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Is there such a 'thing' as a 'soul tie' between people, be it family or otherwise. Can we dissassemble a soul tie? If so, how is this done?

Baruch
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  • What are you aiming to achieve with breaking/disassembling a 'soul tie'? – Tamir Evan Apr 23 '22 at 17:44
  • Can you explain what you define a 'soul tie' as? There are undoubtedly non-physical ways that people are and feel connected, but without knowing what you consider a 'soul tie', it's hard to know how to answer this question. – Salmononius2 Apr 26 '22 at 17:54

2 Answers2

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First question, "Is there such a thing as a soul tie between poeple, be it family or otherwise?":

In תורת מנחם (Torat Menachem), the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains:

The ties between two people, and certainly those between a husband and wife or between parents and children, are chiefly of a spiritual, not of a material, nature. That means that a bullet, a grenade, or a disease can affect the body, but not the spirit or the soul. The physical bond between two persons can be broken…but not their spiritual relationship.

This quote can be found in the article "Chapter 3: Soul Connection" from the book "A Time To Heal" written by Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson. I unfortunately could not find the original quote from תורת מנחם, might add that in later.

So, according to this explanation given by the Rebbe, there is a (mainly) spiritual bond between people, and then mainly a husband and wife. Besides this spiritual bond, there is a physical bond, e.g. a marriage, and that can be broken between two persons. However, there still excists a spiritual bond between those two persons. That bond cannot be broken.

Similary, the Zohar HaKadosh explains that a male without a wife is called "half". Only when the male marries the wife, they are considered "one body". The same is true with the female. Both are considered "half" until they marry eachother, then they are "one":

The following was taught in the section of "Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4) What is one? This is Knesset Israel which is unified with the Holy One, blessed be He. As R' Shimon says: the union of male and female is called one. The place where the female dwells, this is called one. What is the reason for this? Because male without female is called half a body, and half is not one. When two halves of the body are connected, they become one body and then they are called one.

And, see "The Jewish Home - Volume 1 Section I: The State of Marriage Part I: Between Husband and Wife" (Sichos in English):

In other words, according to the Zohar, husband and wife are in essence one soul, half of which is clothed in the husband’s body, while the other half is clothed in the wife’s body. Alone, husband or wife merely consists of half a soul. Only “when the two halves — the husband and wife — unite” do they possess one whole and complete soul.

I will add the original explanation from the Rebbe in Toras Menachem when I find it.

Shmuel
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We find a similar term in the Bible:

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Sha᾽ul, that the soul of Yehonatan was knit with the soul of David, and Yehonatan loved him as his own soul. [Samuel I 18:1]

However that just seems to be another way of saying that you love someone. Presumably if the people stopped liking each other, no more tie. I'm not aware of any source treating "soul ties" as an independent metaphysical "thing."

N.T.
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