The three levels of life renewed on Rosh Hashanah

החיים שמבקשין בר"ה הוא חיות הנשמה.

The "life" that we ask for on Rosh Hashanah is the vitality of the neshamah (soul).

When we pray "remember us for life" on Rosh Hashanah, we are asking not merely for physical existence but for the living vitality of the soul.

דכ' וייצר כו' את האדם עפר מן האדמה ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים ויהי האדם לנפש חי'.

For it is written, "And [Hashem] formed the man, dust from the earth, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and the man became a living soul" (Bereishis 2:7).

The verse describing man's creation contains three phrases, which the Sefas Emes reads as three distinct aspects of the human being.

והם ג' בחי'.

And these are three aspects.

The "dust," the "breath of life," and the "living soul" represent three levels within a person.

והם ג' ספרים הנפתחים בר"ה שבו נברא האדם ונתחדש אלה הג' בחי'.

And they correspond to the three books that are opened on Rosh Hashanah, the day on which man was created and these three aspects are renewed.

The three books opened on Rosh Hashanah — for the wholly righteous, the wholly wicked, and the in-between — align with these three aspects of man, which are renewed on the anniversary of his creation.

עפר מן האדמה הוא הגוף שעומד למיתה ואין בו חיים וזה מדת הרשעים שאין הנשמה מאיר בהם ולכן מקבל רק חיית הגוף בעוה"ז עפר מן האדמה.

"Dust from the earth" is the body, which stands destined for death and has no [true] life in it; and this is the category of the resha'im (wicked), in whom the neshamah does not shine, and who therefore receive only bodily life in this world — "dust from the earth."

The wicked live only on the level of the body, "dust," for the light of the neshamah does not radiate within them; theirs is mere physical existence destined for death.

ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים הוא בחי' הצדיקים שאפילו במיתתן קרוין חיים.

"And He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life" is the aspect of the tzaddikim, who even in their death are called living (Berachos 18a).

The tzaddikim embody the "breath of life," so fully alive with the neshamah that even after death they are called living.

כבר פרשנו שהם מביאים חיות הנשמה בגוף וגם הגוף שלהם נקרא חי.

We have already explained that they draw the vitality of the neshamah into the body, so that even their body is called living.

The tzaddik infuses the body itself with the life of the soul, so that his physical being too is counted as alive.

וז"ש חי חי (כו') יודך חי בנשמה חי בגוף.

This is the meaning of "the living, the living, he shall thank You" (Yeshayahu 38:19) — living in the neshamah and living in the body.

The doubled "living" hints at the tzaddik, who is alive on both planes at once — in soul and in body.

והוא בכח התורה ומצות דכ' וחי בהם.

And this is through the power of Torah and mitzvos, as it is written, "and he shall live by them" (Vayikra 18:5).

It is Torah and mitzvos that draw this dual vitality into the tzaddik, for one truly "lives" through them.

ולכן נקרא הצדיק חי.

Therefore the tzaddik is called "living."

Because he lives through Torah and mitzvos in both body and soul, the tzaddik earns the title "chai" (living).

ויהי האדם לנפש חי' הם הבינונים שזה וזה שופטן.

"And the man became a living soul" — these are the beinonim (the intermediate ones), whom both [inclinations] judge.

The third phrase represents the beinoni, the average person ruled at times by the good inclination and at times by the yetzer hara.

ויש להם נפש ורצון להתדבק בהנשמה.

And they have a nefesh and a ratzon (will) to cleave to the neshamah.

The beinoni possesses a genuine desire to attach himself to the higher soul, even if he has not fully achieved it.

ומ"מ אינו מתהפך כולו להיות נקרא חי.

Nevertheless, he is not wholly transformed so as to be called "living."

Unlike the tzaddik, the beinoni has not yet completely converted his whole being into the life of the neshamah.

רק מ"מ הוא כלי שהנשמה מאירה בו לפרקים.

Yet still he is a vessel in which the neshamah shines from time to time.

The beinoni serves as a keli (vessel) through which the light of the neshamah shines intermittently, in his better moments.

ואדה"ר הי' מוכן קודם החטא להיות כולו נשמת חיים.

And Adam HaRishon, before the sin, was prepared to be entirely "a breath of life."

Before the cheit, the first man was poised to exist wholly on the level of the neshamah, with no domination by the body.

ואחר החטא כ' כי עפר אתה ואל עפר תשוב.

And after the sin it is written, "for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Bereishis 3:19).

The sin brought man down to the level of "dust," subject to death and bodily limitation.

פי' לפי שעפר אתה.

The meaning is: because "you are dust" [only now].

The Sefas Emes reads the verse as describing a fall — man became "dust" specifically as a result of the sin.

שהי' מוכן להיות כולו נשמה.

For he had been prepared to be entirely neshamah.

The tragedy is that man, originally destined to be all soul, was reduced to dust by the sin.

וכן אח"כ בנ"י בקבלת התורה אמרתי אלקים אתם כו' אכן כאדם תמותון.

And so too afterward with Bnei Yisrael at the receiving of the Torah: "I said, you are angelic beings… yet like a man you shall die" (Tehillim 82:6-7).

At Matan Torah Bnei Yisrael reached the angelic, deathless level, but after the cheit ha'egel they too fell back to mortal "man," like Adam after his sin.

וכמו דאיתא מעשה בראשית לדעתם נבראו.

And as it is taught, the works of creation were created according to their consent/awareness ("ladaatam").

Chazal teach that creation was formed in accordance with the will and consent of the created beings, so a person's own choice shapes what he becomes.

כמו כן כפי החיות שבוחר האדם בר"ה כך נותנין לו חיים.

Likewise, according to the [level of] life that a person chooses on Rosh Hashanah, so is he granted life.

On Rosh Hashanah a person's own choice determines which kind of vitality — bodily, intermediate, or full soul-life — is bestowed upon him.

וע"ז מבקשין זכרנו לחיים.

And about this we plead, "Remember us for life."

Our Rosh Hashanah prayer "zochreinu lechaim" is a request to be granted the true vitality of the neshamah, the life of the tzaddik.

ונקרא ראש השנה שבו התחדשות הנשמה שהיא בראש:

And it is called Rosh Hashanah ("head of the year"), for on it is the renewal of the neshamah, which resides in the "rosh" (head).

The very name Rosh Hashanah points to the renewal of the soul, which is seated in the head — the day is the "head" because it renews the highest, soul-life within us.

Summary: The "life" we request on Rosh Hashanah is the vitality of the neshamah. The verse of man's creation — "dust," "breath of life," and "living soul" — corresponds to the three books opened on Rosh Hashanah and to three types of people: the wicked who live only as "dust," the tzaddikim who through Torah and mitzvos draw the soul's life even into the body and are called "living," and the beinonim who are vessels in which the neshamah shines intermittently. Adam before his sin, and Bnei Yisrael at Matan Torah, were poised to be wholly neshamah but fell to mortal "dust" through sin; since creation follows a person's own will, on Rosh Hashanah — the day of the soul's renewal, seated in the head — each person is granted the level of life he chooses, and we pray "remember us for life."