Every Breath You Take

Parshas Toldos

By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer

While most of us take our breathing for granted, there are many people right now in hospitals all across the world who are struggling to breathe due to COVID-19. And a large number of people have already died from this dreaded, lung-attacking virus.

So I figured that it might be a good idea this week to share with you some interesting facts and ideas about breathing – just so that we can all have a greater appreciation of the wondrous miracle that happens inside us - every breath we take.

JEWISH TRIVIA, ANYONE?

As a start, here’s a little Jewish trivia for you on the topic of breathing …

Q. Who breathed the first breath in history?

A. G-d. When the Torah describes the creation of Adam, the first human being, it tells us, “And G-d blew into his nostrils a soul of life” (see Genesis 2:7). So, this means that it was G-d Who blew the first very breath in history into Adam’s nostrils – an early form of “mouth-to-mouth resuscitation’.

[BTW, this “breath of G-d” was no simple breath. In a comment on the inner meaning of this verse, the Zohar (the foundational Book of Jewish Mysticism) notes that when G-d “exhales,” He does so from His innermost being. Furthermore, even after having placed His breath into man’s body, this breath is still not severed from Him. This indicates that man’s soul is an extension of God’s breath and is directly connected to Him. Wow! That means that we are seriously close to G-d!]

The first recorded breath - taken by a human being - can be found in this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Toldos, where Jacob presents himself in front of his father Isaac in order to get his blessings. The Torah tells us that “Isaac smelled the fragrance of [Jacob’s] garments and blessed him” (see Genesis 27:27).

“SMELLY” RITUALS

Interestingly, there is only one Jewish ritual that involves breathing, and that is the mitzvah of Havdallah.

There are many reasons why we smell besamim (sweet-smelling spices) at the Havdallah ceremony marking the end of the Shabbos. One idea is as follows:

The wine is, as always, a symbol of joy, so we take one last sip of the joy of Shabbos as we bid the Shabbos goodbye for another week. Similarly, the sweet-smelling spices symbolize the sweetness of Shabbos, whose pleasant aroma we breathe in one last time that it might last us through the week to come until we can welcome Shabbos again.

HOW THE MIRACLE OF BREATHING WORKS

When you breathe in through your mouth or nose, air is pushed down your trachea (windpipe) and into tubes that lead to your lungs. At the bottom of your windpipe, there are two large tubes called bronchi. One leads to the left lung, while the other leads to the right lung. These branch into smaller and smaller tubes, the smallest of which are called bronchioles. Bronchioles are as thin as a strand of hair, and there are about 30,000 of them in each lung. At the end of each bronchiole are small air sacs called alveoli. The alveoli have extremely thin cell walls that allow oxygen to pass to your red blood cells. There are about 600 million alveoli in your body. Oxygen is then sent through the blood cells to all parts of your body, where it gives energy to your cells. Cells need energy to survive and to perform basic jobs. After your cells use oxygen, your blood is carrying a gas called carbon dioxide, along with other wastes that must leave your body. The waste enters the alveoli, goes in through the bronchioles, out the bronchi, out the trachea, and you finally breathe it out through your mouth or nose. It’s basically just inhaling, but in reverse!

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

~ On average, a person at rest takes about 16 breaths per minute. This means we breathe about 960 breaths an hour, 23,040 breaths a day, 8,409,600 a year. Unless we get a lot of exercise. The person who lives to 80 will take about 672,768,000 breaths in a lifetime!!!
~ The average person breathes in the equivalent of 13 pints of air every minute.
~ The lungs are the biggest waste removal engine in the body, accounting for the removal of 70% of body waste in the form of carbon dioxide in the air we exhale.
~ The lungs are actually quite huge, and if you spread them out fully, they would cover an entire tennis court!
~ Most people can hold their breath for a maximum of 1-2 minutes, but in 2016 Aleix Segura i Vendrell from Barcelona achieved the Guinness World Record by holding his breath during a free dive for 24 minutes and 3.45 seconds! That’s the power of controlled breathing.
~ Breathing deeply into your lungs can help to ease pain, relax more and ease stress. Breathing is used to an advantage in activities such as yoga and meditation.

WE ARE UNDER ATTACK

Isn’t it crazy, then, that most of us don’t even stop to reflect upon this incredible miracle – orchestrated by our Creator - that takes place inside our bodies each and every minute!

And especially now – when we are all under attack from the coronavirus – we should not be taking our ability to breathe easy for granted.

Indeed, the Sages taught us in [Midrash] Bereishis Rabbah 14:11: Rabbi Levi says in the name of Rabbi Chanina: For each and every breath that man takes he must give praise to the Creator. How do we know this? For it says in Tehillim (Psalms) 150:6: “Let all souls praise G-d, Hallelu-yah!” [The Hebrew word for ‘soul” – neshamah – can also be read neshimah, which means “breath”] And the Malbi”m in his commentary on Tehillim explains that we are obligated to give praise to G-d for His kindness that He gives us the ability to breathe each and every breath that we take.

G-D CAN PROTECT US

We are living in scary times, folks. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but you know and I know that as much as we are vigilant and try our best to protect ourselves from this menacing virus, there are no guarantees.

One thing we all can do – if and when we remember to pause and reflect on the “miracle” of breathing inside us - is to pray to our Father in Heaven Who runs this world, and to recognize that He Who gave us the ability to breathe 8,409,600 breaths a year can also protect our lungs from this dreadful COVID-19 virus.

May G-d protect and save us all. Amen!

http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=641

Back to Archives