{"id":34129,"date":"2018-07-16T14:57:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T11:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=34129"},"modified":"2022-02-13T13:11:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T11:11:46","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-5\/","title":{"rendered":"MiliMiliM The Hebrew Corner Gen 5"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u05d1\u05e8\u05da, \u05d1\u05e8\u05db\u05d4 – barech, berachah<\/span><\/p>\n

“And when they were created, He <\/span>blessed<\/span><\/i> them…(5:2).<\/span><\/p>\n

The root \u05d1-\u05e8-\u05db, <\/span>b-r-ch<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> “bless, blessing” is one you will meet in many corners of Jewish life. Like many positive Jewish words (such as Shalom, peace, Chaim, life, Yaffa, beautiful, and Tova, goodness) Baruch is also a name: it was the philosopher Spinoza’s first name, Latinized as Benedictus, and the last name of the famous financier and statesman, Bernard Baruch (the pronunciation Anglicized to “baroosh”).<\/span><\/p>\n

Berachot<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>blessings, are acknowledged in all areas of life. Have a drink of water? Say a blessing. See a rainbow? Say a blessing. Finish eating that meal? Say a really long blessing, <\/span>birkat hamazon<\/span><\/em>, “the blessing of the food,” the grace after meals, (known to generations of Jewish summer campers simply as “the birkat”).<\/span><\/p>\n

While the blessings are occasioned by the use of the objects involved, what is being “blessed,” or sanctified, is not the object \u2013 there’s no such thing as holy wine or holy bread in Judaism \u2013 but God: <\/span>baruch ata<\/span><\/em>, “blessed are You, God.” There lies a theological issue, since what does it mean for us to be blessing God? Thanks perhaps \u2013 but blessing? Traditionally, God is <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> source<\/span><\/i> of blessing, not an object of one. \u00a0Indeed, some prefer translating one traditional epithet of God, <\/span>hakadosh baruch hu<\/span><\/em>, not as “The Holy One, Blessed be He,” but rather as “the Holy One of Blessing” or even “the Holy Blessing One” (which also solves the gender issue).<\/span><\/p>\n

Blessing also has pride of place in the formal liturgy, as in the Jewish “call to prayer” which uses the root twice: <\/span>barchu et adonai hamevorach<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> literally, “blessed is the Lord, who is [to be] blessed.” This formulation should also be familiar to anyone who has had the honor of being called up to the Torah. It is the minimum that one learns as a bar or bat mitzvah.<\/span><\/p>\n

This root, however, doesn’t just appear in liturgical contexts. A common religious response to the simple question of “how are you?” might be simply, <\/span>baruch hashem<\/span><\/em>, “blessed be the Name,” i.e., “thank God” \u2013 the implication being “A-OK.” Though here too lies a theological issue. If we bless or thank God when all is well, what are we meant to do when things go awry? The Biblical Job provides the supreme example of an unwavering faith, and also provides a lovely rhymed couplet that summarizes his philosophy: <\/span>adonai natan, adonai lakach, yehi shem adonai mevorach<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> “The Lord has given, the Lord has taken, blessed be the name of the Lord.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The standard Hebrew welcome, in traditional as well as modern Hebrew is: <\/span>beruchim habaim<\/span><\/em>, “welcome.” Literally it means “blessed are they who come” and can be idiomatically and elegantly met with a phrase that has no parallel in English: <\/span>beruchim hanimtzaim<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>“blessed are they who are already here.”<\/span><\/p>\n

image: An aging Leonard Nimoy, aka Mr. Spock, giving the Vulcan Salute, aka, the priestly blessing…<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":101836,"id":101836,"title":"-62042990525a8--62042990525a9gen5-beracha milim.jpg","filename":"62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-5\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":34129,"date":"2022-02-09 20:52:32","modified":"2022-02-09 20:54:10","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62042990525a8-62042990525a9gen5-beracha-milim.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"MiliMilim - 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