Soul, Time and World

One of the principles of Jewish mystical thought is the parallel between the physical structure of the human being and the spiritual structure of creation. 

One such mystical concept is the three layer structure: there is an inner spiritual - and physical - layer, a middle layer and an external layer. Spiritually speaking, these are the soul, time and world. A human being possesses all three aspects. (We'll come back to this.)

The human embryo also develops in three layers - endoderm (inner), mesoderm (middle), ectoderm (outer).

The endoderm forms the lungs, thyroid, and pancreas; it also produces the stomach, intestines, etc. From the endoderm comes the respiratory and the digestive systems. Ironically, our innermost layer is the one with the most direct contact with what's outside us: air, food and water enter through endoderm organs. 

"And the L-rd G-d formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7). We are soul-connected to our Divine origin.

The mesoderm, the middle layer, forms the skeleton and its muscles, connective tissues, the heart, blood, kidney and spleen. The middle spiritual layer is time - movement. The heart beats; there is rhythm. The skeleton and the muscles enable us to move. Time is a measurement of movement. And it is through time that the soul connects with the world. 

The ectoderm, the outer layer, forms the epidermis (skin), the central nervous system and the sensory organs. It is our sense of self, which psychologists tell us is the most external part of our being - the unconscious or subconscious (the endodermic or inner layer - the soul layer) being where most of "who we are" resides. (Athletes and performers know this: they become truly one - "in the zone" - with the performance or the act, and "lose" the sense of self.) The world outside us we perceive - and thus interact with - through barriers. There are borders to our perceptions (we cannot see ultraviolet light, for example, and need it "translated" into the visible spectrum). 

And now, so what? What is at least one lesson from this observation?

Agency: we require agency - the senses, including our skin, and their "interpreter," the central nervous system - in order to affect the world. We affect the world by how we move through it - movement, which is time, that results in change. And we ourselves, at our innermost core, are agents of G-d - we are sustained by the Divine  "breath of life" breathed within us.

Thus, our formation, physical and spiritual, indicates that we are an expression of G-dliness and the Divine life force within us. Let us reveal that as we move through life, for our movement automatically changes the world.