#nefesh

[brother-hermes]

HOW ARE WE MICROCOSMS: THE 5 LEVELS OF SOUL

Today I want to take a look at the alchemical concepts of microcosm and macrocosm. We’ll start by taking a brief look at Paracelsus words on the subject and trace them back to their Hermetic roots. We’ll discuss a brief outline found in the Kybalion before taking a look at the Jewish Tradition. Join me as we take the journey within.

[breslovwomansays]

WATCH VIDEO: The Five Levels of the Soul in Judaism: Body & Soul Class 3

LIKE this video. The more LIKES & COMMENTS, the more YouTube will Share this and other BreslovWoman.org videosSubscribe to this channel to get new videos. Now a Best-Seller! Interested in learning more about the End of Days and the real Jewish Messiah?MASHIACH: Hope for Turbulent Times on Amazon Also, MAY YOU HAVE A DAY: Making Every Day Better with the Teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov on…

[bdkinz]

Audio - Lessons in Tanya Day 5

Audio – Lessons in Tanya Day 5

Thoughts on part 2 of chapter 1. This continues to discuss the different types of person. I describe the sense of nefesh and two sides of the force. Finally, I attempt to grapple with a challenging passage describing the difference of soul between Jew and non-Jew. This topic is particularly difficult in our more universalistic world. I am left with questions even after thinking through the…

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Apparently zionist lobbies like Nefesh B'Nefesh in Canada are advertising settler colonialism in the zionist occupation as it genocides Palestinians and ethnically cleanses Ghazzah. Once a settler colony, always a settler colony.

[lioryaakov]

Me at autocorrect everytime I try to type “pikuach nefesh.”

[modestly-trying]

Can you use an AAC device on Shabbat

[frownyalfred]

Hello! I’m not Jewish and I just learned about Pikuach Nefesh. Being Jewish yourself, I’m guessing you have a lot of thoughts on this and how it relates to Bruce’s no-kill policy. I’d be really interested in hearing them if you want to make a post!

Hey friend!

I absolutely have thoughts, but I must begin with a disclaimer:

My perspective does not cover all Jews, nor is it the authority on what is or isn't Jewish. I grew up Reform/Reconstructionist, in an ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish family, and these are just my thoughts as a Batman blog.

Another important note: different types of Jews hold the halacha (rules/principles) of Judaism to be far more important in their lives. An Orthodox Jew will observe halacha much more strictly than a Reform Jew. Despite what some people will tell you, this doesn't make either of them better. Just different.

Whew, okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business.

What is Pikuach Nefesh?

In very general terms, Pikuach Nefesh (hard ch sound in the back of your throat) allows Jews to override other religious "rules" or values in the pursuit of preserving or saving a life.

A good example of this is a an Orthodox Jewish person, who, following halacha, will not drive or operate items with electricity during the Sabbath (Shabbat). But what happens if someone has a heart attack and they need to call 911? Pikuach Nefesh would permit them to use electricity, despite it being Shabbat.

If a Jewish person who keeps total kosher is in a situation where they will starve if they do not eat non-kosher food, they are permitted to eat non-kosher food.

Exceptions

There are some notable exceptions to Pikuach Nefesh, which I suspect is what your question is getting at. The threat to an individual's life generally has to be known, urgent, and not abstract.

Murder is another large exception, with some conditions. Generally, the intentional act of killing another person, or injuring them to the point where they might die from their injuries, is not an act that can be permitted by the principle of Pikuach Nefesh.

The slim exceptions to this include highly specific cases of self defense of oneself or another against an aggressor. One may kill to preserve a life in very strict situations, but they cannot murder. There are even times where killing is obligated, such as war.

So how does this relate to Batman/Bruce's no-killing rule?

Okay. So. I've had a lot of discussions with folks about this, and the answer I've learned is: it doesn't. Not really.

Pikuach Nefesh refers to the principle that a Jewish person should preserve life over almost any other rule or halacha. It does, actually, permit Bruce to kill under very specific situations. It does actually forbid him from gravely injuring people and doing so in the name of fighting against abstract threats, which are both things he does in canon.

The last time I wrote about this, I was definitely off about the details of Pikuach Nefesh in regard to Batman. I was corrected and I stand by that correction. I didn't grow up in the Orthodox faith and I don't observe much of their halacha, which is where a lot of religious theory questions arise from. I'm not an expert, and my explanation is only as deep as my own experience.

I think a good way of looking at Pikuach Nefesh is not as a way to define what, if any, killing is acceptable, but rather, what are we obligated to do to save a life?

The more important Jewish principle shaping Batman's ideology (in my opinion)

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

This is much more of an important focal point for Bruce's Jewish-influenced ideology. The flipside of this quote, from the Talmud, is equally important: "Whoever kills one life, kills the world entire."

Bruce's no-killing rule is famously tied to his parents' deaths during his childhood. In a way, his entire world ended with their murder. He sees his mission to clean up Gotham as a way to prevent that loss from occurring for anyone else.

Saving one person, like he tells Barry in Justice League, is enough. That is a viciously Jewish thought. It is frequently quoted in reference to those who acted in support of Jews during the Holocaust, doing what little they could against a fountain of evil.

Conclusion

In that regard, yes -- Pikuach Nefesh tells us that preserving a life is the most important thing above all else. But Bruce's no-killing rule would swiftly be broken if he followed the principle of Pikuach Nefesh closely, in that he would a) likely have to kill someone in self-defense at some point in his duties and b) it would not allow him to injure or hurt people to the extent that he currently does in canon.

More importantly, Bruce's no-killing rule is a better reflection of the Talmudic quote that "he who saves/kills a life, has saved/killed a world entire."

It is not much of a stretch, in my opinion, to connect Bruce's trauma from losing his parents at young age to his outright refusal to kill later in life. The more interesting question, in my mind, is if the creation of this no-killing rule truly was shaped by Batman's Jewish creators and their view on life and death, especially post Holocaust.

Comics became more widely available during and after WWII and the Holocaust, during which time many -- many -- Jews entered the field as writers and artists. Their influences on the characters we see today are obvious, often intentionally Jewish, but just as often un-intentional.

Was Batman's no-killing rule a product of the post-WWII Jewish comic writers who shaped his character? Was it a coincidence that lined up well with the Talmud, but not necessarily all the conditions of Pikuach Nefesh?

How else does Batman represent, or not represent, the goal of Pikuach Nefesh (the necessity that a person act in the preservation of human life, above almost all else)?

[gynandromorph]

I don't know if it was intentional on that Twitter user's part but that saying is a very very well known one in Judaism because it sets the precedent for pikuach nefesh (the preservation of human life) — "anyone who destroys a life is considered by scripture to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world." However I can easily imagine Israel handwaving this by categorizing all Palestinians as rodef (pursuant/aggressor pursuing someone to murder them)

[askjumblr]

This is a somewhat frivolous/silly question, but it's been bugging me for years.

So, I have been mentally storybuilding about a Chabad shliach and his wife fighting Vampires with Jewish ritual objects. At one point I decided that, to compensate for making them incredibly vulnerable to holy things wielded with sincere faith, I will make them tougher in other ways.

Upshot, sunlight doesn't kill them, but when the sun's up they can't move. Which begets the question, is it permissible to kill a vampire on Shabbos day, since they don't present an imminent danger?

Relatedly, have a bit about a Vampire who manages to obtain an invitation to enter the Chabad House, but can't pass the threshold because of the Mezuzah, so he comes in through a window and finds he can't exit the room for the same reason. If this happened Shabbos night, and he is still there Shabbos morning, are they allowed to move the paralyzed body out of the house?

.

[sopranoentravesti]

Idk what it is about people being horrified and berating me when I choose to fast (and not even dry fasting!) when they have similar things which could create complications fasting! Like babe I know what I’m committing to and have contingency plans and know what signs to look for if shit goes south.

Brought to you by my beloved friend with myositis who’s oxygen tends to dip when her blood sugar is low and who’s bones are even shittier than mine.

[brother-hermes]

Merkhabah & The Five Levels OF Soul

Let's take a look at the Five Levels of Soul in relation to Merkhabah. With so much information available it would behoove of us all to return to the source of the teachings and refresh our understanding. Rock with me as we take the journey within.

“Man is a microcosm, or a little world, because he is an extract from all the stars and planets of the whole firmament, from the earth and the elements; and so he is their quintessence.”-Paracelsus When we hear Kabbalists speaking on the Levels of Soul it’s easy to get confused. A- we’re hitting a language barrier with terms that don’t easily translate into English B- most of us aren’t…

[breslovwomansays]

WATCH VIDEO: Intro to Body & Soul: The Soul Is A Light

WATCH VIDEO: Intro to Body & Soul: The Soul Is A Light

LIKE this video. The more LIKES & COMMENTS, the more YouTube will Share this and other BreslovWoman videos with Chaya RivkaSubscribe to this channel to get new videos Now a Best-Seller! Interested in learning more about the End of Days and the real Jewish Messiah?MASHIACH: Hope for Turbulent Times on Amazon Also, MAY YOU HAVE A DAY: Making Every Day Better with the Teachings of Rebbe Nachman of…

[whatacartouchebag]

Fighting my neighbours garbage obsession with bad music covers by playing Nefesh Mountain at full blast.

[jacensolodjo]

“Why do Jews have the lowest infection rates and fewest deaths from communicable disease?” and “You mean Jews are pro-choice? Why?” is the same fucking answer and yet. 

[koheletgirl]

remember when they took away your abortion rights and you wanted to convert to judaism lmaolmaolmao

[laineystein]

Had big plans to do nothing but eat, drink, and catch up on sleep prior to tomorrow evening’s fast. Now we’re deciding if we want to head back to the city or stay where we are - we have a mamad both places but if things get bad I need to be at the hospital.

😐😐😐😐