The Hebrew Bible gives humanity many commandments, because real intimacy needs boundaries/rules. (Rabbi Manis Friedman says “Instruction” is more accurate then commandment)
For the body and soul to unite, to live through awe and love as much as you can, the soul’s boundaries must be respected.
How Do the Commandments Unite Body and Soul?
In any relationship, two beings connect when they feel the same emotion. That’s how love deepens.
The soul feels awe, the body feels pleasure, and the commandments allow both to feel together at the same time.
Physical pleasure is where they unite the most, but the soul has spiritual boundaries even there. To feel G-d through pleasure, awe and love must be part of it.
Each commandment is a way to think of G-d more often which is how you feel deeper awe, if you’re living with awareness and not through trauma patterns that dull the inner world.
What Happens When Awe Turns Into Shame?
Because trauma patterns don’t just numb awe, they replace it with shame.
Fight hides behind control, flight behind busyness, freeze behind numbness, and fawn behind people pleasing.
How Do Commandments Restore Awareness?
Commandments restore balance, they turn shame back into awe, bringing the body and soul into harmony again.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that every individual should do as many commandments as they can, because each one reveals another point of connection between your soul and G-d’s infinite light. Because deeper love means living with more awareness, and awareness needs structure to stay alive.
More guides:
Trauma takes away your awareness: From what we know about trauma today
Why did G-d give Adam 6 commandments? The 7 Noahide Laws
Why would the body feel more awe/love for a soul/energy then G-d? Even when a person believes in G-d
The Rebbe revealed what Moses concealed: Why Moses Hit the Rock
What happens to government leadership in the world to come? Justice in the World to Come
Questions people ask
Why does the Bible give so many commandments?
The article says the Hebrew Bible gives many commandments because real intimacy needs boundaries. Rabbi Manis Friedman calls them “instructions” instead, since each one lets the body and soul unite through the same felt awe and love, keeping the soul’s boundaries respected instead of ignored.
Why must awe and love be part of physical pleasure?
The article says the soul feels awe and the body feels pleasure, and commandments let both happen at the same time. Physical pleasure is where body and soul unite the most, but the soul still keeps its own boundaries there. Without awe and love inside it, pleasure cannot become a way to feel G-d.
What are the fight, flight, freeze, and fawn trauma responses?
The article names four trauma patterns: fight hides behind control, flight behind busyness, freeze behind numbness, and fawn behind people pleasing. Trauma uses these patterns to numb awe and replace it with shame. Commandments help turn that shame back into awe, bringing the body and soul back into harmony.
Why did the Lubavitcher Rebbe say to do as many commandments as possible?
The article says the Rebbe taught that each commandment reveals another point of connection between your soul and G-d’s infinite light. Deeper love means living with more awareness, and awareness needs structure to stay alive, so doing more commandments builds a stronger, steadier connection.
Explore the NextSelf Blog. Start with this post explaining the world of souls. And my Youtube. Content is published to this facebook first and a few days later, to the blog.
The blog lists all the difference patterns to study, understanding patterns is how one can develop 'Daas' [felt knowing].
Update: As awe, trust, and love deepen, they can allow greater openness and intimacy with the Creator. That intimacy can include sadness when you notice how much more of His goodness can be revealed.