This is the first complete English translation of Rav Chayyim of Volozhin's "Neffesh Ha-chayyim."

Rav Chayyim was the creator of the modern yeshiva and the primary student of the Vilna Gaon. He was a master of both the revealed and hidden Torah.

Section one is about the nature of the soul and man's role in creation. Section two is about prayer, its true nature as directed meditation and what prayer really does in the context of God's plan: bind the worlds together and nourish them from above. It also describes how the process of repentance operates in re-establishing one's connection...