נִשְׁמַת The soul. An ancient poem, elements of which are cited in the Talmud, where it is referred to as a prayer of thanksgiving for rain after prolonged drought and as part of the Seder service on Pesaḥ. It is also known as Birkat HaShir, “the blessing of the song” (Pesaḥim 118a). It artfully weaves together many of the themes of the Verses of Praise, taking its cue from the last verse of Psalms, “Let all that breathes [kol haneshama] praise the LORD” – the words neshama and nishmat (“the soul of”) come from the same root. It also elaborates on the phrase, “All my bones shall say” (Ps. 35:10), describing how each part of the body seeks to praise God – an ancient prefiguration of the idea of “body language.”