Blessings Over the Torah

birchot hatorah

בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה

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Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה

BLESSINGS UPON THE TORAH

In Judaism, study even exceeds prayer. Thus, before we begin to pray, we undertake a miniature act of study, introduced by the fitting blessings. After the blessings come short selections from Scripture, Mishna and Gemara, Judaism's three foundational texts.

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.

Israeli

baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam
asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav
vetzivanu la-asok b'divrei Torah.
veha-arev na Adonai Eloheinu et-divrei Toratcha
b'finu uvfiyot amecha beit Yisra-el
venihyeh anachnu vetze-etza-einu vetze-etza-ei tze-etza-einu
vetze-etza-ei amecha beit Yisra-el
kulanu yode-ei sh'mecha velomedei Toratecha lishmah.
baruch atah Adonai, hamelamed Torah le-amo Yisra-el.

Hebrew

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

Israeli

baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam
asher bachar banu mikol ha-amim
venatan lanu et-torato.
baruch atah Adonai, noten hatorah.

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.