Body and Soul: Rabbinic Sources for Teaching the Jewish Concept of Soul

[Forty days before the birth of a child,] the Holy One of Blessing would summon the angel in charge of souls and say to him: “Bring Me a certain soul which is in the Garden of Eden, whose name is so-and-so, and whose form is such-and-such.” All the souls that would exist in the future were fashioned with the first man, and they will exist to the end of the world. All of them were created on the sixth day of Creation. They were designated to be the descendants of Adam, as it is said: “Whatsoever cometh into being, the name thereof was given long ago” (Eccles. 6:10).

(1) David's: Bless--O my soul/my being, the LORD and all that is within me--God's holy name.

Corresponding to whom did David say these five instance of “Bless the Lord, O my soul”? He answered him: He said them about none other than the Holy One, Blessed be He, and corresponding to the soul, as the verse refers to the relationship between man’s soul and God. The five instances of “Bless the Lord, O my soul” correspond to the five parallels between the soul in man’s body and God’s power in His world.Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, fills the entire world, so too the soul fills the entire body.
Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, sees but is not seen, so too does the soul see, but is not seen.
Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, sustains the entire world, so too the soul sustains the entire body.
Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, is pure, so too is the soul pure.
Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, resides in a chamber within a chamber, in His inner sanctum, so too the soul resides in a chamber within a chamber, in the innermost recesses of the body.Therefore, that which has these five characteristics, the soul, should come and praise He Who has these five characteristics.

(1) I give thanks to You, living and everlasting Sovereign, for you have restored my soul within me with mercy. Great is your faithfulness.

My God, the soul you have placed within me is pure. You created it, You shaped it, You breathed it into me; and you preserve it within me. In the future you will take it from me, restoring it within me in the future that is to come. As long as the soul is within me I will give thanks to you, Adonai, my God and God of my ancestors, Lord of all the acts (of Creation), Master of all souls. Blessed are you, Adonai, Who restores souls to dead bodies.