Blessings Over the Torah

Birchot HaTorah

בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה

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בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה

BLESSINGS OVER THE TORAH

In Judaism, study is greater even than prayer. So, before beginning to pray, we engage in a miniature act of study, preceded by the appropriate blessings. The blessings are followed by brief selections from Scripture, Mishna and Gemara, the three foundational texts of Judaism.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו
וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה.
וְהַעֲרֵב נָא יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתְךָ
בְּפִינוּ וּבְפִיּוֹת עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
וְנִהְיֶה אֲנַחְנוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵינוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי צֶאֱצָאֵינוּ
וְצֶאֱצָאֵי עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ וְלוֹמְדֵי תוֹרָתֶךָ לִשְׁמָהּ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, הַמְלַמֵּד תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל.

Sephardi

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam
asher kideshanu bemitzvotav
vetzivanu la'asok bedivrei Torah.
Veha'arev na Adonai Eloheinu et-divrei Toratecha
befinu uvefiyot amecha beit Yisrael
venihyeh anachnu vetze'etza'einu vetze'etza'ei tze'etza'einu
vetze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael
kulanu yode'ei shemecha velomdei Toratecha lishmah.
Baruch atah Adonai, hamelamed Torah le'amo Yisrael.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has made us holy through His commandments, and has commanded us to engage in study of the words of Torah. Please, LORD our God, make the words of Your Torah sweet in our mouths and in the mouths of Your people, the house of Israel, so that we, our descendants and their descendants and the descendants of Your people, the house of Israel, may all know Your name and study Your Torah for its own sake. Blessed are You, LORD, who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם
אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים
וְנָתַן לָנוּ אֶת־תּוֹרָתוֹ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה.

Sephardi

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam
asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim
venatan lanu et-Torato.
Baruch atah Adonai, noten haTorah.

English

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, LORD, Giver of the Torah.

Commentary

The history of Judaism is a story of the love of a people for the Book of Books, the Torah. As a preliminary to study, we pronounce two blessings and a prayer. The first, "who has made us holy through His commandments," is a blessing over the commandment to engage in study of the Torah, a declaration that we do not simply study as an intellectual or cultural exercise but as the fulfillment of a divine commandment. This is followed by a prayer that God make Torah study sweet, and help us to hand it on to our children. The final blessing, "who has chosen us," is a blessing of acknowledgment that chosenness means responsibility, and is inseparably linked to the study and practice of Torah.

So as to follow the blessings immediately with an act that fulfills the commandment, we read three texts whose recitation forms an act of study. The Talmud (Kiddushin 30a) rules that Torah study must be divided into three: study of (1) Torah, (2) Mishna, and (3) Gemara. Hence we read: (1) a biblical text – the priestly blessings, (2) a passage from the Mishna about commandments that have no fixed measure, and (3) a passage from the Gemara about the reward of good deeds in this world and the next.