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He who makes peace in His high places, make peace for us and all Israel – and say: Amen.
PRAYERS ON WAKING
I thank you: These words are to be said immediately on waking from sleep. In them we thank GOD for life itself, renewed each day. Sleep, said the Sages, is “one-sixtieth of death". Waking, therefore, is a miniature rebirth. Despite its brevity, this sentence articulates a transformative act of faith: the recognition that life is a gift from GOD. Expressing gratitude at the fact of being alive, we prepare ourselves to celebrate and sanctify the new day.
How goodly: Tradition interpreted “tents” and “dwelling places” as synagogues and houses of study (Sanhedrin 105a), which are the vehicles of Jewish continuity through the generations. Rav Kook explained the difference between the two: We use a tent when we are on a journey; we have a dwelling place where we feel at home. Together they represent the twin needs of the soul: to grow on the one hand, and to be rooted in eternal values on the other.
TALLIT AND TEFILLIN
The mitzvah of tzitzit, placing tassels on the corner of our garments, is to recall us constantly to our vocation: “Thus you “will be reminded to keep all My commandments, and be holy to your God” Over the course of time, the fulfilment of this commandment took two different forms: the tallit, worn as a robe during prayer, over our clothes, and the tallit katan, worn as an undergarment beneath our outer clothes. Though they fulfil a single commandment, they were deemed so different as to warrant two different blessings.
Tefillin: The word tefillin (called totafot in the Torah) means “emblem, sign, insignia” the visible symbol of an abstract idea. Tefillin are our reminder of the commandment of the Shema: “Love God your LORD with all your heart, all your soul and all your might". All your heart – this is the tefillin on the upper arm opposite the heart. All your soul – this is the head-tefillin opposite the seat of consciousness, the soul. All your might – this is the strap of the hand-tefillin, symbolising action, power, might. Tefillin thus symbolise the love for God in emotion (heart), thought (head) and deed (hand). The LORD spoke this commandment is alluded to or mentioned in the four passages in the Torah which are contained in the tefillin. These are two; the others are the first and second paragraphs of the Shema.
I will betroth you to Me: These exquisite lines from the Book of Hosea speak of God’s covenant with Israel as a marriage – a mutual pledge of faith, born of love. Wrapping the strap of the hand-tefillin around the middle finger like a wedding ring, we remind ourselves of God’s love for Israel, and Israel’s love for God.
LORD of the universe: A magnificent poem, attributed by some to the Spanish Jewish poet Solomon ibn Gabi-rol (1021–1070). Its power lies in its effortless transition from abstract theology to personal experience. The first six lines speak of GOD in cosmic terms; the last four lines turn to GOD as a personal presence. Though He is unfathomably vast, He is also intensely close. I face the world without fear because I rest in His everlasting arms.
Great is the living GOD: A poetic setting of Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Jewish faith, written by Rabbi Daniel bar Judah (Rome, fourteenth century), each line representing one of the principles. Like Adon Olam, the presence of Yigdal in the Siddur reminds us that it is not only a book of prayer but also the supreme book of Jewish faith. Judaism contains little systematic theology. We speak to GOD more than we speak about God. Yet Judaism is a faith whose distinctive beliefs find their home in the prayer book. We do not analyse faith in academic detachment. We sing it, affirming faith with joy.
Who formed man in wisdom: A blessing of thanks for the intricate wonders of the human body. Were one of them to be ruptured or blocked – even the smallest variation in the human genome can cause potentially fatal illness. The more we understand of the complexity of life, the more we appreciate “How myriad are your works, O GOD; You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of Your creations” (Psalm 104:24). This blessing is a rejection of the idea that the spirit alone is holy, and physical life bereft of GOD.
BLESSINGS OVER THE TORAH
The history of Judaism is a story of the love of a people for the Book of Books, the Torah. As a preliminary to study, we pronounce two blessings and a prayer. The first, “who has made us holy with His commandments", is a blessing over the commandment to engage in study of the Torah, a declaration that we do not simply study as an intellectual or cultural exercise but as the fulfilment of a Divine commandment. This is followed by a prayer that GOD make Torah study sweet, and help us to hand it on to our children. The final blessing, “Who has chosen us", is a blessing of acknowledgement that chosenness means responsibility, and is inseparably linked to the study and practice of Torah.
So as to follow the blessings immediately with an act that fulfils the commandment, we read three texts whose recitation forms an act of study. The Talmud (Kiddushin 30a) rules that Torah study must be divided into three: study of 1. Torah; 2. Mishnah; and 3. Talmud. Hence we read: 1. a biblical text, the priestly blessings; 2. a passage from the Mishnah about commandments that have no fixed measure; and 3. a passage from the Talmud about the reward of good deeds in this world and the next.
My GOD, the soul You placed within me is pure: An affirmation of Jewish belief in the freedom and responsibility of each human being. The soul as such is pure. We have good instincts and bad, and we must choose between them. The blessing ends with a reference to the resurrection of the dead, returning to the theme of the first words said in the morning.
Blessed are You: These blessings, itemised in the Talmud (Berachot 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 Nachman of Bratslav).
Who gives the heart: This is the translation according to Rabbi Asher; Rashi and Abudraham read it, “the cockerel” According to Rabbi Asher’s reading, the first blessing mirrors the first request of the Amidah, for human understanding, as well as the first act of creation in which GOD created light, separating it from darkness.
Who has not made me a heathen, a slave, a woman: These three blessings are mentioned in the Talmud (Menachot 43b). They 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 acknowledgments of the special responsibilities of Jewish life. Heathens, slaves and women are exempt from certain commandments which apply to Jewish men. In these blessings, we express our faith that the commandments are not a burden but a cherished vocation.
Who has made me according to His will: Women embrace their vocation positively, unlike the negative formula (“who has not made me”) used by men. Women (“the mother
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