Musar for Shabbat 66:10

We must strive to attain perfection in the following areas: 1) perfection of one's soul; 2) perfection of one's body; 3) perfection of one's belongings, money matters. Regarding these three areas, the Torah says: "You shall love the Lord your G–d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut 6,5). The life of the body depends on the heart. The word נפש, refers to the נשמה, soul. When we speak about someone as being שלם בגופו, שלם בתורתו, שלם בממונו see Rashi's commentary on Genesis 33,18, we view תורה as well as study and achievements (in study) as elements the soul depends on.

The two arms of man correspond to the emanations חסד and גבורה. The two legs correspond to the emanations נצח and הוד. The male reproductive organ within which all the forces of the body coalesce and form his seed and by means of which he unites with his wife, corresponds to the emanation מלכות. After the Torah had described the union of man and wife [i.e. man in the plural i.e. אותם, Ed.], it mentions that G–d blessed them (Genesis 1,28). He called their combined name אדם. Man had not become whole until joined by his wife as a separate entity. When this occurred Man's soul wore garments of distinction [i.e. the body. Ed.] Man's essence is his "interior," his body is merely his "clothing." This "clothing" was snow white, as if he were wearing clothing made of "light," i.e. כתנות אור. Man's body then could be described as illuminating both his soul and itself. This provided man with three different kinds of wholeness or "perfections." They are alluded to in the acronym מגן (usually understood as shield, protection). The three letters forming that acronym are the first letters of each of the words ממון, money, גוף, body, and נשמה, soul. This is what is meant when the beauty of Jacob is described by our sages as comparable to the beauty of Adam. The Torah refers to it when it describes the mental and physical state of Jacob/Israel shortly after his encounter with Samael. We read in Genesis 33,18: ויבא יעקב שלם, "Jacob arrived whole." We are told in Shabbat 33b, that the word "whole" comprised the three aspects we have mentioned as the perfection of Adam. The Talmud described one of the aspects in which Jacob was "whole,” שלם, as תורתו; this refers, of course, to the state of his נשמה, his soul, since it is Torah which illuminates our soul. Adam the whole was not deficient in any area that is part of life. He did not have any needs since he already found himself at home in גן עדן, in an ideal environment. His food was derived from the trees of גן עדן. He did not have to work for a living and was therefore free to directly devote all his time to the service of G–d. The Torah describes that Adam was placed in גן עדן in order לעבדה ולשמרו, was placed in such an undemanding environment in order to enable him to serve G–d without hindrance and impediment. Our sages interpret the word לעבדה as referring to the performance of positive commandments, whereas the word לשמרה refers to the care taken not to transgress negative commandments. Adam performed all six hundred and thirteen commandments in a theoretical, spiritual fashion. All of this is explained in Pardes Rimonim chapter הנשמה, and I have elaborated on this elsewhere (מסכת חולין item 104, new edition of של"ה השלם by Rabbi Meir Katz). Man unfortunately did not even manage to spend a single night in גן עדן before he sinned. (cf. Psalms 49,13). His "jewelry" was removed as a result of his seduction by the serpent. This brought in its wake that instead of wearing "garments" which illuminated his soul as well as his body, he had to wear garments made of the hide of flesh, i.e. animals which did not represent anything spiritual. Ever since, new generations of man are the product of the smelly drop of semen, i.e. semen which is polluted by the residual pollutant of the original serpent. Once Eve had become defiled through sexual union with the serpent, the defiled party had to leave the holy site, i.e. גן עדן, just as in the desert anyone who was ritually impure could not remain within the holy precincts of the מחנה שכינה, the camp hosting the Presence of G–d. The immediate result of this was the toil involved in securing his sustenance, his clothing and his shelter. This is what the Torah meant when it describes that G–d told Adam: "You will eat bread in the sweat of your brow" (Genesis 3,19). Because man was constructed from parts of nature, מטבע, he has a tendency to pursue money, matbei'a, as symbolized by the word מטבע. He uses this money, מטבע, to secure his needs.

The words השכל וידוע אותי in that verse, mean that "when these attributes originate with Me, then they are something worth boasting about." The fact that the prophet seems to repeat himself by saying השכל וידוע, may be an allusion to the perfection of these attributes personified by our patriarch Jacob, of whom the Torah testified in Genesis 33,18, that he arrived at the city of Shechem שלם, perfect, which Rashi there interprets as whole in body, i.e. physical prowess, גבורה; whole in money, i.e. he was well satisfied with his lot, i.e. עשיר; and finally, whole in his Torah, i.e. he was a חכם. These three kinds of perfection or wholeness, are also described in Deut. 6,5, which tells us how to love G–d, i.e. בכל לבבך, ובכל נפשך, ובכל מאדך. The heart represents physical life, and it was Yehudah ben Teima who when he said "be mighty like the lion," referred to performing G–d's commandments with all the power of one's heart, according to the introduction of Tur Orach Chayim. When the Torah continues: “בכל נפשך,” the reference is to the abstract life-force, the mind. This means that the mind, which normally craves recognition, should be put at the disposal of G–d's commands. The expression "ובכל מאדך," refers to one's financial wealth, i.e. putting that which is normally subject to one's greed at G–d's disposal. We find that these attributes can be employed in one's relationship with G–d, since many of the commandments of religious ritual require the expenditure of money, such as contributions to Temple maintenance, purchase of communal sacrifices, etc. Other commandments require that one exerts one's body, such as all the laws involving forbidden foods. Still other commandments can be performed only if one uses one's mental faculties.