נֶפֶשׁ, רוּחַ, נְשָׁמָה
Jewish mystical tradition has three words for that non-physical side of man: נפש – soul, רוח – literally, wind and נשמה – spirit (Kabbalah expands on these terms).
Today, Israelis tend to use נשמה to refer to someone’s divine spirit:
יש לו נשמה טובה.
He has a good soul (spirit).
רוח – also meaning wind – sometimes refers to the soul, while רוחניות means spirituality.
נפש tends to refer a person’s mental and emotional self, as expressed in the phrase בריאות הנפש – mental health.
Another example using an adjective form of נפש:
היא סובלת מעומס נפשי.
She suffers from mental strain.
