Parshat Noach: Life, Breath, Sneezing and Death

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 85a

The Rabbis taught: If a person is buried under a collapsed building, until what point does one check to clarify whether the victim is still alive? Until what point is he allowed to continue clearing the debris? They said: One clears until the victim’s nose. If there is no sign of life, i.e., if he is not breathing, he is certainly dead. And some say: One clears until the victim’s heart to check for a heartbeat... The Gemara comments: Let us say that the dispute between these tanna’im who disagree about checking for signs of life is like the dispute between these tanna’im who disagree about the formation of the fetus. As it was taught in a baraita: From what point is the fetus created? It is from its head, as it is stated: “You are He Who took me [gozi] out of my mother’s womb” (Psalms 71:6), and it says: “Cut off [gozi] your hair, and cast it away” (Jeremiah 7:29). These verses suggest that one is created from the head, the place of the hair. Abba Shaul says: A person is created from his navel, and he sends his roots in every direction until he attains the image of a person....The Gemara rejects this: Even if you say that the formation of a fetus from the navel is the opinion of Abba Shaul, he may nevertheless require one to check the nose for signs of life. Until now, Abba Shaul spoke there only about formation, saying that everything is created from its middle; however, as for saving a life, even Abba Shaul admits that the main sign of life is in the nose, as it is written: “All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life” (Genesis 7:22). Rav Pappa said: The dispute with regard to how far to check for signs of life applies when the digger begins removing the rubble from below, starting with the feet, to above. In such a case it is insufficient to check until his heart; rather, one must continue removing rubble until he is able to check his nose for breath. But if one cleared the rubble from above to below, once he checked as far as the victim’s nose he is not required to check further, as it is written: “All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life” (Genesis 7:22).

Rabbi Baruch Epstein, Torah Temimah

The "main sign of life is in the nose":

This is to say, the main way to know whether one who appears dead is in fact dead, or still has the spirit of life within them, is to determine whether there is breath emanating from their nose. If so, then they are living, and if not, they are certainly dead. For one's spirit (neshama) exits a person in the same way that it came, and since the first entrance of spirit was through the nose - "And God blew into his nostrils the breath of life" - therefore, it will ultimately exit through the nose as well.

One might add that this is the reason that people say to one who sneezed, "health!" This is according to the midrash which states that until Jacob, there wasn't illness [prior to death] in the world; people would die suddenly after sneezing, as they would sneeze and their soul would leave through their noses. The nose, according to this, is the passageway between life and death, and as such when one sneezes (today) they are in a position of danger, and therefore others reply with "health."... The sages' discussions indicate that others respond after someone else sneezes, and not the one himself who sneezed. It seems additionally that it is obligatory on the person himself who sneezed to give thanks to God. Indeed, some have the custom to say, "Lishuatcha Kiviti Adonai", and from what we have said this seems to be an obligatory custom. Perhaps we can say that for others it is a custom, and for the person themselves it is obligatory.... let us not discuss this further.