d decided to take away that ability from the goyim and leave it with Jews which occurred in the time of the Dor Ha’Flaga—The Generation of Babel, the Dispersion when they tried to defy G-d and declare war with G-d, He did leave the goy with the nefesh elyona but only the nefesh, the fifth part. Therefore, a goy is not connected to the other worlds. His acts cannot do Tikkun to any of the upper worlds. The goy’s connection is solely to Olam Asiyah, this world, although he’s still spiritual because he does have the nefesh. He can’t do tikkun but, what he can do, in a certain sense, is do a tikkun in Olam Asiyah. He can only affect himself, not affect Creation because Creation is the totality of all five worlds. He can improve because he is connected to Olam Asiyah. A goy is a spiritual being but not part of the Tikkun process.
Because he is a spiritual being, it says in the “Tana Devi Eliyahu” that he can receive prophecy because he has five parts of the nefesh. In that sense, he’s got a major aspect of the equipment it takes to have prophecy. So, goyim have no excuse and cannot say with any legitimacy: well, I’m not like the Jews so I can do what I want—no! They have the capability to be a navi—prophet. Bilaam was a goy and he was a navi. There were many Nevi’im that were goyim because they were also spiritual. As such, a goy is infinitely greater than any animal. It’s not as if he could say: I got a Divine soul and, therefore, I’m a little better than an animal. You don’t understand the difference between a flea and a human. That’s the difference between somebody who has a nefesh elyona and that who has only a nefesh tachtona.
We don’t realize the gulf that separates us. You can’t even put them on the same page, the type of being you are because you have a Divine soul even if you don’t have all of the Divine souls. It’s a very important idea. No goy should ever think that he’s inferior to an animal or he is an animal, G-d forbid. A goy can achieve incredible greatness because of that nefesh. That itself will allow someone to become a different species—the difference between a human and a flea.
By Yoeri Schepens
Sources: Part of a Rabbi Mendel Kessin shiur: https://www.torahthinking.org/post/weekly-hashkafa-shiur-135-the-greatness-of-man-s-soul
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