The Eternal God formed the human from the dust of the earth. God blew into his nostrils the breath [neshama] of life, and man became a living being [nefesh chayah].

ויפח באפיו AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS — He made him of both, of earthly and of heavenly matter: the body of the earthly, and the soul of the heavenly. For on the first day were created heaven and earth, on the second, He created the firmament for the heavenly beings, on the third He said, “Let the dry land appear” — for the earthly beings, on the fourth He created the lights for the heavenly beings, on the fifth He said, “Let the waters swarm…” — for the earthly beings. Consequently on the sixth there had to be created a being composed of both, of heavenly and of earthly matter, for otherwise there would have been envy (lack of harmony) among the works of Creation, in that there would have been devoted to one class of them one day more of the Creation than to the others (Genesis Rabbah 12:8).

לנפש חיה A LIVING SOUL — Also cattle and beasts are called נפש חיה (1:20, 22, 24) [nefesh chayah], but the נפש [nefesh] of man is the most highly developed of all of them, because to him was granted understanding and speech.

(3) The Eternal said, “My spirit/breath/wind [ruach] shall not abide in humans forever, since they too are flesh; let the days allowed them be one hundred and twenty years.”—

The breath of life [nishmat chaya]: It has five names [i.e. components]: 1) nefesh (life force/vitality), 2) ruach (wind/spirit/emotion), 3) neshamah (soul), 4) chayah (living one), 5) yechidah (unique one).

1) Nefesh – this is the blood, as it says, "For the blood, it is the nefesh" [Deuteronomy 12:23].

2) Ruach – for it rises and falls [i.e. ruach corresponds to the emotions, which rise and fall], as it says, “Who knows if the ru’ach of human beings goes upward?” [Ecclessiastes 3:21].

3) Neshamah – this is the breath...

4) Chayah – [literally, "living"] because all the limbs are mortal, whereas this [i.e. the soul] is immortal in the body

5) Y’chidah – [literally, "unique"] The function of every limb is matched (or complemented) by that of another (i.e. eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.), whereas the function of this [part of the soul] is unique and wholly distinct from the rest.

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 [i.e. God].

(1) So appreciate your vigour in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; (2) before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain: (3) When the guards of the house become shaky, And the men of valour are bent, And the maids that grind, grown few, are idle, And the ladies that peer through the windows grow dim, (4) And the doors to the street are shut— With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter, And the song of the bird growing feebler, And all the strains of music dying down; (5) When one is afraid of heights And there is terror on the road.— For the almond tree may blossom, The grasshopper be burdened, And the caper bush may bud again; But man sets out for his eternal abode, With mourners all around in the street.— (6) Before the silver cord snaps And the golden bowl crashes, The jar is shattered at the spring, And the jug is smashed at the cistern. (7) And the dust returns [i.e. the body] to the ground as it was, and the ruach [i.e. the spirit/soul] returns to God Who bestowed it. (8) Utter futility—said Kohelet— All is futile!

Antoninos, the Roman emperor, said to Rabbi [Yehuda haNasi]: The body and the soul are able to exempt themselves from judgment. How so? The body says: The soul sinned, as from the day of my death when it departed from me, I am cast like a silent stone in the grave. And the soul says: The body sinned, as from the day that I departed from it, I am flying in the air like a bird.

Rabbi Yehuda haNasi said to him: I will tell you a parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who had a fine orchard, and in it there were fine first fruits, and he stationed two guards in it, one lame, who was unable to walk, and one blind. The lame person said to the blind person: I see fine first fruits of in the orchard; come and place me upon your shoulders and we will bring the fruit to eat them. The lame person rode upon the shoulders of the blind person and they brought the fruit and ate them.

Sometime later the owner of the orchard came to the orchard. He said to the guards: The fine first fruits, where are they? The lame person said: Do I have any legs with which to walk? The blind person said: Do I have any eyes with which to see? What did the owner do? He placed the lame person upon the shoulders of the blind person, and he judged them as one.

So too, the Holy Blessed One brings the soul on the day of judgment and casts it back into the body and judges them as one, as it is stated: “[God] calls to the heavens above and to the earth that [God] may judge [God's] people” (Psalms 50:4). “[God] calls to the heavens above”; this is the soul. “And to the earth that [God] may judge [God's] people”; this is the body.

(1) All of Israel has a share in the World to Come, as it says, (Isaiah 60:21), “Thy people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” These have no share in the World to Come: One who says that [the belief of] resurrection of the dead is not from the Torah, [one who says that] that the Torah is not from Heaven, and a heretic [i.e. one who denies the reality of God and revelation]...

Rabbi Jacob said: "This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting-hall."

(17) He [Rabbi Jacob] would say: "One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than all the time in the world to come. And one hour of pleasure in the world to come is better than all the time in this world."

My God! the soul which You bestowed in me is pure; You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me and You preserve it within me. You will eventually take it from me, and restore it in me in the time to come. So long as the soul is within me I give thanks to You, Eternal my God, and God of my ancestors, Ruler of all creatures, Master of all souls. Blessed are You, Eternal, Who restores souls to dead bodies.