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For a daughter:
May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.
יְשִׂימֵךְ אֱ-לֹהִים כְּשָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה.
For a son:
May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
יְשִׂימְךָ אֱ-לֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה
For both daughters and sons:
May God bless you and protect you.
May God’s light shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May God turn toward you and grant you peace.
יְבָרֶכְךָ ה’ וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ.
יָאֵר ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ.
יִשָּׂא ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיך וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.
Foundations for Planning
Essential Questions
- Why are holidays, rituals, customs, important to me, my family, and my community?
- How do family traditions play an important role in our lives?
- Why are holidays, rituals, customs, important to me, my family, and my community?
- Why/How might Jewish practices be meaningful for me even if I don’t define myself as “religious”?
Content Questions Related to the Essential Questions
- What hopes do parents have for their children?
- What hopes do all family members have for their families?
- How do parents express their hopes for their children?
Background for Teacher
One of the most touching Jewish traditions is the blessing of the children. This blessing is based on the priestly blessing found in the book of Numbers (6:24‒27). Different introductory blessings for sons and daughters have been added to that blessing. These introductory blessings...
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One of the most touching Jewish traditions is the blessing of the children. This blessing is based on the priestly blessing found in the book of Numbers (6:24‒27). Different introductory blessings for sons and daughters have been added to that blessing. These introductory blessings are also based on biblical verses. The blessing for sons is based on a verse from Genesis (48:20): “By you shall Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’” The blessing for daughters is based on a verse from the book of Ruth (4:11): “May God make the woman who comes into your home like Rachel and like Leah.”
In every family, there are moments of tension between parents and children. When parents say this blessing over their children, they explicitly express to their children (and in so doing, remind themselves) that, despite those tensions, they love their children and want the best for them. It is customary for parents to place their hands on their children’s heads as they recite the blessing. The physical contact between the parent and the child adds to the warm words and expresses and nurtures the connection between them.
Optional Hooks 
In-Depth Discussion 
Suggested Activities 
Further Study - Before the lesson, you can ask parents to send in a blessing they have prepared for their children, which the children can then read during the lesson.
- Ask each student to bless the student who is sitting next to them. The blessings should express the hopes they have for each other. (For young children, you can explain that this is like the good wishes that we wish for people on their birthdays.) They should use the formula: “I hope you ….” After the blessings, ask if anyone wants to share the blessing they gave or received. Discuss together: What was it like to give and to get a blessing? What did you prefer, giving a blessing or receiving a blessing? Why?
- Listen to one of the following recitations of the blessing for children:
- Michael Ben-Naim — in Hebrew
- Debbie Friedman – in Hebrew and English
As you listen to these recordings, invite students to act out the blessing ceremony. Act it out yourself with a student and have a pair of students act it out alongside you.
Click here to view our consolidated list of suggested interactive pedagogies for classroom discussion.
For younger students:
- In this blessing, parents express some of the hopes they have for their children: that they will be safe, at peace, etc. What other hopes do you think parents have for their children?
For older students:
- What words in the blessing (e.g., shine, protect, peace, etc.) are meaningful to you? Why?
- Through what other actions do parents show their love and concern for their children?
- During the course of the week, there are sometimes arguments or tensions between parents and children. In this context, what message does this blessing send to children?
- Distribute the text to the students and ask them to decorate it. The decorations can be related to love, family, Shabbat or home. A variety of techniques and materials can be used.
- Ask the students to compose blessings for their parents. For very young students who do not yet know how to write, you can write the blessings out for them, record the blessings or ask the children to draw pictures of their blessings.
- An activity for parents and students to do together: Work together to compose a blessing for the family. Ask them to think together about how they would like to bless their family. What hopes and aspirations do they have as a family? What are they grateful for? Have them write out the blessing nicely and decorate it with pictures of family members or in any other way.
- Introduce the students to a work of art related to the subject: Examine the painting “Blessing the Children, Friday Night” by Moritz Oppenheim. Oppenheim lived in Germany in the middle of the 19th century. Ask the students what they see in the picture and what day is depicted in the picture. Focus on the details that indicate that it is Shabbat (i.e., the menorah that actually holds Shabbat candles, the Kiddush cup on the table, the festive clothing). Focus on the expressions of all of the people in the picture: Choose a few of those figures and imagine what is going through each of their minds. Looking at the picture will allow the students to see that experiences that are being spoken about today also existed in other historical periods. Each period has its own style and character, but some essential elements remain the same.
- Watch the video of the blessing of the children produced by bimbam. (The video is appropriate for use with English speakers; start it at 0:26.)
- As educators, we can also bless our students. We can say the blessing of the children on Fridays. A tallit can be held above the children, like a chuppah, to make the experience extra special.
- The study of the blessing for the home can be integrated into this lesson.
