The Soul of Adam HaRishon  - Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. Baal HaSulam, "600,000 Souls"

There is indeed only one soul in the world, as it is written (Genesis 2:7), “and breathed into his nostrils the soul [also “breath” in Hebrew] of life.” That same soul exists in all the children of Israel, complete in each and every one, as in Adam HaRishon, since the spiritual is indivisible and cannot be cut—which is rather a trait of corporeal things.

Rather, saying that there are 600,000 souls and sparks of souls appears as though it is divided by the force of the body of each person. In other words, first, the body divides and completely denies him of the radiance of the soul, and by the force of the Torah and the Mitzva [commandment], the body is cleansed, and to the extent of its cleansing, the common soul shines on him.

2. Baal HaSulam, "Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot", No. 22

The eternal soul of life that the Creator had blown into his nostrils, only for the needs of Adam HaRishon, has departed because of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. It acquired a new form, called “Sweat of Life,” meaning the general has been divided into myriad parts, tiny drops, divided between Adam HaRishon and all his progeny through the end of time.

It follows, that there are no changes whatsoever in the acts of the Creator, but there is rather an additional form here. This common light of life, which was packed in the nose of Adam HaRishon, has expanded into a long chain, revolving on the wheel of transformation of form in many bodies, body after body, until the necessary end of correction.

3. RABASH, Article No. 179, "Ibur [Conception] – 1"

After the sin of Adam HaRishon, the creatures are regarded as broken and dead Kelim. That is, their Kelim are only in self-reception, separated from the Life of Lives. There is only a spark in them from the Reshimot of Ohr Hozer [Reflected Light] that remained and descended in order to sustain the Kelim so that through it, they will be able to rise for the revival of the dead.

That spark is a spark of Kedusha [holiness] and is a residue of the Ohr Hozer. We must raise it, meaning receive it in order to bestow, which is called “raising,” meaning raising MAN. By this, a Masach [screen] and Aviut [thickness] are made, on which comes the filling, when the Ohr Hozer fills the Kelim to an extent that will clothe the lights (Ohr Yashar [Direct Light]).

4. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1984), "What Is the Degree One Should Achieve in Order Not to Have to Reincarnate?"

For example, a king wanted to send a large number of gold coins to his son overseas, but all of his countrymen were thieves and swindlers, and he did not have one loyal messenger. What did he do? He divided, he broke all the coins into pennies, and sent them through many messengers, so that the joy of stealing would not be worth blemishing the glory of the kingship.”

In this way, through an order of times in many souls, it is possible, through the illumination of the days, to scrutinize all the holy sparks that were robbed by the Klipot due to the sin of the tree of knowledge.

The meaning of many souls is division into inner lights, and many days means division into outer lights. And each penny accumulates into the amount of great light with which Adam HaRishon sinned, and then will be the end of correction.

5. Baal HaSulam, "Man's Actions and Tactics"

After all the actions of the creatures unite, all the souls in the world must unite and merge into one soul, truly one, which emerges out of all the souls and they truly become one, as in the beginning of creation, when only one man [Adam] was created, and from his Zivugim [couplings], he engendered sons, and the sons follow in his ways, making Zivugim until this world is made, with seventy nations, and from within them, the seed of Israel. At the end of correction, they will merge in one another until all of them will become one man like Adam HaRishon.

6. Baal HaSulam, "From My Flesh I Shall See God"

Each complete soul attains all the souls from Adam HaRishon to the end of correction, as one perceives one’s acquaintances and neighbors, and according to one’s knowledge guards oneself from them, or connects and lives with them. And it is not surprising that one attains all the souls, since spirituality does not depend on time or place, and there is no death there.

7. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 4

You lack nothing but to go out to a field that the Lord has blessed, and collect all those flaccid organs that have drooped from your soul, and join them into a single body.

In that complete body, the Creator will instill His Shechina incessantly, and the fountain of intelligence and high streams of light will be as a never ending fountain. Each place on which you cast your eye will be blessed, and all will be blessed because of you, for they will bless you constantly.

8. Zohar for All, Toldot [Generations], "These Are the Generations of Isaac", Item 3

There is not an organ in a man’s body that does not have a corresponding creation in the world.

This is so because as man’s body divides into organs and they all stand degree over degree, established one atop the other and are all one body, similarly, the world, meaning all creations in the world are many organs standing one atop the other, and they are all one body. And when they are all corrected they will actually be one body.