(I spoke from notes, rather than a written text, so this text will only approximate my d’var tefila as presented.)

This d’var t’fila is about the use of the bracha in the service. The service is built on brachot. Understanding this will help you to understand the structure of the service. It also opens up a way to make your prayer more personal.

I used to think of brachot as one-liners. You can think of examples, such as the motzi or the bracha for candle lighting. Eventually, I learned that there is such a thing as a “long bracha.” This can be a paragraph or even longer, and it is the long bracha that is the basis of the service.

A source I looked at (Ismar Elbogen, Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History, p. 4) said that the bracha “designates the prayer of praise and thanksgiving, and its character is almost always hymnic.” I’m not sure what “hymnic” means. Perhaps it means poetic or singable.

In the third century CE, the early talmudic rabbis set rules for the wording of a bracha. You probably know these rules, even if you don’t realize it. A bracha starts with the word baruch. Then it goes on to ata (you). Then you have the name of God. Then you have elohenu melech ha’olam (our God, ruler of the universe) — in other words, you have to mention God’s kingship.

A long bracha starts with those words. The bracha then goes on to speak of whatever it is you are blessing God about. Then the bracha elaborates its theme. At the end of the bracha, there is a chatima, literally a seal (as in the seal that people used to put on a letter). This chatima, or conclusion, begins with the words “baruch ata Adonai,” but it does not have “elohenu melech ha’olam.” Instead, it summarizes the theme of the bracha in a few words.

One more thing: If you have a series of brachot that have some sort of relationship to one another, only the first bracha begins with the obligatory six words. As you may know, the Amida is a series of brachot, so only the first bracha starts with “baruch ata Adonai.” The rest don’t. Interestingly, the opening of the Amida does not speak of God’s kingship. You do have “elohenu,” our God, but then the bracha goes on to “and God of our ancestors.” The Amida is one of the older prayers, and the opening formula was developed before the rules were set. Prayer and the rules for prayer developed simultaneously.

Let’s look at the Siddur. On p.340, you have the Barchu, the call to prayer. This is when we start to pray together as a community. Right after the Barchu, in the 3rd paragraph from the top, there is a bracha. The topic is God as Creator. This is not a self-contained bracha but is instead the opening of a long bracha. This long bracha continues by praising God as Creator – particularly of the natural world, and particularly of the heavenly bodies, which other ancient peoples worshiped. This long bracha includes a poem that we sing on this topic (top of p. 342). After expressing the ideas that the heavenly bodies are God’s creation and do God’s will, and that all that has life praises God, the bracha then goes into the praise given to God by the angels, who were also created by God.

Finally, on the bottom of p. 344, the bracha concludes the bracha reaches the chatima, its conclusion: “Blessed are You, O Lord Creator of lights.”

Most of the Siddur is a series of long brachot. Some, like the one I just spoke about, go on for pages; others for only a paragraph. But this structure suggests a way to make prayer more personal and more meaningful. There are times in prayer when I feel that the Siddur’s words don’t express the way I want to pray to God. In those cases, I might take the theme of the bracha and insert my own thoughts. Then I end with the chatima, the bracha’s conclusion. This is, however, something I do only in my private prayer, not in prayer in which I’m leading the congregation. For example, I might do this in the silent Amida but not when I repeat it from the bimah. It’s something some of you might want to try.

Given at Tifereth Israel November 4, 1999