(26) And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” (27) And God created man in God's image, in the image of God, God created him; male and female God created them.
(א) הַ֥לְלוּ־יָ֨הּ ׀
(ו) כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃
(1) Hallelujah...
(6) Let all that breathes praise the LORD.
Hallelujah.
...רַבִּי לֵוִי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי חֲנִינָא אָמַר, עַל כָּל נְשִׁימָה וּנְשִׁימָה שֶׁאָדָם נוֹשֵׁם צָרִיךְ לְקַלֵּס לַבּוֹרֵא, מַה טַּעַם (תהלים קנ, ו): כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ, כָּל הַנְּשִׁימָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ.
R. Levi said in the name of R. Hanina: For every single breath that a human being takes, they should offer praise to the Creator. What is the reason? Scrpture says: Let every soul (neshama) praise God (Ps 150:6)-- let every breath (neshimah) praise God
§ In connection to the above incident concerning the poverty of scholars and their potential to become wealthy through remarkable circumstances, the Gemara relates an incident: Rabbi Akiva became betrothed to the daughter of bar Kalba Savua. When bar Kalba Savua heard about their betrothal, he took a vow prohibiting her from eating all of his property. Despite this, she went ahead and married Rabbi Akiva. In the winter they would sleep in a storehouse of straw, and Rabbi Akiva would gather strands of straw from her hair. He said to her: If I had the means I would place on your head a Jerusalem of Gold, a type of crown. Elijah the prophet came and appeared to them as a regular person and started calling and knocking on the door. He said to them: Give me a bit of straw, as my wife gave birth and I do not have anything on which to lay her. Rabbi Akiva said to his wife: See this man, who does not even have straw. We should be happy with our lot, as we at least have straw to sleep on.
אדם המקבל טובה מחבירו הרי נזרע גרעין של חסד בעולמו של מקבל הטובה, ועל פי הטבע הבריא של מדת החסד גרעין זה מוכרח הוא להצמיח גדולין של חסד, ואם האדם המקבל הטובה הוא כפוי טובה הרי זה דומה לעוקר בידים גדולין של חסד. ובודאי שעקירת נטיעה של חסד מתנגדת ביותר אל מהות החסד מאשר סתם בלתי-התעסקות בעניני חסד . . . .כפוי טובה את מדת החסד עצמה הוא משחית ומחבל.
When a person receives a benefit from his fellow, a seed of hesed is planted in his world. If the nature of hesed is functioning healthily and properly, this seed cannot but give rise to additional hesed. But if the person is an ingrate, it is as if he uproots the sproutings of hesed with his bare hands. Without a doubt, uprooting a planting of hesed is even more antithetical to the essence of hesed than is simply being uninvolved in matters of hesed… An ingrate damages and destroys the very attribute of hesed.
העדר החזקת טובה לחבירו אינו מצב של שב ועל תעשה שאינו עושה חסד עם חבירו לשלם לו כגמולו, אלא שהיא עובדא בקום ועשה שכופר ומכלה את חסדו של חבירו . . . .שהוא כאילו כופר בטובתו של מקום, מפני שאין הכפירה מתייחסת אל מעשה החסד הפרטי אלא שהיא מתייחסת אל מדת החסד בכלל.
Lack of gratitude to one’s fellow is not a matter of passive failure to reciprocate her hesed by performing hesed for her, but is rather an active rejection and destruction of her hesed… One who is ungrateful to his fellow in this way, it is as if he is ungrateful to God, because his denial (kefirah) is a response not (just) to the particular act of hesed that was done for him, but (also) to the attribute of hesed in the broadest sense.
בתוכה של קבלת החסד מקופל הוא ההכרח הרוחני של חסד-גמול ושל החזרת הגדולין לבעל הנטיעה.
Enfolded in the reception of hesed is the spiritual necessity to reciprocate and return the sproutings to the one who planted them.