Elohai Neshama אֱלֹהַי נְשָמָה

(1) My God! the soul which You bestowed in me is pure; You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it in me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me I give thanks to You, Adonoy my God, and God of my fathers, Lord of all creatures, Master of all souls. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who restores souls to dead bodies.

9. The breath of (nishmath) life. It has five names: nefesh, neshamah, hayyah, ruah, yehidah. Nefesh is the blood: For the blood is the nefesh — E.V. 'life' (Deut. xii, 23). Ruah: this is so called because it ascends and descends: thus it is written, Who knoweth the ruah (E.V. 'spirit') of man whether it goeth upwards, and the ruah of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth (Eccl. in, 21) ? Neshamah is the breath; as people say, His breathing is good. Hayyah (lit. 'living'): because all the limbs are mortal, whereas this is immortal in the body. Yehidah (unique): because all the limbs are duplicated, whereas this is unique in the body. Thus it is written, If He set His heart upon man, if He gather unto Himself mho {his spirit) and nishmatho {his soul), all flesh shall perish together, and man shall return unto the dust (Job xxxiv, 14 f). R. Joshua b. R. Nehemiah and the Rabbis discussed this. R. Joshua b. R. Nehemiah interpreted it: 'If God set His heart upon any man,' his spirit {ruho) is already in His hand; 'And if He gather his soul (nishmatho) unto him' [sc. man], which means, into his body, then all men had already perished; but when man is sleeping the soul {neshamah) warms the body so that it should not waste and die. The Rabbis interpret: If God set His heart upon him,' i.e. upon any man, his spirit {ruho) is already in His hand, 'And if He gather his soul (nishmatho) unto Himself above, then all men had already perished, but that when man sleeps the soul {neshamah) warms man that he should not grow cold and die. R. Bisni, R. Aha, and R. Johanan in R. Meir's name said: The neshamah (soul) fills the body, and when man sleeps it ascends and draws life for him from above. R. Levi said in R. Jianina's name: It repeatedly ascends. For every breath which a man takes he must give praise to the Holy One, blessed be He. What is the reason? Let every neshamah {breathy praise the Lord (Ps. cl, 6), which means, for every breath [let one praise Him],

Rabbah said: If the righteous wanted, they could create a world. What interferes? Your sins, as it is written (Isaiah 59:2), "Only your sins separate between you and your God." Therefore, if not for your sins, there would not be any differentiation between you and Him. We thus see that Rabba created a man and sent it to Rav Zeira. He spoke to it, but it would not reply. But if not for your sins, it would also have been able to reply. And from what would it have replied? From its soul. Does a man then have a soul to place in it? Yes, as it is written (Genesis 2:7), "And He blew in his nostrils a soul of life." If not for your sins, man would therefore have a "soul of life." [Because of your sins, however] the soul is not pure. This is the difference between you and Him. It is thus written (Psalm 8:6), "And You have made him a little less than God." What is the meaning of "a little"? This is because [man] sins, while the Blessed Holy One does not. Blessed be He and blessed be His Name for ever and ever, He has no sins. But the [Evil] Urge comes from Him. Can we then imagine that it comes from Him? But it originated from Him until David came and killed it. It is thus written (Psalm 109:22), "My heart is hollow within me." David said: Because I was able to overcome it (Psalm 5:5), "Evil will not sojourn with You." How was David able to overcome it? Through his study, since he never stopped [studying] day or night. He therefore attached the Torah on high. For whenever a person studies Torah for its own sake, the Torah attaches itself to the Blessed Holy One. They therefore say, "A person should always study Torah, even not for its sake, since if [he studies it] not for its sake, he will eventually come to [study it] for its sake." What is this Torah that you are discussing? It is the Bride who is adorned and crowned, and who is included in the commandments. It is the Treasury of the Torah. It is the betrothed of the Blessed Holy One, as it is written (Deuteronomy 33:4), "Moses commanded us the Torah, the heritage (Morasha) of the congregation of Jacob." Do not read "heritage" (Morasha) but "betrothed" (Me'urasa). How is his so. When Israel engages in the Torah for its own sake, then it is the betrothed of the Blessed Holy One, then it is the heritage of Israel.