Soul-force in speech and love

במד' מות וחיים ביד לשון מצא גחלת ונפח בה וביערה רקק בה וכיבה כו'.

In the Midrash: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21) — one found a coal and blew on it and it blazed up; he spat on it and extinguished it, etc.

The Midrash compares the tongue to a glowing coal: the very same coal can be fanned into flame or snuffed out, depending on how a person uses his power of speech.

הרמז על הקנה והוושט.

The hint is to the windpipe (kaneh) and the gullet (veshet).

The two channels in the throat — one for breath and one for food — correspond to the two forces at work in a person.

כי הקנה הוא הרוח כח הנפש.

For the windpipe is the breath, the force of the soul (ruach, koach hanefesh).

The windpipe carries breath, and so it represents the spiritual life-force of the neshamah.

והוושט כח הגוף.

And the gullet is the force of the body.

The gullet carries food, and so it represents the physical, bodily dimension of a person.

וכ"כ בזוה"ק קנה בחי' עוה"ב. וושט עוה"ז.

And so it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh: the windpipe is the aspect of Olam HaBa (the World to Come), and the gullet is the aspect of Olam HaZeh (this world).

The breath of life points to the eternal world, while the consumption of food points to the temporal, physical world.

והם בחי' מות וחיים.

And these are the aspects of "death and life."

The bodily force, left to itself, is "death," while the soul-force is "life" — the two poles named in the pasuk.

והלשון נאחז בשניהם.

And the tongue is held fast between both of them.

The tongue sits at the meeting point of both channels, so speech can be drawn toward either life or death.

ובאמת הכל תלוי בזה כי גחלת גי' אמת.

And in truth everything depends on this, for "coal" (gachelet) has the gematria of "truth" (emes).

The numerical value of gachelet equals that of emes, teaching that the glowing coal hidden within is the point of truth.

שבכל מקום נמצא נקודה פנימיות בחי' אמת.

For in every place there is found an inner point (nekudah penimiyus), the aspect of truth.

Within everything lies a buried spark of truth — the inner point that is always connected to Hashem.

והאדם בכל מעשיו כשמשתתף בה כח הרוח והנפש נפח בה ובערה כדכתי' ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים ויהי האדם לנפש חי' שבכחו לעורר החיות בכל מקום בכח הרוח.

And when a person, in all his deeds, joins to it the force of the ruach and the nefesh, he "blew on it and it blazed up" — as it is written, "He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Bereishis 2:7) — for it is in his power to awaken the life-force in every place through the force of the ruach.

When a person infuses his actions with his soul, he fans the inner coal into flame, just as Hashem breathed life into Adam; man has the power to awaken holy vitality wherever he acts.

ורקק בה כשעושה בלי דעת רק בגוף בלבד מכבה הגחלת.

"And he spat on it" — when a person acts without da'as (mindful awareness), with the body alone, he extinguishes the coal.

Acting mechanically and bodily, without engaging the soul, smothers the inner spark of truth.

וכמו כן הלשון באדם כפי מהותו אם בעל נפש הוא וכל מעשיו בדעת וכח הרוח והנפש אז לשונו רך שגובר בה כח הקנה.

And so too the tongue in a person follows his essence: if he is a baal nefesh (a man of soul) and all his deeds are with da'as and the force of the ruach and the nefesh, then his tongue is soft, for in it the force of the windpipe prevails.

A person whose deeds flow from his soul speaks gently, because the spiritual channel of the windpipe dominates his speech.

ולכן מסיים המדרש להיות לשונכם רך אלו לאלו כי כפי התגברות כח הרוח ונפש באדם אוהבין זה לזה כי הנפשות קרובין.

Therefore the Midrash concludes "that your tongue be soft toward one another," for as the force of the ruach and nefesh grows stronger in a person, people love one another — because their souls are close.

The more a person lives from his soul, the more he loves his fellow, since all neshamos share one root and are inherently near to each other.

ולפי גשמיות הגוף לשונו קשה.

But according to the coarseness of the body, his tongue is harsh.

When a person is ruled by physicality, his speech becomes hard and divisive.

ולכן ואהבת לרעך כמוך כלל גדול בתורה שהוא סימן שהוא בעל נפש לכן לשונו רך לחבירו כנ"ל:

Therefore "And you shall love your fellow as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18) is a great principle of the Torah, for it is a sign that one is a baal nefesh — and therefore his tongue is soft toward his fellow, as above.

Loving one's fellow is the great Torah principle because it reveals a person living from his soul, and such a person naturally speaks gently to others.

Summary: The windpipe and gullet — breath and food, soul and body, life and death — are the two forces of speech, and within every word lies a coal of truth (gachelet = emes). When a person acts and speaks from his soul, he fans that inner spark into flame and his tongue grows soft, drawing him close to others in love; when he lives only bodily, he snuffs the spark and his speech turns harsh. Thus "love your fellow as yourself" is the great principle, the sign of one who lives from his neshamah.