Blessings Part 4: What is the Sages’ Formula?

What is a Blessing?

The rabbis described the characteristics of a blessing: It begins with the formulaic six words:

‘Baruch Ata Ado-nai Eloheinu Melech Haolam’ ברוך אתה אדו-ני אלהינו מלך העולם
The meaning is: ‘Blessed are You Lord our God King of the universe’.

Let’s break down these words to fully understand the nature of this blessing:
The first word—ברוך baruch (blessed). We find the word twice in the first chapter of the Torah when God creates the fish, birds and great beasts in verse 21, and humans in verse 28. Both times God does the activity of ‘beracha’ and then, after, tells them to be fruitful and multiply, and for the human to conquer the land as well. The word appears another 400 more times in the Bible and though oftentimes it refers once again to God bestowing, a large amount of time it involves people engaging in ‘beracha’ to other people, and sometimes directly to God!

Commentators abound in trying to understand the definition of this word. Some suggest that ‘baruch’ in Hebrew means the source of all good. Thus, when one blesses another, they are really drawing on God’s infinite good and transferring it to the other. A second approach focuses on the word itself—baruch. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan devotes a section of his book, Jewish Meditation on the notion of baruch. He supports the notion that the word beracha comes from the word ‘berech’ meaning knee, or ‘bereicha’ meaning pool. The connotation is that beracha is about bringing something closer. In the case of God, it is about bringing God’s presence closer to earth; when between two people it is about enhancing the relationship through an experience of closeness.

The second word—אתה ata (You).

Sometimes we talk about God, and other times we talk to Him! Talking about God is a more removed expression of connection to God; a blessing, on the other hand, requires a direct turning to God, recognizing that it is God who is the address of our wishes, dreams and aspirations.

Third and Fourth Words are the Names of God—א-ד-נ-י אלוקינו

These names are the most ubiquitous names of God found in the Bible. According to some commentaries each word of God’s name represents the two characteristics of God’s essence that somehow cohere—judgment and mercy. When we invoke the blessing, we seek to unite the seemingly contradictory elements of personality and attempt to emulate them in our own lives.

Fifth and Sixth Words are—מלך העולם Melech Haolam (King of the Universe)

Our rabbis in the Talmud exclaimed, ‘any blessing without the name of God in it or kingship is not a blessing. Implicit in addressing God in blessing (or prayer in general) is an understanding of the omniscience and omnipotence of God as well as His eternity. Fundamental to our calling out to God is the notion that there is an entity in our lives which was, is and will eternally be, and which having created the world, sits at the throne of the world. Every blessing is a testament to one’s belief in God, acknowledgement of God’s hegemony in this world and a plea that the source of all will respond with mercy.