Allow me to share with you an important family secret about the tefillah of Nishmas. That Nishmas is one of the most powerful and significant tefillos is not a secret. That this tefillah is traced back to the generation of the Tannaim is also no secret. It is also well known that the tefillah has been recommended by many gedolim throughout the generations as a powerful segulah. So then what is this “important family secret” about Nishmas I am about to share? First, let me offer some important background. There are various opinions as to who composed this important tefillah. The first letters of four of the primary pesukim spell the name “Shimon” (backward), a hint that this is the author’s name. But which Shimon is it? Some hold that it was the Tanna Rabi Shimon ben Shetach. Others say it was Rav Shimon ben Pazi. A third opinion has it that the famed Rabi Shimon bar Yochai composed it while he and his son Rabi Elazar were in the cave for 13 years. Rabi Shimon wanted to thank Hashem for all the nissim He did for them on a daily basis.