These Morning Blessings were originally recited in the home on waking up, and the phrases correspond to the physical acts – opening the eyes, putting on clothing, stretching, walking. Their transfer to the synagogue has made them less literal and more like metaphors for God’s providence. However, some of them can be seen as spelling out our own human responsibilities as God’s agents in the world – we are to clothe the naked, to free those who are bound, and so on. Some progressive liturgies have changed the opening blessings that are expressed in a negative way, for example ‘who has not made me a slave’, into positive forms, ‘who has made me free’. We have retained the traditional formulation in this particular case because of an occurrence in the concentration camps when a rabbi was asked how the inmates could say ‘who has not made me a slave’when they were clearly enslaved. His answer was that this blessing was even more important because despite the outer slavery they needed to resist becoming spiritually enslaved. The first blessing replaces the traditional one recited by men, ‘who has not made me a woman’, and the woman’s equivalent, ‘who has made me according to God’s will’, with the affirmation in the Creation story that we are all made in the image of God. The sequence of blessings moves from the personal, to general statements about God’s providence, to those specific to the Jewish people.
THE GIFT OF BLESSINGS KEx ¨A Blessed are You, our Living God, Sovereign of the universe, who has made me in the image of God. Blessed are You, our Living God, Sovereign of the universe, who has not made me a stranger to You. Blessed are You, our Living God, Sovereign of the universe, who has not enslaved me. Blessed are You, our Living God, Sovereign of the universe, You provide for my every need. Blessed are You, our Living God, Sovereign of the universe, You open eyes that cannot see.
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K¤l«¤n Epi«¥Grl¡` dedi d ¨Y ©` KEx¨A :d¨I ¦x §kÇop/i ¦x §kÇop i ¦p «©U¨r `rN ¤W .m ¨lFr ¨d K¤l«¤n Epi«¥Grl¡` dedi d ¨Y ©` KEx¨A :d ¨g §t ¦W/c ¤a«¨r i ¦p «©U¨r `rN ¤W .m ¨lFr ¨d K¤l«¤n Epi«¥Grl¡` dedi d ¨Y ©` KEx¨A :i ¦M §xÇovÎlÇoM i ¦NÎd ¨U«¨r ¤W .m ¨lFr ¨d
K¤l«¤n Epi«¥Grl¡` dedi d ¨Y ©` KEx¨A :mi ¦x §e ¦r ©g «¥wFR .m ¨lFr ¨d
<<< KEx ¨A Baruch attah Adonai eloheinu melech ha–olam, she’asani b’tselem elohim. Baruch attah Adonai eloheinu melech ha–olam, shelo asani nochri/nochriyah. Baruch attah Adonai eloheinu melech ha–olam, shelo asani aved/shifchah. Baruch attah Adonai eloheinu melech ha–olam, she’asah li kol tsorki. Baruch attah Adonai eloheinu melech ha–olam, pokei’ach ivrim.
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