Editing Soul (section)

===Judaism===
The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] terms {{lang|he|נפש}} {{tlit|he|[[nephesh|nefesh]]}} ('living being'), {{lang|he|רוח}} {{tlit|he|[[ruach]]}} ('wind'), {{lang|he|נשמה}} {{tlit|he|neshamah}} ('breath'), {{lang|he|חיה}} {{tlit|he|chayah}} ('life') and {{lang|he|יחידה}} {{tlit|he|yechidah}} ('singularity') are used to describe the soul or spirit.<ref>''Zohar'', ''Rayah Mehemna'', ''Terumah'' 158b.  See Leibowitz, Aryeh (2018). ''The Neshamah: A Study of the Human Soul''. Feldheim. pp. 27, 110. {{ISBN|1-68025-338-7}}.</ref> 

Jewish beliefs concerning the concept and nature of the soul are complicated by a lack of singularly authoritative traditions and differing beliefs in an afterlife. The conception of an immortal soul separate from and capable of surviving a human being after death was not present in early Jewish belief,<ref>Tabor, James, [http://clas-pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/ancient-judaism/death-afterlife-future/ What the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future.] "The ancient Hebrews had no idea of an immortal soul living a full and vital life beyond death, nor of any [[Resurrection of the Dead| resurrection or return from death]]. Human beings, like the beasts of the field, are made of "dust of the earth", and at death they return to that dust (Genesis 2:7; 3:19). The Hebrew word {{tlit|he|nephesh}}, traditionally translated 'living soul' but more properly understood as 'living creature', is the same word used for all breathing creatures and refers to nothing immortal."</ref> but became prevalent by the onset of the Common Era. This conception of the soul differed from that of the Greek, and later Christian, belief in that the soul was viewed an ontological substance which was intrinsically inseparable from the human body.<ref>
"Modern scholarship has underscored the fact that Hebrew and Greek concepts of soul were not synonymous. While the Hebrew thought world distinguished soul from body (as material basis of life), there was no question of two separate, independent entities. A person did not have a body but was an animated body, a unit of life manifesting itself in fleshly form—a psychophysical organism (Buttrick, 1962). Although Greek concepts of the soul varied widely according to the particular era and philosophical school, Greek thought often presented a view of the soul as a separate entity from body. Until recent decades Christian theology of the soul has been more reflective of Greek (compartmentalized) than Hebrew (unitive) ideas.", Moon, "Soul", in Benner & Hill (eds.), Baker encyclopedia of psychology & counseling, p. 1148 (2nd ed. 1999).</ref> At the same time, a burgeoning belief in an afterlife required some form of continued existence following the end of mortal life in order to partake in the world to come. This need for apparent dichotomy is reflected in the [[Talmud]], where the biblical psychophysical unity of the soul remains, but the possibility of the soul's simultaneous existence on both a physical and a spiritual level is embraced. This essential paradox is only reinforced by subsequent Rabbinical works.<ref name="JewSoul">{{cite book|title= The Concept of Soul in Judaism, Christianity and Islam|publisher=De Gruyter|year=2023|isbn= 9783110748239|pages=1–18}}</ref> Ultimately, the specific nature of the soul was of secondary concern to rabbinical authorities, and indeed remains as such in most modern traditions.<ref name="JewSoul"/>

As spiritual and mystic traditions developed, the Jewish concept of the soul underwent a number of changes. [[Kabbalah]] and other mystic traditions go into greater detail into the nature of the soul. Kabbalah separates the soul into five elements, corresponding to the [[five worlds]]:<ref>{{cite web |title=Nurturing The Human Soul&mdash;From Cradle To Grave |url=https://www.chizukshaya.com/2013/01/the-five-levels-of-mans-soul.html |website=Chizuk Shaya: Dvar Torah Resource |access-date=10 June 2022 |date=6 January 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025111428/https://www.chizukshaya.com/2013/01/the-five-levels-of-mans-soul.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Neshamah: Levels of Soul Consciousness |url=https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380651/jewish/Neshamah-Levels-of-Soul-Consciousness.htm |website=Chabad.org Kabbalah Online |access-date=24 April 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423225245/https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380651/jewish/Neshamah-Levels-of-Soul-Consciousness.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

# {{tlit|he|[[Nephesh|Nefesh]]}}, related to natural instinct.
# {{tlit|he|[[Ruach]]}}, related to emotion.
# {{tlit|he|Neshamah}}, related to intellect.
# {{tlit|he|Chayah}}, which gazes at the transcendence of God.
# {{tlit|he|Yechidah}}, essence of the soul, which is bound to God.

Kabbalah proposed a concept of reincarnation, the {{tlit|he|[[gilgul]]}} ({{tlit|he|[[nefesh habehamit]]}}, the 'animal soul').<ref>Weiner, Rebecca [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/reincarnation-and-judaism Reincarnation and Judaism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414065736/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/reincarnation-and-judaism |date=14 April 2023 }}. jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved July 2 2024</ref> Some Jewish traditions assert that the soul is housed in the {{tlit|he|[[Luz (bone)|luz]]}} bone, although traditions disagree as to whether it is the [[Atlas (anatomy)|atlas]] at the top of the spine, or the [[sacrum]] at bottom of the spine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scholem |first=Gershom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJesQGFsSwsC |title=Kabbalah |date=1978 |publisher=Meridian |isbn=978-0-452-01007-9 }}</ref>