Nishmas

The soul of every living being shall bless Your Name, Hashem, our G-d, and the spirit of all flesh shall always glorify and exalt Your remembrance, our King, always.

So begins Nishmas Kol Chai. 

This is the prayer for gratitude, and an acknowledged segula for good health, parnossa, marriage, children, and success in all endeavors. 

And says Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, it’s recited on Shabbos and Yom Tov, at the end of the Pesukei D’zimrah, when the soul becomes aware of its place in the presence of G-d.  He tells us that this tefillah declares that every soul, every breath and every thought, conscious or unconscious, in all things that have life and feeling, joins with the chorus of all other creatures in one hymn of praise, glorifying G-d and paying tribute of obedience to the name and concept of G-d that dwells within the heart of man.

Accordingly, it would seem that Nishmas is the vehicle by which Klal Yisroel interfaces with the Niggun of Perek Shira, thereby adding its voice to the acoustical mosaic of Creation.   

The Chovos Halevovos teaches us that the function of the mitzvos is to express gratitude to Hashem and, as such, Nishmas reflects our core purpose for being in this world.  The praises of Nishmas proclaim the ultimate truth of our existence, and so when one recites Nishmas he is, in essence, affirming the foundation upon which this world has been erected. 

And virtually every word is a case study in the praise of Hashem and of being makir tov to Him:

Were our mouths as full of song as the sea, and our tongues as full of joyous song as its multitude of waves, and our lips as full of praise as the breadth of the heavens, and our eyes as brilliant as the sun and the moon, and our hands as outspread as eagles of the sky, and our feet as light as the deer – we still could not thank You sufficiently, Hashem, our G-d…

But we should try, exercise in futility though it may be.

And with the realization that our mouths, tongues, lips, eyes, hands, and feet can’t quite cut it, praise-wise, we marshal all innermost feelings and thoughts and sing praises to His Name by subsuming them into the words of Nishmas.

No, you don’t have to know the meaning of all the words as they roll off your tongue.  It suffices that you know what they mean in the aggregate, that you intend them to be your emissaries on High to specifically reflect your Hakoras HaTov for all of the minutiae of your existence, and that your intention be manifested with the deepest kavanah of which you are capable.  After all, doesn’t the Medrash learn Neshimos kol chai, which means that we should praise Hashem for every breath that enables us to remain alive rather than Nishmas kol chai?

One who intones Nishmas with the aforementioned appropriate kavanah has hit the high note in his relationship with Hashem for that given moment, and Hashem reciprocates by showering the Baal Nishmas with tokens of that relationship, as one who loves bestows gifts upon the object of that love.