Here, Rebbe Nachman goes back to the topic of the source of our lack of emunah, and he shows us the way to fix it. In order for us to come to true emunah, we have to know who we really are. We have to identify the spiritual condition of our souls, since this condition has a profound effect on us. The state of the neshamah deep inside of us is what directs our perspective on life and what influences our thoughts, emotions, and actions.
In essence, our neshamos are very pure and holy. Hashem created them with the ability to see the ultimate truth: the Oneness of His existence. However, due to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, and the sins that we’ve committed—in this lifetime and previous incarnations as well—our neshamos have become blemished. They have acquired certain flaws and imperfections.
The Sitra Achra gets sustenance from these blemishes. It is these imperfections that give the yetzer hara a place to attach to the neshamah and draw from its light. This is the source of our lack of emunah and heretical thoughts. The flaws of our souls make us feel empty inside and push us to question the truth.
Of course, not every person has the same level of imperfections. For some people, the imperfections push them to become more modern or abandon the path of the Torah, G-d forbid. For others, the imperfections make it difficult for them to daven and learn Torah with consistency and clarity of mind. For others, the imperfections prevent them from feeling love and awe of Hashem.
The Arizal explains that the reason for this is that all of our neshamos come from different places in the primordial “body” of Adam HaRishon, which contains all the souls of the Jewish people of all time, as the Sages say. For example, some neshamos come from the right arm, some from the left arm, some from the heart, some from the kidneys, and so on. Thus, each one of us has a special purpose in this world and unique challenges to face in accomplishing that purpose.
