When I Say "I," Do I Mean My Body? 5 Points to Think About

"Who am I?"

When someone says "I am hungry," "I am happy" – who is the "I" they refer to? Who is the "I" of a person? What does "I" even mean?

"I am Yossi"- Who is Yossi? The head? The hands? The legs? The neck? Exactly where in the body is Yossi located? If for some reason something changes in Yossi's body – say, his nose is shortened in a plastic surgery - does the "I" within him change? Of course not! The soul remains the same; it is the same "I"...

So, when we say "I" - do we mean the body which is the shell, or the personality which is the character?

Character and personality in Hebrew refer to, in other words, the human soul. The soul is spiritual and not material!

The "I" is the human soul, and that's what defines a person! A change in the body doesn't change the soul. A person who loses a hand or whose body ages – does their "I" change? Definitely not! It's the same person, with the same thoughts and feelings, the same soul!

Our body is just a shell. Sometimes you can change the body, but you must know that the real person is the soul, and the body is the clothing of the soul!

When someone walks down the street, from the side people see walking clothing... But everyone with common sense understands that clothes don't walk on their own, there is someone inside walking, and the clothes walk along with him. Similarly, when you see a body walking – who really walks ? The soul! The person himself is the spiritual part inside the body, and the body is its external garment!

Wait, we saw earlier that during a person's life, physical traits do not affect the soul. So what happens when a person dies? What happens to his "I," to his soul?

Friends, the "I" never dies! Our souls never die! The "I" stays forever!

When a person passes away and is buried – only the body is buried! What is it like? Seeing the clothes one has taken off go up in flames, and he is not alarmed because he continues to live! So too, when we bury a loved one – we bury the garment that accompanied him all his life. He continues to live – his soul is eternal!

The human soul is the crown of creation; it is the closest creation to Hashem in the reality He created. In relation to the soul, Ramban explained, about the verse (Genesis 2:7): "And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life": "He who breathes – breathes from within himself" (this phrase also appears in the Zohar on Genesis, page 27, column A). Meaning, Hashem breathed into man a part of Himself – the soul is a spiritual part of the Creator of the world. Like a person who inflates a balloon, part of him – his air – is in the balloon, and therefore the soul attracts towards Hashem and wishes to unite with Him and fulfill His will, as it was taken from Him...

Wrapping a Gift

Did you buy a gift for a holiday, birthday, or housewarming? Now it's time to invest in creative and festive wrapping.

Have you ever tried wrapping a gift? It seems like an impossible task! You have to precisely cut the wrapping paper, fold, tape, and then fasten carefully and gently so there are no creases, holes, or gaps in the packaging.

Would you believe it if I told you there's an extraordinary wrapping whose tightness is awe-inspiring?

Meet the wrapping – our skin!

Have you noticed the snug wrapping of skin on the body, without air bubbles, wrinkles, or gaps? The area of this unique wrapping reaches up to 2 square meters and weighs 18 - 20 kg!

Moreover, a wonder is that this skin layer expands and elongates as needed, and each month the body grows a new and natural wrapping – a new outer layer of skin for the body. The Creator of the world, in His infinite mercy, ensured that this "wrapping" on our body would grow with us, remain intact, and renew through internal biological processes.

Here is the wonderful design of the skin wrapping on our bodies. And we haven't even talked about the role of the skin, which as an external covering serves as the first line of defense of the immune system. Its additional functions: regulating body temperature and blood pressure, sensation of touch, pain, and temperature, production of substances the body needs including Vitamin D and more.

Who is it that took care to wrap our bodies in such a perfect and sophisticated way?

"The face of the generation is like the face of the dog"

Sometimes I look at the previous generation – at my parents, at my grandparents – and I can't help but wonder how, in a generation considered by us to be less modern, less sophisticated, less educated, less technological, there were things we can only dream of today: there was respect for parental and elder authority. Just ask your parents how they behaved when Dad came home. Students would stand in honor of the teacher at school (I remember myself doing that). And what about the prices back then? An Egged bus pass cost 22 shekels (today about 70 shekels) and an ice pop was a shekel (today about 3 shekels).

On the other hand, today we witness a continuous trend of rising violence and audacity within the school walls. Disrespect and contempt of children towards their parents. More so: in recent years, there have been cases of parents being murdered by their children! Alcohol consumption among teenagers is increasing – children aged 12 are drunk!... Drugs are becoming a widespread phenomenon among teenagers; families are falling apart – every third couple is divorced; the cost of living – prices are skyrocketing, many families can't make ends meet...

How can it be that today – despite the vast abundance in every field, the advanced technological knowledge, and education accessible at the push of a button – we live in a time where not only do we fail to reduce these negative phenomena, but they are expanding? This is an illogical phenomenon!

The explanation is that the current period is "the darkness before the dawn." This is what Chazal said about the generation before the coming of the Messiah and redemption: "In the footsteps of the Messiah, audacity will increase tremendously, prices will abound, heresy will gain power... and truth will be lacking (the People of Israel will not know their Judaism). Youngsters will shame the elderly, the elderly will rise for the young, a son will insult his father, a daughter will rise against her mother, a bride against her mother-in-law (children will disrespect their parents), a man's enemies will be the people of his household, the face of the generation is like the face of the dog, a son does not respect his father. And what do we have to rely on? Only on our Father in Heaven" (Sotah 49b).

See what was written about the times of the Messiah, a prophecy from about two thousand years ago: "Prices will increase, youngsters will shame the elderly..." – haven't we reached this generation? If we are in darkness, now all that's left is to wait for the coming of the Messiah and the light of redemption...

Juicy Watermelon

The watermelon is one of the favorite summer fruits in Israel. There's no doubt that a cold watermelon on a hot summer day is like "cold water to a weary soul"....

And I ask, where did the considerable amounts of sugar in a single watermelon come from, and in precisely the right dosage?! Surely there wasn't enough sugar in the seed planted in the ground. Where did all the sugars come from? At what stage after planting the seed did they arrive?

(Photo: shutterstock)

Furthermore: Excessive sugars can lead to weight gain and cardiovascular diseases. But the watermelon, despite being a sweet fruit rich in sugar, is very healthy! It is rich in various vitamins and minerals, cleanses the digestive system and more and more...

An amazing wonder!

Could it be that this marvelous fruit, which indicates a guided and caring hand, created itself without a creator and planner?...

You Can Manage

When a 12-year-old child shouts in the middle of the night, "Mom, I'm thirsty," she answers him: "Get up and get yourself a drink, you're big now!" But if a six-month-old baby cries at night, the mother jumps out of bed to bring him a drink, why? Because she knows he is helpless. He cries out to mom, and she will help him!

Whoever feels this feeling towards Hashem, "I am helpless," "I depend only on You," "Only You can help me," Hashem will take him under His care. But whoever feels that he "can manage," when he needs help, Hashem will answer him: "You're big now, manage on your own".

(Photo: shutterstock)

Our goal should be to have complete faith in the Creator, to cast our burden on Him with the belief that only He can save. If we trust that He is our doctor, our caregiver, our provider, our psychologist, our father, our matchmaker, and the one who takes care of all our earthly needs – He will indeed do all that, according to the level of our faith. But if, in addition to trusting the Creator, we also rely on ourselves or on others, then the Creator will also rely on us and on others and let us manage alone sometimes.

In other words: The greater our faith, the less effort we need to make. If we understand that everything is just Him, and there's none other than Him, and everyone around us are His messengers sent for our benefit, He will keep us close to Him, making us dependent on Him alone, and He will take care of all our needs.