Rabbi Daniel Siegel

The breath and blessing of life

The last parashah of the Torah, which we read earlier this week, and the first parashah, which we read this Shabbat, are linked by momentous imagery.

And He blew into him (Adam) the breath of life (nishmat chayim),and the human became an animated/ensouled being 

Moshe, the servant of the Lord, died…by the mouth of the Lord

The Rabbis comment: “He drew out his life breath (nishmato), with a kiss of the mouth”.

The divine breath brings us in to and out of life.

In confronting death, we say the words: God has given and God has taken, may God’s name be blessed.

For Judaism the blessing of God’s name lies in the breath of all living beings. Every week, we say in our prayers: “The life breath (nishmat) of all living things blesses your name”.

From our first inspiration, in our first parashah, to our last expiration, in our last parashah, the divine outbreath is our inbreath and our outbreath is the divine inbreath.

Beginning with Adam, in BeReishit (Genesis) and ending with Moshe, the servant of the Lord, in VeZot HaBerakhah (This is the Blessing), our Torah teaches that our human drama makes for the divine narrative in our world.

It is for each of us to determine whether or not our breath of life, divinely bestowed, will serve as a blessing.