Spiritual Sparks: The Soul is Your Essence

The 'You' Inside You

Welcome to Spiritual Sparks. You’re receiving this email because you signed up to receive weekly insights on spirituality. Each week, I’ll share 3 meaningful ideas, 2 thought-provoking quotes, and 1 reflective question.

There’s a part of you that remains steady through every season of life; deeper than your thoughts, your emotions, or even your body.
This week’s message is about the soul: the you beneath it all.

✨3 Ideas

1. You don’t have a soul. You are a soul

Many people define themselves by their body — their reflection in the mirror, and how others perceive them. Others go deeper, identifying with their thoughts or even with their personality. But your soul isn’t any of these. It’s the deeper “you,” your transcendent essence.

Classical wisdom teaches that we are a synthesis of body and soul, physical and spiritual. The body walks us through the world … but the soul is who we are.

2. Some truths resonate because they've always been part of us

Have you ever just known that something was right or wrong without knowing how?

Before we learn words, something within us recognizes what is virtuous and ethical. A Yale study* found that babies, even months old, instinctively favor helpfulness and recoil from harm.  Before language or instruction, they reveal an inner moral compass. 

We don’t begin life as a blank slate, a tabula rasa. These truths aren’t learned from scratch; they’re embedded within us, taught to and remembered by the soul.

3. The soul longs for meaning more than comfort

Some of the most meaningful jobs in the world, such as caregiving, special education, and nursing, often come with modest pay. And yet, people pursue them. Many individuals volunteer time and resources, forgoing ease, comfort, and momentary pleasure. Why?

Comfort may soothe the body, but the soul is nourished by purpose. It doesn’t need to be convinced to care; it simply needs the space to do so. 

The world contains two types of people: givers and takers. Our soul yearns to give.

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📜2 Quotes

“The soul is always praying — even when the lips are still.”
— Rabbi Avraham Kook, first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel“

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French philosopher

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❓1 Question

What’s a moment when you knew your soul was leading — not your body, not your ego, but something deeper?

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If you’ve ever had a moment when something deep within you stirred, when your soul felt unmistakably present, I’d love to hear about it. Some responses may be shared (anonymously, unless you say otherwise) in a future edition of Spiritual Sparks.

May your week be guided not by what the mirror shows, but by what your soul already knows. Wishing you light, insight, and a deeper connection to who you truly are, your soul.

Until next time,

Rabbi Ze’ev Smason

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^{*Article Access Note} Unable to access the article, and want a deeper dive into the Yale study? I’m happy to share the article—just ask.