This Tefillah (Prayer) may also be said by an individual who goes thru trying times and comes out whole; or by a person who feels tremendous gratitude to HKB”H (the Creator of the Universe).

Nishmas is also said at the Pesach (Passover) Seder.

It is interesting to note that Nishmas starts with:

Nishmas kol chai t'vareich et shimcha Hashem Elokeinu, v'ruach kol basar t'faeir u’s’romeim zich-r'cha malkeinu tamid –

“The soul of every living being shall bless Your Name, Hashem, our God; the spirit of all flesh shall always glorify and exalt Your remembrance, our King . . .”

Then in the middle of the prayer:

Al kein eivarim shepilagta banu, v'ruach u’neshama shenafachta b'apeinu, v'lashon asher samta b'finu, hein heim yodu vi’var'chu vi’shab'chu vi’fa-aru vi’rom'mu v'ya-aritzu v'yakdishu v'yamlichu es shimcha malkeinu -
“Therefore, the organs that You set within us, and the spirit and soul that You breathed into our nostrils, and the tongue that You placed in our mouth - all of them shall thank and bless and praise and glorify and exalt and revere and sanctify and declare the sovereignty of your Name, our King . . .”

And it concludes with:

N'halelcha u’n’shabeichacha u’n’fa-ercha u’n’vareich es sheim kadshecha, ka-amur: L'David, bar-chi nafshi es Hashem, v'chol k'ravai es sheim kadsho -
“We shall laud, praise, and glorify You and bless Your holy Name, as it is said: "of David: Bless, Hashem, O my soul, and let all my innermost being bless His holy Name.”

This prayer is an outpouring of praise and gratitude to God, and it shows our total dependency on God’s mercy, our complete inadequacy to praise him properly and our passionate commitment to devote ourselves to His service.

The soul is mentioned three times in this prayer, at the beginning, the middle and the end, as if bookmarking the tefillah. Apparently this is the key to Nishmas – that the soul is expressing its gratitude to Hashem for its existence.

Why does the soul, of all the parts of the human being, need to give the most gratitude to God?

So I repeat my earlier question:

How long can you hold your breath?

20 seconds? 30 seconds? 40? Maybe 50? Some people can hold their breath for as long as 60 seconds. Some pearl divers can hold their breath for as long as two whole minutes!

Now try this: take a deep breath, hold it for a count of 5, then breathe out. Now hold empty for a count of 5, waiting to inhale. Not so easy. Try holding empty for 10 seconds – very difficult.

How about holding empty for a lifetime?! Impossible?

At the end of Moshe’s life, the verse says, “Vayomos shom Moshe, eved Hashem b’eretz Moav ahl pi Hashem” – ‘Moses, the servant of Hashem, died there, in the land of Moav, by the mouth of Hashem’ (Deuteronomy 34:5). Rashi, quoting the Talmud in Moed Katan 28a, says that “ahl pi Hasehm”- ‘by the mouth of Hashem’, means that Moshe Rabbeinu died by Neshika – by a Kiss from HKB”H.

It seems like an amazing way to pass. A Kiss from God.

When Adam, the first man, was created, “Vayipach b’apov nishmas chaim, vayehi ha’Adam l’nefesh chayah” – and God breathed into his face/mouth a breath of life, and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) - Mouth to Mouth, so to speak . . . the First Kiss.

When a baby is born, Hashem gives it a Kiss of Life and says, “Have a safe journey . . . I’ll see you soon.”

God will not breathe that first breath back in until that person returns . . . a lifetime.

When that person is ready to leave this world, and if he or she reaches a certain level of purity or completion, the Creator Himself comes to give that person a Kiss Hello, mouth to mouth, as it were, and He inhales - He reverses the process and withdraws the Neshama, the soul, that He put there with that first Breath of Life . . . and He says, “Welcome back. I missed you! How was your trip? What did you learn? What did you accomplish?

How long can God hold his breath?

For a lifetime – yours . . . and mine.

Copyright © 2011, Harvey (Heshie) Klein, MD