Jewish Psychosomatics—The Connection Between the Voice and Throat and Spiritual Problems
Through studying the six orders of the Mishnah, a person rectifies the six rings of the windpipe from which the voice emerges.
The Mishnah consists of six orders—sixty tractates in all. The Talmud (Berakhot 61a) states that the voice is formed in the windpipe (trachea); The Zohar HaKadosh states that there are six rings in the windpipe (six laryngeal cartilages), corresponding to the six Sefirot; Thus, the voice is formed in the six rings of the windpipe.
Studying the six orders of the Talmud helps rectify these six rings. When a person recites the words of the Talmud aloud, which constitutes speech, he purifies the voice (since the voice is the source of speech). The Written Torah is voice; the Oral Torah is speech. Although the sound produced by the voice is the foundation of speech, it lacks definition. Likewise, although the Written Torah is the source of Jewish law, it lacks specificity; the Oral Torah explains it.
(Based on Likutei Moharan by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)
