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<font size=3>We are accustomed to making brochos many times each
day. The following are some insights into what making brochos is
all about. They are from RSRH's essay Cheshvan VI that appears in
Volume II of the Collected Writings of RSRH.<br><br>
The non-Jewish person is surrounded by the same life and the<br>
same nature as is the Jew. Jews and non-Jews alike experience the<br>
same delights and pains, joys and sorrows. But only the Jew pauses<br>
when he hears a thunderclap or beholds a blossom, when he feels<br>
sorrow or joy, when he looks beyond each moment of bliss or grief to<br>
the Invisible One, because he sees all these happenings as heralds
and<br>
messengers of God. And so the Jew is to be mindful of his own status<br>
and of his purpose in the Divine world of life and creation.<br><br>
To be sure, our Sages have formulated these Berachoth in a simple<br>
style. They are brief and concise, just as are the events, the
experiences<br>
or the resolves which they accompany, and which they serve to
convey.<br>
<hr>
Man addresses himself to God with a term that connotes the closeness<br>
but at the same time the profoundly solemn nature of man's<br>
relationship to God. The word <i>Atah</i> ennobles him who pronounces
it.<br>
But in order not to turn it into blasphemy it can only be pronounced<br>
by the one who perceives Him in every manifestation of nature, in<br>
every event of history, and who is ready to serve Him and Him alone.<br>
The word which expresses this thought is <i>baruch.</i> This is the
word<br>
from which the institution of <i>brachos</i> ordained by our Sages has
taken its<br>
name. It is that word which they have placed on our lips as the
eternal<br>
motto of our existence and of our life. It encompasses the entire
life's<br>
task of the Jew.<br><br>
The ordinary human being turns to the object of his prayers and<br>
begs, "Bless me." From the primitive to the scholar they are
all<br>
motivated by a "feeling of dependence" which in turn produces
what<br>
men call ·"religion." The feeling of dependence, the
realization of our<br>
own impotence and need for help, the idea that there must be
something<br>
or someone higher than ourselves on whom (plural and singular)<br>
we are dependent, .these are the sentiments that impel the primitive
and<br>
scholar alike to utter the humble prayer: "Bless me!"<br><br>
Not so the Jew. The word that leads him to his God is not
"Bless<br>
me!" For he understands that he already has been blessed through
all<br>
the delights and all the moments of life in nature and history that
have<br>
been granted him. He accepts both joys and sorrows as blessings. The<br>
wish that motivates his energies and his aspirations is not that he<br>
should receive blessings but that he should be able to bestow
blessings<br>
upon others. This is the desire that should guide him at every
unfolding<br>
moment of his life. The word of consecration with which the Jew<br>
should address his God with his every breath is not <i>baruch</i>,
"Bless," but <i>baruch Atah</i> "be You
blessed."<br>
Be You blessed! May Your will be done through me! May Your<br>
wishes be fulfilled through me! May Your dominion be promoted by<br>
me! May I carry out Your purposes!<br><br>
You, 0 God, have entrusted the realization of Your will, the
fulfillment<br>
of Your wishes, the advancement of Your dominion and the<br>
accomplishment of Your work to free-willed human action. This, 0<br>
God, is my purpose; this is the purpose for which You have made me a<br>
man and a Jew. Because I am a human, You have bestowed upon me<br>
the energy to take action of my own free will, and because I am a
Jew<br>
You have revealed to me Your will and the purposes which You would<br>
want accomplished on earth. Everything that You have caused me to...<br>
see and to experience in nature and in history, everything You have<br>
given me-or denied me-in nature and in history, reminds me of my<br>
mission, constantly renewing my strength and placing new demands<br>
upon me to accomplish that mission. Be blessed with and through<br>
everything You give me-everything You take from me!<br><br>
May God be blessed through me!-then what we are striving to<br>
accomplish is no longer our own purpose, the wishes we are laboring<br>
to fulfill are no longer our own desires. Indeed, we might feel
insignificant,<br>
we might consider our efforts unimportant, but since it is our<br>
own God Who placed us here, He expects us to accomplish His work<br>
in the very position in which we find ourselves. And therefore He is
at<br>
our side, waging the struggle against nature and society on our
behalf;<br>
He is our shelter and shield, our strength and our victory. It is
before<br>
Him, not before us, that the forces to be overcome will retreat. We
are<br>
workmen in His employ. We have made His will our own, and therefore<br>
He makes our will His; because we have abdicated our will in His<br>
favor, He will thwart the will of others in our favor (<i>Pirkei Avos
Perek Bais, Mishna Daled)<br>
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