Image: Girl blowing a bubble. Photo by AdinaVoicu / Pixabay.
Mornings are tough for me. I’m a night person by nature, jittery in the morning, and now age and arthritis have added a new edge to rising in the morning. I have written in the past about my reworking of the Asher Yatzar, the blessing for bodily function, which is one of the morning prayers. Now I’d like to look at another of the morning prayers, the one that gets me moving. Specifically, this prayer gets me breathing properly and directs my attention outside myself, which prepares me for everything else.
- The soul that You have given me, O God, is pure!
- You created and formed it, breathed it into me,
- And within me You sustain it.
- So long as I have breath, therefore,
- I will give thanks to you. – Mishkan Tefilah, p 292.
This is not the whole prayer. I say it in Hebrew, but it is fine to say it in English. The key to this prayer is that the word for soul in Hebrew, neshamah, is also the word for breath. So one can say this prayer in thanks and gratitude for breath. In fact, we can combine the words of the prayer with breath:
- Inhale during lines 1 and 2.
- Hold the breath, and appreciate it, during line 3.
- Exhale during lines 4 and 5.
- Pause for a moment, then repeat.
After a few repetitions of that prayer, I’m ready to move. I am less focused on aches and pains and energized by the oxygen in my system. My attention is outward, towards God and creation, rather than inward towards my own thoughts. I’m ready.
I wish you peaceful sleep, and an energetic awakening!
I wish the Reform movement would restore the traditional line (as line 3): “And you will in the future take it from me.” After all, if it is God who is responsible for giving us our soul, then there should not be a theological problem with having God be responsible for taking it away. (I get it that the traditional next line after that, “And you will restore it to me in the time to come,” is theologically more problematic.)
Oh, I completely agree! I chose to stick with the Reform siddur here, but I confess that I prefer the traditional line about taking breath away as well. It reminds me that my time is limited, so I better not waste it.
Of course, I am open to surprises in olam ha-bah, but I’m not holding my neshamah waiting for resurrection, either, nor do I expect to be doing so after I’m dead.
Oops! The two missing lines would be 4 and 5, not 3 and 4.
[ Smiles ] I am also grateful for life and breath.
Thank you for posting this article!
And thank you for reading, Renard!
[ Smiles ] You are welcome and it was quite a pleasure to read!