A Soulful Breathing Meditation for the Blowing of the Shofar

And why did the sages see fit to say malchuyoth first, and then zichronoth and shofaroth? Make Him King over your first, and then beseech Him for mercy to be remembered unto Him. And with what (i.e., through which agency?) The shofar. For "shofar" connotes freedom, as in (Isaiah 27:13) "And it shall be on that day that a great shofar shall be blown, etc." But I would not know who will blow it; it is, therefore, written (Zechariah 9:14) "And the L-rd G-d will blow with a shofar." And we still would not know whence the tekiah would come forth. It is, therefore, written (Isaiah 66:6) "The sound of the havoc comes from the city (Jerusalem), the Voice from the sanctuary of the L-rd, sending recompense to His foes!"

(1) Is it not wondrous that the word "neshama" means breath (neshima). And one can see that the breath is the air that comes up from the heart. The reason that the neshama is called breath is because it refers to the "breath" (as it were) of Hashem. Our Sages have taught that the creation of man can be compared to the process of glassblowing. The first step in the process is when the breath is still in the mouth of the glassblower. The second step is when the air enters into the blowpipe. The third step is when the air exits the blowpipe into the glass and spreads out until the glass is made, according to the will of the glassblower.

(2) The same applies to the nefesh, ruach and neshama. The nefesh is the lowest level which is fully within the physical body. The ruach is blown from above, such that it is connected above to the spiritual above and also enters into the physical body.

(3) But the neshama is the breath itself, which is completely hidden and has its source in the figurative "breath" of Hashem. For the essence of Hashem does not enter into the body of a person (except for Adam before he sinned and Moshe Rabeinu).

But the soul is never contaminated at all, for its source is from the realm that is protected from foreign contact. The soul is eternally connected to this realm, such that the actions of man can never hurt it. If man sins in the realm of thought, he causes harm to himself, by causing the sparks of the light of the soul to be hidden from him. But the soul is never contaminated, Heaven forbid.

(1) You remember

(2) the dealings of [men in] today’s world,

(3) and You [also] consider the behavior

(4) of all those who lived in earlier times.

(5) In Your Presence are revealed

(6) all hidden things

(7) and the multitude of secrets

(8) from the beginning of creation;

...

(19) For You set

(20) an appointed time of remembrance,

(21) to consider every spirit (ruach) and life-force (nefesh);

(3) ... We know that when G’d created the universe He ‎related to it by “showering” it with His largesse. ‎Another word for this “largesse” of G’d is ‎אור ישר‎, “direct ‎light,” as opposed to ‎אור חוזר‎, “returning light.” When the ‎creatures (both the living and the inert) elevate themselves to serve their Creator, this is called ‎אור חוזר‎. The term ‎implies that the creatures, as an expression of ‎gratitude to their Creator “pay back” with adulation for ‎their Creator. They turn to their roots, origin, hence ‎the expression ‎חוזר‎, “return, reflect.”