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Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who has given the rooster understanding to distinguish day from night.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר נָּתַן לַשֶּׂכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יוֹם וּבֵין לָיְלָה.
Modern versions:
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who made me a Jew.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who made me a free man/woman.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who made me in Your image
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱלֹ-הֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשַׂנִי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשַׂנִי בֶּן / בַּת חוֹרִין.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשַׂנִי בְּצַלְּמוֹ.
Traditional blessings:
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who did not make me a Gentile.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who did not make a slave.
Men say > Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who did not make me a woman
Women say > Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who made me according to Your will
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁלּא עָשַּׁנִי גּוֹי/ה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁלּא עָשַּׁנִי עָבֶד/שִׁפְחָה.
Men say < בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁלּא עָשַּׁנִי אִשָׂה.
Women say < בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשַּׁנִי כִּרְצוֹנוֹ.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who opens the eyes of the blind.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who clothes the naked.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who releases the bound.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who lifts up the bent.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who spreads out the land over the waters.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who guides a person’s steps.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who provides for all of my needs.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who girds Israel with strength.
Blessed are you, God, Sovereign of the universe, who crowns Israel with splendor.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, פּוֹקֵחַ עִוְרִים.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, מַלְבִּישׁ עֲרֻמִּים.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, זוֹקֵף כְּפוּפִים.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, רוֹקַע הָאָרֶץ עַל הַמָּיִם.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמֵּכִין מִצְעֲדֵי גָבֶר.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשָׂה לִי כָּל צָרְכִּי.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אוֹזֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּגְבוּרָה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, עוֹטֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתִפְאָרָה.
Foundations for Planning
Essential Questions
- How do Jewish practices reflect Jewish values?
- How do Jewish rituals and practices enrich the way I experience my life and the world?
- How does being Jewish affect what I do in my daily/weekly life?
Content Questions Related to the Essential Questions
- How do these prayers teach us about the importance of gratitude?
- How can we strengthen our “gratitude muscles” and be more aware of what we should say thanks for?
- How do these prayers encourage us to be more aware / mindful in our daily lives?
Background for Teacher
Birchot Ha-Shachar (The Morning Blessings) are part of the Shacharit morning service. They express gratitude for actions that we may take for granted, since we perform them every day in a routine manner, such as standing up straight, getting dressed, and putting our shoes...
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Birchot Ha-Shachar (The Morning Blessings) are part of the Shacharit morning service. They express gratitude for actions that we may take for granted, since we perform them every day in a routine manner, such as standing up straight, getting dressed, and putting our shoes on. According to the Talmud (Berachot 60b, see the Further Study section below), we are supposed to say each blessing as we perform the relevant action. For example, when we wake up and open our eyes we should say “Who opens the eyes of the blind,” when we get dressed we should say “Who clothes the naked,” and so on. Today the blessings are usually recited as a single text during the Shacharit morning prayers rather than as individual blessings. The references to these routine, daily actions adds a dimension of awareness and mindfulness to our lives.
The first blessings relate to various aspects of human existence. In the traditional blessings, we express thanks for being part of the Jewish people, for our status as free people, and for our gender. The reason for the different blessings for men and women is that the Sages felt that men enjoyed an advantage because they were obliged to perform more mitzvot which they viewed as a privilege and could also reap the rewards for doing them. Contemporary approaches prefer to focus on the blessings about who I am, rather than comparisons with others. These alternative blessings highlight the dynamic nature of prayers, which reflect changing attitudes and values in different periods.
Optional Hooks 
In-Depth Discussion 
Suggested Activities 
Further Study In order to present the idea of being grateful for routine things, divide the students into hevrutot (study pairs). Ask each hevruta to make a list of 10 events and occurrences in their lives. The list should include some major and influential events and some minor things, including actions involved in getting up in the morning, mirroring Birchot Ha-Shachar (examples: graduating from school, winning a competition, opening my eyes in the morning, getting a compliment from the teacher, getting dressed, receiving a big present, etc.)
- Ask the students to discuss in their hevruta: Which of these events do you think it’s important to say blessings for, and which are less important?
- Hold a debate between students who think it’s important to say blessings or to be grateful for minor events and those who don’t think this is important. Ask them whether we can really take it for granted that we can get up and walk, or that we have clothes to put on. In what situations can people not take such things for granted?
- On the board write down the actions mentioned in Birchot Ha-Shachar. Explain that all these simple and apparently trivial actions are things for which Jews traditionally express gratitude every morning.
Click here to view our consolidated list of suggested interactive pedagogies for classroom discussion.
- In Birchot Ha-Shachar we express thanks for the actions involved in getting up in the morning. Can you identify which specific actions the text is referring to?
- Are there other actions relating to our morning routine that you think also deserve a blessing? Would you skip some of the traditional blessings? Why?
- Most of us see these actions are ordinary and routine, why might people want to say a blessing for them? What can we learn from this?
- The Sages could have decided to say one general blessing at the beginning of the day – “thank You for everything I have.” Why do you think they preferred to specify the different actions? What can we learn from this about how we should say thank you to others?
- For older students: what’s the difference between performing a routine action mindfully and doing it “on autopilot”? Give some examples of things you do without thinking. What difference can it make when we are aware of the things we do?
- Saying a daily prayer of gratitude might become a routine action in itself. How can we try to prevent this?
- Divide the students into pairs and ask each pair to go through the blessings and think of gestures or short dramatizations to illustrate the actions referred to in each blessing. After that, go through the list and ask the students to perform them in front of the whole class.
- In order to exercise their “gratitude muscles,” suggest that the students add their own blessings relating to actions they perform in the morning that are not mentioned in Birchot Ha-Shachar. They can make decorated posters with their blessings and display them in class under the heading “Pay attention and say thanks!” You could also expand the activity to include actions performed throughout the day.
- Play a game that encourages awareness of the small but significant actions in our lives. Ask the students to suggest as many actions as they can that we perform in a routine way without even noticing – on “autopilot.” Write the actions down on the board (if you did the opening activity, you can use that as a starting point here). Ask the students to answer questions or do short activities (that you prepare in advance) that can help them recognize the unique essence and importance of each action. Hand out sheets with the questions/activities, or read them out to the whole class, and then ask a different student in turn to complete them. For example:
If this action didn’t exist in the world, then…
I’m grateful for this action, because thanks to it…
Write a blessing about this action.
It’s important not to do this action on “autopilot” because…
etc.
- Study the prayer Modeh/Modah Ani – I Give Thanks, which also relates to the theme of gratitude on waking up in the morning. What are the similarities and differences between this prayer and Birchot Ha-Shachar?
- Study the Birchot Ha-Nehenenin blessings, which express thanks both for things we enjoy every day (e.g. eating particular foods) and for unusual events (e.g. seeing a rainbow). Ask the students which kind of blessings they find more meaningful – the ones about everyday things or the ones relating to exceptional occurrences. Why?
- Study the following text from the Talmud describing the actions we perform in the morning and the accompanying blessings:
On opening our eyes, we should recite: Blessed…Who gives sight to the blind.
On sitting up straight, we should recite: Blessed…Who sets captives free.
On getting dressed, we should recite: Blessed…Who clothes the naked.
On standing up straight, we should recite: Blessed…Who raises those bowed down.
On getting out of bed onto the floor, we should recite: Blessed…Who spreads the earth above the waters.
On walking, we should recite: Blessed…Who makes firm the steps of man.
On putting on shoes, we should recite: Blessed…Who has provided me with all I need.
On putting on our belt, one should recite: Blessed…Who girds Israel with strength.
On spreading a shawl over our head, we should recite: Blessed…Who crowns Israel with glory.”
(Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 60b)
