Morning Blessings

birchot hashachar

ברכות השחר

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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

A Penitent’s Prayer

Hebrew

לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם בַּסֵּתֶר וּבַגָּלוּי,
מוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת, וְדוֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ, וְיַשְׁכֵּם וְיֹאמַר:
רִבּוֹן כָּל־הָעוֹלָמִים, לֹא עַל צִדְקוֹתֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ מַפִּילִים
תַּחֲנוּנֵינוּ לְפָנֶיךָ, כִּי עַל רַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים.
מָה אֲנַחְנוּ, מֶה חַיֵּינוּ,
מֶה חַסְדֵּנוּ, מַה צִּדְקֵנוּ,
מַה יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ, מַה כֹּחֵנוּ, מַה גְּבוּרָתֵנוּ.
מַה נֹּאמַר לְפָנֶיךָ,
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ [וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ],
הֲלֹא כָל־הַגִּבּוֹרִים כְּאַיִן לְפָנֶיךָ,
וְאַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם כְּלֹא הָיוּ,
וַחֲכָמִים כִּבְלִי מַדָּע, וּנְבוֹנִים כִּבְלִי הַשְׂכֵּל.
כִּי כָל־מַעֲשֵׂינוּ תֹהוּ,
וִימֵי חַיֵּינוּ הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ,
וּמוֹתַר הָאָדָם מִן הַבְּהֵמָה אָיִן, כִּי הַכֹּל הָבֶל.
אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ עַמֶּךָ, בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶךָ, בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם אֹהַבְךָ
שֶׁנִּשְׁבַּעְתָּ לוֹ בְּהַר הַמּוֹרִיָּה, זֶרַע יִצְחָק יְחִידוֹ,
שֶׁנֶּעֱקַד עַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, עֲדַת יַעֲקֹב בִּנְךָ בְּכוֹרֶךָ,
שֶׁמֵּאַהֲבָתְךָ שֶׁאָהַבְתָּ אוֹתוֹ, וּמִשִּׂמְחָתְךָ שֶׁשָּׂמַחְתָּ בּוֹ,
קָרָאתָ אֶת־שְׁמוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וִישֻׁרוּן.

Israeli

le-olam yehei Adam yerei shamayim baseter uvagalui,
modeh al ha-emet, vedover emet bilvavo, veyashkem veyomar:
ribon kol-ha-olamim, lo al tzidkoteinu anachnu mapilim
tachanuneinu lefanecha, ki al rachamecha harabim.
mah anachnu, meh chayeinu,
meh chasdenu, mah tzidkenu,
mah yeshu-atenu, mah kochenu, mah g'vuratenu.
mah nomar lefanecha,
Adonai Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu [ve-imoteinu],
halo chol-hagiborim ke-ayin lefanecha,
ve-anshei Hashem k'lo hayu,
vachachamim kivli mada, unevonim kivli haskel.
ki chol-ma-aseinu tohu,
vimei chayeinu hevel lefanecha,
umotar ha-Adam min habehemah ayin, ki hakol havel.
aval anachnu amecha, b'nei v'ritecha, b'nei Avraham ohavcha
shenishbata lo behar hamoriyah, zera Yitzchak yechido,
shene-ekad al gabei hamizbeach, adat Ya-akov bincha b'chorecha,
sheme-ahavatcha she-ahavta oto, umisimchatcha shesamachta bo,
karata et-sh'mo Yisra-el vishurun.

English

In private and in public alike, a person should always stand in awe of heaven, affirming the truth, speaking truth within one’s heart, and on arising one should declare: Master of all worlds! We rely not upon our merit in pleading before You, but upon Your great compassion. What are we? What is this life of ours? Our goodness? Our righteousness? Our accomplishment? Our might? Our triumphs? What can we utter before You, Adonai our God and God of our ancestors? Heroes amount to nothing before You, the renowned are as though they had never existed, the wise appear ignorant, the clever as if without reason. For the total of our deeds is chaos; before You our lives appear futile. Human beings possess no superiority over beasts, for all is vanity. Yet surely we are Your people, partners in Your covenant: offspring of Abraham, who loved You, to whom You swore a pledge on Mount Moriah; Isaac’s seed, the heir You designated, bound upon the altar; Jacob’s congregation, Your firstborn son, whom You renamed Israel and Jeshurun through the love You bore him, and the delight he brought You.

Commentary

A PERSON SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN AWE OF HEAVEN לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם. This passage is taken from the 1st-millennium midrash Seder Eliyahu Rabbah (chapter 19). The midrash is interpreting Isaiah 33:18, “Your heart shall murmur in awe.”

WHAT ARE WE? WHAT IS OUR LIFE? מָה אֲנַחְנוּ, מֶה חַיֵּינוּ? The phrase is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud as forming an essential formula of confession (Yoma 87b). Originally it was part of the Yom Kippur liturgy, but it was thought to be appropriate to be recited daily. Throughout the Middle Ages it was a custom of the pious to rise in the middle of the night to pray and study; this was thought to be a time when God’s mercy could especially be called upon. This prayer became part of that nightly ritual, which included a confession of sins and a plea for forgiveness. Its place in this part of the prayerbook is a remnant of this penitential custom.

VANITY הֶבֶל. The word is the same as used in the opening verses of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) and variously translated there as “vanity,” “futility,” and “fleeting breath.”

ABRAHAM, WHO LOVED YOU בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם אֹהַבְךָ. The phrase originates in 2 Chronicles 20:7.

TO WHOM YOU MADE A PLEDGE שֶׁנִּשְׁבַּעְתָּ לוֹ. In some traditions, the biblical passage of the binding of Isaac is read before this prayer. After the binding of Isaac, the angel promises Abraham in God’s name, “I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants because you have obeyed My command” (Genesis 22:17–18).

WHOM YOU RENAMED ISRAEL קָרָאתָ אֶת־שְׁמוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל. Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob all had their names changed by God as a sign of God’s promise to them. In Jacob’s case this name change is recorded twice—once when he wrestles with the angel, and then again when God appears to him at Bethel as he is about to descend to Egypt and blesses him: “Be fertile and increase; a nation, yes, an assembly of nations, shall descend from you” (Genesis 35:11–12). Isaac, though, was named by God in the womb (17:19) and so always kept his name (Talmud of the Land of Israel, Berakhot 1:4).

AND JESHURUN וִישֻׁרוּן. Another name for the people Israel (Deuteronomy 32:15, Isaiah 44:2). It is derived from the word meaning “upright.”

Both in Private and in Public The Torah directs that the ark, which was to contain the tablets, be overlaid with gold both inside and out (Exodus 25:11). The ancient rabbis asked: Why must it be golden on the inside, where, after all, no one will see it? To teach us that we are like the ark—our outer lives and our inner lives should be consistent. —BABYLONIAN TALMUD …

Who We Are The Ḥasidic master Simḥah Bunam taught: Each person should carry in his or her pockets two notes. One should read, “The world was created for me.” The other should read, “I am but dust and ashes.”

Descendants of Abraham What is at stake in our lives is more than the fate of one generation. In this moment we, the living, are Israel. The tasks begun by the patriarchs and prophets, and carried out by countless Jews of the past, are now entrusted to us. No other group has superseded them. We are the only channel of Jewish tradition, those who must save Judaism from oblivion, those who must hand over the entire past to the generations to come. We are either the last, the dying, Jews or else we are those who will give new life to our tradition. Rarely in our history has so much been dependent upon one generation. We shall either forfeit or enrich the legacy of the ages. —ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL …

Living with Life’s Tensions We are caught in the tension between our roles as unique beings capable of great accomplishment, and the knowledge that we are mortal and that our fate is to die and disappear. Prayer helps mediate this tension by impressing on us a sense of thankfulness for the gift of life, the gift of a single day.