Tefillah 003

1:
In the previous shiur we saw that the Gemara [Berakhot 60b] gives a list of ten benedictions that a person should recite as he or she does or hears certain things every morning. Custom has added to these benedictions. In another place in the Gemara [Menaĥot 43b] we find Rabbi Me'ir listing three benedictions of gratitude that a man should recite daily: Who made me a Jew, Who did not make me a woman, Who did not make me an ignoramus. Presumably for euphonistic reasons the first benediction was later rephrased so that it too was in the negative: Who did not make me a non-Jew.

2:
To the modern mind these benedictions are at best questionable and at worst odious. However, the original intention of the benedictions was so that a man – a sage? – could thank God for not having made him a person who was not fully obligated to observe the mitzvot. Non-Jews are obligated to observe only the seven Noahide laws; women are excused observance of all positive time-specific mitzvot (i.e. something that we are required to do at a specific time); and the ignoramus can observe only those mitzvot which he knows and understands. Because of a discussion reported in the Gemara between a Babylonian Amora and his son the three benedictions finally enetered into our liturgy as Who did not make me a non-Jew, Who did not make me a woman, Who did not make me a slave. (In less modern Halakhah men-servants and all women have the same level of obligation, but a woman has a higher social status.)

3:
Clearly, the thoughts underlying these benedictions are extremely distasteful to modern susceptabilities and Conservative prayerbooks have modified them to alleviate the distaste. There were poskim [halakhic decisors] who were of the opinion that it was best not to recite the benediction "Who made me a Jew" because once that had been said the others were superfluous. Perhaps it is for that very reason that the positive formulation was retained in certain medieval rites (particularly the Italian rite and the Western Ashkenazi rite). On the brink of modern times no less a personage than Rabbi Eliahu, the Ga'on of Vilna, ha-Gra [1720-1797], preferred the positive language.

4:
The siddur Va'ani Tefillati [page 17] omits all three negative benedictions and replaces them with the one positive benediction in which all people thank God for making them a Jew (and thus obliged to observe the mitzvot). The siddur Sim Shalom [page 65] also retained the positive formulation, but the editors did not leave it at that. They added two 'replacement' benedictions for the two that had been disapproved: Who created me in His image and Who made me a free person. Personally, I find it difficult to accept these two benedictions. I have philosophic reservations about them, but those reservations are, of course, purely subjective. However, there is a very clear tradition among our people that we do not coin new benedictions in the post-Talmudic era. The benediction "Who made me a Jew" says it all and renders the others superfluous. (The idea for the two additional benedictions in Sim Shalom came from a much longer formulation in the ancient Palestinian rite where the worshipper thanked God because He "made me a human and not an animal, a man and not a woman, A Jew and not a non-Jew, circumcised and not uncircumcised, free and not a slave… Praised be God who created Adam in His image and in His likeness.")

5:
So the original ten benedictions have now become eleven (in Va'ani Tefillati) and even thirteen (in Sim Shalom). However, an extra blessing has crept in at the end of the list in all rites: Praised be God, Sovereign of the Universe, who gives strength to the weary. No one seems to know where this benediction came from – except that its language is clearly derived from Isaiah 40:29.

6:
Let us now return to the original list as given in the Gemara [Berakhot 60b]. The list of ten benedictions (now expanded, as we have seen) has not been exhausted. After washing one's hands and face there is yet another benediction mentioned:

7:
Note that this passage is in the singular, as are all the other early morning benedictions. This clearly indicates that their proper place in in the home, not in the synagogue. They are part of that private worship which each individual performs at home before leaving for the synagogue. Presumably it was because of a general ignorance that they were transferred to public worship: in an age where there were no printed prayer-books and not everyone could not recite the prayers from memory these benedictions were transferred into the synagogue: those who had not been able to recite them at home could answer Amen when someone else recited them out loud, thus fulfilling their duty. Accordingly, where appropriate, the language was changed from the singular to the plural. The siddur Va'ani Tefillati has retained the original grammatical structure of the Gemara, whereas in Sim Shalom the later plural language has been adopted.

8:
We shall return often to the following thought: in earlier times people had much more liesure time, and they could delight in spending many hours in the pleasantness of an ever-expanding synagogue service. Nowadays people seek to curtail the service (and if this leads to increased participation and greater understanding this can only be a good thing). Those whose task it is to craft and fashion the synagogue ritual should be very careful not to commit mayhem on traditional prayers. If one needs to curtail the service the best place to start would be removing all these morning blessings [Birkhot ha-Shaĥar] and putting them back where they belong – into private worship at home before leaving for the synagogue.

9:
Let us now summarize these Birkhot ha-Shaĥar. I bring here the order as presented in siddur Va'ani Tefillati [pages 15-18] since the order in Sim Shalom has been changed for reasons that will be explained in our next shiur.

1. The bendiction over washing the hands, Al netilat yadayyim;
2. the benediction to be recited after visiting the toilet, Asher yatzar;
3. the benediction to be recited upon rising, Elohai neshamah;
4. the series of short benedictions which we have been discussing;
5. the blessing on washing the face, ha-ma'avir, which is rendered into English above in paragraph 6.

Because many people do not have access to the siddur Va'ani Tefillati (which is a siddur published by the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and the Masorti Movement for use in Masorti congregations) I have provided the Hebrew text of the morning blessings (Birkhot ha-Shaĥar) from that siddur. Please click here to access the text. If this should prove useful to people I will try to provide more excerpts from siddur Va'ani Tefillati as they become appropriate.