The Mishnah on this page is quite wonderful and will be commented on. It contains a series of blessings to be said on many and several occasions. We start with miracles.
"IF ONE SEES A PLACE WHERE MIRACLES HAVE BEEN WROUGHT FOR ISRAEL, HE SHOULD SAY, BLESSED BE HE WHO WROUGHT MIRACLES FOR OUR ANCESTORS IN THIS PLACE."
Not just historic miracles, but personal ones as well:
"Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: There are four [classes of people] who have to offer thanksgiving: those who have crossed the sea, those who have traversed the wilderness, one who has recovered from an illness, and a prisoner who has been set free."
What blessing should he say? "Rab Judah said: ‘Blessed is He who bestows lovingkindnesses’ (Baruch Gomel Hasadim Tovim)"
This is the "Birkat HaGomel" found in our modern prayer books in a revised form. Technically there is a form for those who fit in these 4 categories, and a different one for anyone else who feels a special sense of blessing.
In going over this lately, I have been distressed to realize that the new Reform prayer book, Mishkan T'fillah, turns this from a personal prayer to a communal one - revising both the Hebrew and the English into plural forms. In trying always to be inclusive, we lose something important - that sense of having been personally touched by the Divine Presence. What happens to gratitude when it is diluted?
May we each feel blessed. And grateful.
Birkat Ha-Gomel could have great meaning as a communal prayer, even if not everyone in the room is coming out of a specifically personal trial.
ReplyDeleteWe're taught that "All Israel is responsible for one another".
So when someone in our midst is suffering, we all suffer; and when that person cmes through a terrible trial and offers thanks, we are all made a little more whole as well.
What better reason to offer communal gratitude?
Thanks so much for posting these tweets.
Gmar Hatimah Tovah.