Morning Blessings

Koren Shalem Siddur·PDF 82-83·Birchot HaShachar

ברכות השחר

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ברכות השחר

Morning Blessings

The following blessings are said aloud by the Leader, but each individual should say them quietly as well. It is our custom to say them standing.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשֶּׂכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יוֹם וּבֵין לָיְלָה.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who gives the heart understanding to distinguish day from night.

Sephardi

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam asher natan lasechviy binah lehavchiyn bein yom uveyn laylah.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי גוֹי.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has not made me a heathen.

Sephardi

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam shelo asani goy.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי עָבֶד.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has not made me a slave.

Sephardi

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam shelo asani aved.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי אִשָּׁה / שֶׁעָשַׂנִי כִּרְצוֹנוֹ.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, men: who has not made me a woman. women: who has made me according to His will.

Sephardi

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam shelo asani ishah / sheasani kirtzono.

// Commentary

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה Blessed are You: These blessings, itemized in the Talmud (Berakhot 60b), were originally said at home to accompany the various stages of waking and rising. “Who gives sight to the blind” was said on opening one’s eyes, “Who clothes the naked” on putting on clothes, and so on. Several medieval authorities, however, held that they should be said in the synagogue. Their purpose is to make us conscious of what we might otherwise take for granted. Praise is an act of focused attention, foregrounding what is usually in the background of awareness. “The world is full of the light of God, but to see it we must learn to open our eyes” (Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav).

אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשֶּׂכְוִי Who gives the heart: This is the translation according to Rabbeinu Asher (Rosh); Rashi and Abudarham read it, “who gives the cockerel.” According to Rosh’s reading, the first blessing mirrors the first request of the Amida, for human understanding, as well as the first act of creation in which God created light, separating it from darkness.

שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי גוֹי/עֶבֶד/אִשָּׁה Who has not made me a heathen, a slave, a woman: These three blessings are mentioned in the Talmud (Menahot 43b). Before we bless God for the universalities of human life, we bless Him for the particularities of our identity. We belong to the people of the covenant; we are free; and we have differentiated responsibilities as women and men. These blessings have nothing to do with hierarchies of dignity, for we believe that every human being is equally formed in the image of God. Rather, they are expressions of acknowledgment of the special duties of Jewish life. Heathens, slaves and women are exempt from certain commands which apply to Jewish men. By these blessings, we express our faith that the commandments are not a burden but a cherished vocation.