The level of the soul of Adam:[1]
It states in the book of Gilgulim that prior to the sin of the tree of knowledge, Adam had a soul on the level of Neshama of Neshama of Atzilus. Prior to the sin, Adam was on such a high level that he was even higher than the level of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochaiy, to an infinitely greater proportion. Even the very high souls contained within the greatest of the Tzaddikim, which is a soul of Atzilus that comes from Chochma and Bina of Atzilus, are considered like souls of the world of Beriyah in comparison to the soul of Adam. It was due to this very high soul contained within Adam that Adam was given the task of ruling over the fish of the sea, which figuratively refers to the souls and angels of all of the spiritual worlds including Atzilus, as Adam was on a level that is capable of drawing G-dliness into the worlds. It is also for this reason that he was called by the name Adam, as Adam comes from the word “similar” such as in the words “Adamah Lielyon,” which means similar to G-d, as indeed he was similar to G-d in the sense that he was from the level of Atzilus and could draw G-dliness below. There was only one other Tzaddik who merited receiving such a high soul similar to the soul of Adam and that was Moshe who merited to receive a soul from the level of Chayah of Atzilus which is also considered the level of Atzilus within Atzilus.
[1] Likkutei Torah p. 8a-8b
