What defines a person as their essence? their thoughts, emotions, actions, body, soul?

The essence of a person is the neshamah, the soul. That is the real you. The body is simply a piece of clothing that covers the soul. When you look at someone wearing a suit, you understand that the suit is not the person, it's just something they wear. The same is true with your body. The body is not you, it's a garment for your soul. Your soul is your personality, your true self. When someone insults you, what feels the pain? Not your physical heart or brain, but your soul. When you hear beautiful music, it's your neshamah that experiences the enjoyment, not just the physical ear. The soul is what sees through the eyes and hears through the ears. The proof is simple: the moment a person's soul departs from the body, the eyeball ceases to see and the ear ceases to hear. The body has 248 organs and 365 sinews, but these are like clothing for the soul, which also has 248 spiritual organs. The body is limited and restricted, but the soul is unlimited. Just like certain clothes restrict your movement when you try to exercise, the body limits the soul's full potential. But the soul itself, that neshamah that HaKadosh Baruch Hu breathed into Adam HaRishon, that is your true essence. Now, regarding your thoughts and emotions: your thoughts can reveal who you are, but they are tools of the soul. The righteous control their hearts and emotions, while the wicked are controlled by them. Hashem investigates every single thought and feeling a person has, whether small or big. Nothing is hidden from Him. But these thoughts and emotions are expressions of the soul, not the essence itself. As for actions: they are important because they shape and refine the soul in this world. The body serves as a tool to stabilize and elevate the soul through the trials and tests we face. But the actions themselves are not your essence, they are the means through which your soul fulfills its purpose and achieves its tikkun in this world. The real you is that divine spark, that chelek Eloka mima'al, that part of Hashem that He placed within you. Everything else, the body, thoughts, emotions, and actions, are tools and expressions of that neshamah. When a person passes away, the soul goes up to Shamayim and receives a spiritual garment that looks like the person but is completely spiritual. This is who you truly are, this eternal soul that lives forever.