Elohai, Neshama

The first thing we say in the morning is the bracha of ‘Elohai, Neshama’. This short Bracha directly continues our thoughts from the night before, which we expressed in the Bracha of Hamapil - thus immediately starting the transition from the fantasy world of sleep to the real world of thought. In this Bracha we reconsider our self-identity and meditate on God as the source of our ongoing existence.

My God, the life-force[1] which you gave me is pure, you created it, you formed it, you blew it into me and you protect it within me, and you will take it from me in the future, and return it to me in the distant future. As long as the life-force is within me I recognize[2] you Hashem, my God, and the God of my fathers, master of all actions, lord of all life, Blessed are you Hashem the who returns life to dead bodies

My God

First we address God; by entering into a dialogue with Him we are able to rethink our identity in light of His existence and our dependence upon Him.

The life-force which you gave me is pure

The first step of reconceiving ourselves is to identify the Neshama as pure. Note, the neshama is not the metaphysical soul (the Tzelem Elokim), which has actual knowledge. Rather it is the life force which is the biological source of all of our abilities, including thought. This force is pure and allows us to direct it where we will. If we direct it properly it remains pure and becomes guided by ideas. As human beings we are born have free-will and are born with the possibility of following our minds onto any path we choose. We are not predestined for good or evil (by our genes, our environment, the stars or anything else).

You created it, you formed it, you blew it into me and you protect it within me

The second step is to realize that we are created[3]. Psychologically we like believing that we are independently powerful. In reality this is a fantasy and our very existence is a dependent one. All of our actions are transformed when done through the lens of being dependent creatures. Creation is not just a historical fact about the world, but rather is an ongoing reality[4]. Our ongoing existence is also dependent on God.

You will take it from me in the future,

Third is to realize our mortality. In spite of our fantasies, we will not live forever. As material beings we cannot exist eternally. This mentality forces us to ‘seize the day’ since we don’t know when we will die. Our mortality also encourages us to be humble by realizing our limitations.

And return it to me in the distant future

Lastly we reflect on Techiyat hametim. Namely that even though our physical lives are temporal, we partake of eternity insofar as we focus on knowledge. Thereby we truly live and are subject to resurrection[5]. Waking up reminds us of this since sleep is reminiscent of death in that it is a state of inactivity.

In summary, in the first part of this Bracha we define ourselves as dependent and mortal rational, living creatures, who have the ability to become knowing.

As long as the life-force is within me I recognize you Hashem, my God, and the God of my fathers, master of all actions, lord of all life

With this new self-concept we must choose what to do with our lives. In answer we immediately choose to recognize and thank God for giving us existence. The last line of Elohai, neshama takes this focus. We now recognize God as the master of all life, and we recognize the need to live our life with this system in mind.

Blessed are you Hashem the who returns life to dead bodies

Finally we summarize with the idea of techiyat hametim. We recognize that we aren't our body; rather our body is a piece of flesh which is animated by a life-force. Throughout the bracha we were ambiguous about who the ‘I’ is. We naturally tend to think of our bodies as ‘I’, through this reflection we start seeing the flaw of this view and the practical implications of rethinking of ourselves as a harmonious living creature which aspires to develop as a nefesh[6].

This final concept of Techiyat Hametim brings all of the diverse themes together. It emphasizes the idea that God is the creator, and we are therefore created since only the creator could bring the dead back to life. Similarly it points to the true purpose of human existence since evil people don’t participate in techiyat hametim. Only a person whose life is animated by knowledge can be reanimated after the body corrupts and dies [5]. Someone whose whole life was about the physical has nothing left to reanimate since they were their body.

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[1] The meaning of Neshama  is subject to some debate, I am following Rambam in Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 4:8-9

[2] This could also be translated as “thank”

[3] Note that (as we will see in the conclusion of the Bracha), the neshama is not the ‘I’ who is speaking, through this meditation we transform our sense of the ‘I’ by realizing that the body which I naturally identify as ‘me’ is on its own merely dead flesh, and that the ‘I’ is the harmonious whole of Neshama with a body.

[4] God is not like a carpenter who can make a self-sustaining house, such that even if the carpenter dies the house continues to exist without him.

[5] The righteous even in death are called alive and the wicked even in their lifetimes are called dead (Brachot 18a-b) See Moreh hanevuchim 1:42 and the Rambam's introduction to Chelek

[6] The soul in the metaphysical sense, that which actually perceives knowledge and therefore can survive the death of the body (unlike the neshama)