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  1. G-d blows the soul in through the nostrils, not his mouth:

וַיִּיצֶר ה"א אֶת־הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן־הָאֲדָמָה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה׃

the LORD God ... blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

  1. G-d sucks the soul out through the [kiss on the] mouth: The verses about the way of death of Moses, Aharon and Miriam (here)

"וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד־ה' בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב עַל־פִּי ה' " - literally "by the mouth [on mouth] of G-d"

According to the sources here, it hints that their souls were "sucked out" through the kiss on the mouth.

This looks contradicting to me - this could be the other way around either. Any explanations?

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  • Because breathing usually takes place through the nostrils. At death, the (facial) muscles relax, and the mouth (slightly) opens.
    – user18041
    May 21, 2020 at 1:55

2 Answers 2

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Another user answered a different question with the following:

Because the soul enters and exits the body via the nose. In the Midrash "Pirkei Rebbi Eliezer" it says that from the beginning of creation nobody became ill, but instead a person would sneeze and his soul would exit from his nostrils, until Yaakov came along and asked Hashem for mercy - that He shouldn't take his soul until he has time to command his offspring how to conduct themselves after he is dead. Hashem accepted his request, as it says Bereishis 48,1 "And it was after these things that Yosef was told: Behold! (something unusual!), your father is sick", something which had never occurred from the days of creation!

The Midrash concludes that therefore when a person sneezes one should wish him life (health) because sneezing used to signify the opposite of life. This is the source of saying Bless You or Gesundheit or לבריות or something similar in different languages.

I believe your premise is unfounded; while those few individuals did merit a special death via a Divine "kiss" that is not the general way the soul leaves the body.

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Because the nose is the only open part of the body which can not do a sin (sans the smelling of idol worship).

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  • This does not fully answer the question. You should also add sources to explain why you chose this answer. Oct 10, 2018 at 0:52
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