Morning Blessings (Birkot HaShachar)

The blessings on first arising — gratitude for the body, the soul, the senses, and the day.

By The EditorsEssential

Prayer & Liturgy · 3 minute read

Photograph

Summary. Birkot HaShachar are the morning blessings recited before Shacharit (the morning service proper). They begin with Modeh Ani (gratitude for the soul’s return on waking) and proceed through a series of berachot — “Blessed are You, Hashem … who opens the eyes of the blind, who clothes the naked, who lifts the fallen…” — that thank God for each ordinary capacity of waking life. They include the Asher Yatzar (after using the restroom) and the Elohai Neshama (on the purity of the returned soul). These prayers ground the day.

Modeh / Modah Ani

The first words on a Jew’s lips on waking. Modeh ani lefanecha, Melech chai v’kayam, she-hechezarta bi nishmati b’chemla, rabba emunatecha. (“I give thanks to You, living and enduring King, for You have restored my soul within me with compassion; great is Your faithfulness.”) The prayer does not include the divine name and so may be recited before washing the hands.

Asher Yatzar

Recited after using the restroom and washing the hands. The blessing thanks God for the wisdom of the human body — “for if any of its openings were wrongly closed or opened, it would be impossible to stand before You.” This unromantic prayer is a striking example of Judaism’s embrace of the physical.

Elohai Neshama

“My God, the soul You have given me is pure. You created it, You shaped it, You breathed it into me, and You protect it within me…” The Kabbalists treat the morning return of the soul as a daily small-scale techiyat hametim (resurrection of the dead) — every night a foretaste of death; every morning a foretaste of resurrection.

Nisim B’Chol Yom — The Daily Wonders

A litany of blessings, one for each of the ordinary capacities of waking life: who has given the mind the ability to distinguish day from night; who opens the eyes of the blind; who frees the captive; who lifts up the fallen; who stretches the earth over the waters; who strengthens our steps; who clothes the naked; who gives strength to the weary; who removes sleep from the eyes; who has not made me a slave; who has not made me a gentile. (See the user’s prayer compendium PDF for the full Hebrew and English text.)

Order

In a normal weekday morning, Birkot HaShachar are followed by Birkot HaTorah (the blessings on Torah study, with a brief Torah passage), Korbanot (the readings about the daily Temple sacrifices), Pesukei D’Zimra (the “verses of song,” a buildup of Psalms culminating in Ashrei and the Song at the Sea), then the Shema with its blessings, then the Amidah.

Where Denominations Diverge

Orthodox retains all of Birkot HaShachar in their traditional form. The traditional (largely Ashkenazi) blessing is she-lo asani goy (“who has not made me a gentile”); some siddurim, including many Conservative ones, instead use the older, positively phrased she-asani Yisrael (“who has made me a Jew”). Men recite she-lo asani isha (“who has not made me a woman”); women recite she-asani kirtzono (“who has made me according to His will”). Conservative and Reform have largely revised these gender-specific blessings to a single gender-neutral she-asani b’tzelem Elohim (“who has made me in the image of God”).