In the Midrash (Deuteronomy Rabbah 11:10), the Angel of Death, Samael, is sent to claim Moses’ soul. Moses, having ascended Sinai and achieved a state of "half-man, half-angel," radiates such light that Samael is blinded and flees.
Ultimately, the Midrash explains that God Himself descended to receive the soul. He did not "take" it by force; rather, he spoke to the soul, inviting it to return. The "Kiss" is the moment where the mouth of the Divine meets the mouth of the prophet. This is linguistically rooted in the Song of Songs: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth." In the case of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, it is said they died al pi Hashem (by the mouth of God), which the Sages interpret literally as the Neshikah.
Yechidah: The Desire of Desire
To understand why this "Kiss" occurs, one must look at the five levels of the soul in Kabbalah: Nefesh (vitality), Ruach (emotion), Neshamah (intellect), Chayah (transcendental will), and Yechidah (the singular essence).
Yechidah is the point of the soul that never truly leaves God; it is the "spark of the Creator within the creature."
- In the Zohar, this is called Re'uta d'Re'utin (The Desire of All Desires).
- Most people live and die within the lower three levels. However, a Tzadik (righteous one) who has reached the level of Yechidah experiences a longing so potent that the physical body can no longer contain the soul.
- As the soul enters the frequency of Yechidah, the boundary between "I" and "The Infinite" dissolves. The Kiss is the formal recognition of that union.
- Miriam and Aaron: It is explicitly stated that Moses' siblings also died by the Kiss, though with Miriam, the text is more subtle to preserve her modesty, yet the Midrash confirms the same ecstatic transition.
- Enoch and Elijah: While their departures are described as "translations" or being "taken" by God, Kabbalistic thought views these as variations of the Yechidah ascent where the physical form is either entirely consumed by light or transformed into a celestial vehicle (Metatron or Sandalphon).
- The Four who entered Pardes: Ben Azzai is said to have "looked and died." Mystically, this is interpreted as a Neshikah that happened prematurely; he touched the level of Yechidah and, unlike Rabbi Akiva, he did not have the "grounding" to return to his body. He simply chose to stay.
The Talmudic idea that Tzadikim have no rest (Talmidai Chachamim ein lahem menucha) is a profound rejection of the "static" heaven. In this framework, the Neshikah is only the first gate.
Because the Ain Sof (the Infinite) is truly infinite, the soul continues to move from "strength to strength." The "Kiss" is not an end, but the initiation into a state of perpetual "becoming." The soul continues to climb the rungs of the celestial ladder, forever approaching a light that recedes as it is approached, ensuring that the ecstasy of the "Desire of Desire" is never exhausted.
In his work Moreh Nevukhim (Guide to Puzzled), Maimonides explains that when the great saints knew their hour was drawing near, they meditated so deeply that they became one with God. Essentially, they let their souls leave their bodies and died in a state of ecstasy. This was known as Neshikah, death by the "Kiss of God". According to the Midrash, Moses died this way. When the time of his departure came, God sent the angel of death to take his soul, but Moses simply dismissed him. The Zohar indicates that Moses had purified himself so much that his death was on the level of Yechidah, called the "desire of desire." In short, Moses realized it was time to leave this world, but he had the privilege of dying the way he chose, drawing closer and closer to God until his soul left his body. The commentators explain that the closer one gets to God, the greater the longing. It's like a magnet: the closer one gets, the greater the attraction. This is the meaning of the Talmudic saying that the tzadikim have no rest neither in this world nor in the other. They are steadily approaching Ain Sof. - From the Book "Cabalah, Meditation and Prophecy". Aryeh the Tiger.