Body and Soul

In the coming Days of Awe, the phrase said by the Jewish people at Mount Sinai indicating their commitment to follow God’s words will be recited: Naaseh ve’nishma. That phrase means “We will do and –” And what? The people said that they will follow God’s laws in practice, and — in what way? The phrase can be thought of as indicating: body and soul.

Naaseh was said by the people at Mount Sinai, according to the Torah (Exodus 19:8, 24:3) Why naaseh? Rabbi Sacks teaches that doing things over and over again helps you incorporate them. Practice makes perfect.

The third saying of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai uses two words, naaseh ve’nishma (Exodus 24:7). What is ve’nishma? It is often translated as “obey”, but Rabbi Sacks explains that there was no word in Biblical Hebrew for “obey”. In modern Hebrew, the word for “obey” (letzayet) was taken from Aramaic. Ve’nishma literally means to hear. It also indicates understanding. The Jewish people at Mount Sinai are said to have said that they will do what God says, and also make an effort to understand it. They will interpret it.

We can see the phrase naaseh ve’nishma as about both body and soul. The Israelite people vowed at Mount Sinai to follow God’s laws in practice in bodily deeds, and also with our souls.

While the Hebrew word nishma has three main letters, shin mem ayin, it can be seen to have a two-letter linguistic root (shoresh). Two letter roots are less common than 3, but also apparent. The two letters of the root would be shin and mem, which are also the roots for Neshima: breath, and also for Neshama: soul.

Perhaps then the phrase naasah ve’nishma can be taken to mean that we will follow God‘s laws in bodily deeds and also with breath and spirit. We follow the Torah in body and in soul.

In the holiday season we also celebrate Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. We read the book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet). A word used over and over again in Kohelet is Hevel. The word is translated into English as vanity, and the famous line at the start of the book is vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Indeed, the book Kohelet scoffs at the importance to people of material possessions, and people’s valuing them. The book signifies that such possessions are valueless. But Hevel has another meaning.

Hevel means breath. It signifies a short, shallow breath. The statement in the book that everything is Hevel may indicate that everything is about breath. We can link this to the suggested meaning of ve’nishma, and the commitment of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai to use their souls and breath, Neshama and Neshima — not only their bodies – to understand God’s words.

Hevel is the Hebrew name of Abel, the son of the first human, Adam, and the brother of Cain, in the Torah. He was a keeper of sheep. He lived as a nomadic shepherd tending his flock. Shepherds were deemed in the Torah to be spiritual, wandering out in the fields. Abraham was a shepherd, as were Moses and David.

In Kohelet, perhaps the statement that everything is Hevel is not (only) about the valueless-ness of material goods. Perhaps it is (also) a reminder that everything is spirit. We can take it as a reminder about the link between body and soul. And that spirit is everything, everywhere.

We value the breath of life. Tradition teaches that Sukkot is a time to rejoice. זמן שמחתנו. Sitting in a fragile sukkah and being vulnerable to the wind and rain, we recall that we are vulnerable. Our lives are not everlasting but a short breath – like a Hevel.  We are to find joy in this understanding. We sit in the sukkah with family and friends and sing and rejoice.

The coming High Holidays are about body and soul. On the Days of Awe, we can think that in the phrase naaseh ve’nishma the Israelite people were saying at the foot of Mount Sinai that we will perform with our physical bodies and our souls: we will follow God’s word in bodily practice as well as spiritually. Also in reading Kohelet on the holiday of Sukkot, we can recall the import of our breath, and of our souls.