How Do I Know that I have a Soul?

By Tzvi Freeman

Question: How do I know that I have a soul?

Answer: Do you have a body? Did you say yes? So now tell me: Who is this "me" that has this body? Couldn't be the body--you can't say that the body has a body.

So this is what we call the soul. More comprehensively, we are each the composite of a soul and a body. Explains why we're all so confused, right?

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By Tzvi Freeman More articles... |

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman heads Chabad.org's Ask The Rabbi team, and is a senior member of the Chabad.org editorial team. He is the author of a number of highly original renditions of Kabbalah and Chassidic teaching, including the universally acclaimed "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth." To order Tzvi's books click here.

About the artist: Sarah Kranz has been illustrating magazines, webzines and books (including five children's books) since graduating from the Istituto Europeo di Design, Milan, in 1996. Her clients have included The New York Times and Money Marketing Magazine of London

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Latest Comments:

Posted: Mar 1, 2008

RE: do cats have souls?

all living things have a nephesh (body/life) where as only humans have a ruach and neshamah (self and higher soul respectively)
although of course we won't really know about the here-after until we get there. everything else is speculation. G-d can do what He wants (He is G-d after all)

Posted By Anonymous

Posted: Feb 13, 2008

life soul or g-dly soul?

that's a good explanation for the life soul, but what about the "g-dly soul"?

Posted By edward, milan, italy

Posted: Aug 5, 2007

Do cats have souls?

Oh, I somehow think that our pets have somekind of soul....as all life is 'energy', and so souls are energy, etc. Our pets may not have the same advanced soul that humans have, or immortal souls, but I think our precious animals DO have some kind of soul. Can you imagian G-d NOT haveing a pet? I bet He has tons of them...maybe that is where all of out pets go when they pass on....they all go to be G-d's pets. I would love to hear a comment from Rabbi Freeman on this opinion. Thanks ,from a passionate animal lover.

Posted By Suzanne Gordinstein, Big Sandy, Texas