The Daily Prayer:

I happened across this whilst googling a Rabbi I admire, R’ Simchah Roth. Very interesting.

Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 10:58:02 +0400
From: Simchah Roth <siroth@INTER.NET.IL>
Subject: Re: Who has not made me a woman

Some recent postings to Tor-Ch have included discussion on the berakhot found in orthodox prayer-books in which (men) thank God daily for not having made them a non-Jew, a slave or a woman. There were even posts (from women) which viewed these berakhot with equanimity – unless I misunderstood the posts. Possibly this equanimity is born of lack of knowledge, so here are the facts.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Menachot 43b, we learn in a baraita that
Rabbi Meir says that one is obliged to recite the following three berakhot
daily: “Who has made me a Jew”, “who has not made me a woman”, “who has not made me an ignoramus”. The discussion after this statement is revealing: Rav Acha once heard his son reciting the berakhah “who has not made me an ignoramus” and responded (Rashi’s explanation), “You are going too far with self-praise: I could understand that you thank God for not making you a non-Jew or a woman because they are not required to observe the mitzvot, but even the ignoramus is required to observe the mitzvot!” The son of course asked what berakhah he should say in place of the one his father disapproved of. His father advised “who has not made me a slave”; the son objected that there was no difference between the woman and the slave! (Rashi explains that the wife is her husband’s slave (sic SR).) The father told the son that, despite the similarity, the
slave is of lower status than the woman (and he should be thankful that he is
not one).

It is clear from the above text that it derives from a time and place where
women were considered chattels, and that even a male ignoramus was of higher
status than any married woman. There is a certain pride involved, a kind of
one-upmanship, for we must note that even the first berakhah suggested by Rabbi Meir, which could be said with pride by any Jew, was changed from the positive (who has made me a Jew) to the negative (who has not made me a non-Jew): “Thank God I’m not a Goy, a slave or a woman!” The surrogate version of the berakhah “who has not made me a woman” – “who has made me as he pleased” – dates from the late Middle Ages and is first found in the Siddur of David Abudrahm – and heaven only knows where he got it from! Under the circumstances it too has the smell of condecension about it.

The Rabbinical Assembly presumably was anxious to preserve the three-fold format of Rabbi Meir’s original suggestion, and coined two new berakhot to be said in place of the two odious ones (to all of us, hopefully, at any rate). I have a
certain halakhic problem with that, but will not go into it here and now. In my
opinion (and I see no reason to be humble about it in this context!) the
halakhic answer is ready at hand: in the Mishnah Berurah on Orach Chayyim 46:4, the Chafetz Chayyim says that ‘one should take care NOT to recite the blessing “who made me a Jew”, as erroneously appears in some printed prayer-books, because some authorities say that after that berakhah one may not recite the others’ (slave and woman). Since that is exactly the situation in which we
should wish to place ourselves, I have adopted the personal custom of reciting
the berakhah “she’asani Yisra’el” and omitting the other two. (I also change
the order of the other blessings in this group of blessings in order to
accomodate them to our modern behaviour patterns – the order in the printed
prayer-books – including the RA – is grotesquely Medieval.) My daughters, I
know, use the version “she’asani Yisra’elit” – a small change that is made
purely out of grammatical necessity. Thus I thank God for making me a Jew and
make not denigrating statements about gentiles, the other sex etc.

I apologize for the length of this post.

Simchah Roth, Herzliyya, Israel

….

Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 16:11:25 -0500
From: Seth Gordon <sethg@ACS.BU.EDU>
Subject: Re: “She lo asani Isha”

[Leah Weintraub:]
(2) I believe that the first changes of these b’rachot took place when the
“Silverman” edition of the Siddur was published.

[Simchah Roth:]
The Rabbinical Assembly presumably was anxious to preserve the
three-fold format of Rabbi Meir’s original suggestion, and coined two
new berakhot to be said in place of the two odious ones (to all of us,
hopefully, at any rate).

The rephrasing of these brakhot in the positive is *not* a
Conservative innovation. The brakhot are read this way in “Nusach
Apa”m”, the liturgy of a few communities on the Italian peninsula.
This nusach used to be more widespread–I believe it was originally
used by French Jews, but I don’t have my copy of _Meditations on the
Siddur_ on hand, so I can’t be sure.

By the way, there is one other morning blessing where the Silverman
siddur differs from the traditional Ashkenazi nusach: Silverman has
“Barukh … asher heikhin mits`adei gaver”, whereas Orthodox siddurim
have “Barukh … hameikhin mits`adei gaver”. If my memory of the
translation is correct, both of these mean “Blessed … who firms up
the footsteps of man”. I assume that this is another transplanation

…

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 11:00:32 +0400
From: Simchah Roth <siroth@INTER.NET.IL>
Subject: Re: Shelo Asani Ishah

Many thanks to Seth Gordon for providing the information which I lacked: what
the source was for the RA’s innovatory blessings – or better, replacement
blessings. However, the point that I wished to make was a different one: in my
opinion it was not necessary (or even desirable)to substitute other berakhot,
but that all three should be replaced by that one berakhah which was Rabbi
Meir’s original. Obviously I did not express myself adroitly. Apologies to
all.

As far as Seth’s surmize concerning “ha-mekhin mitzadei gaver” is concerned: I
would be surprised if the source of the machloket [divergence] was the customs
of the communities of Asti, Piemonte and Monsalvo [Seth's "Apam"]. There is
ample discussion among the later poskim [decisors] as to whether several of
these berakhot should be phrased in the past tense or the present tense – and
there are obvious theological implications. For instance, DID God give the cock
the ability to distinguish night from day as a one-time gift at creation, or
DOES God do so endlessly and continuously for all time? Ha-Mekhin and Asher
hekhin that Seth referred to are of the same ilk.

…

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 12:24:53 +0400
From: Simchah Roth <siroth@INTER.NET.IL>
Subject: Re: Birkhot ha-Shachar (Morning Blessings)

Leah Weintraub: >>As to the distinction Simcha makes in regard to sequence of
the b’rachot: I know there have been (in the Talmud, again) discussions
concerning this. I also know that the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim use
differing sequence. I’m not fluent enough in this to comment further. Would
someone please?<<

The Talmud [Berakhot 60b] gives the following list for “birkhot ha-shachar”
[blessings to be said early in the morning upon rising] (for the full text you
will have to consult your own siddur):

Upon awakening: Elohai neshamah
On hearing the cock crow: Asher natan lasekhvi
On rubbing the eyes: Poke’ach Ivrim
On sitting up in bed: Mattir Assurim
On getting dressed: Malbish Arumim
On standing up: Zokef Kefufim
On feeling the ground: Roka ha-Aretz
On walking: Ha-Mekhin Mitzadei Gaver
On putting on one’s shoes: She-asah li kol zorkhi
On clasping one’s belt: Ozer Yisra’el bi-Gevurah
On fixing one’s turban: Oter Yisra’el bi-Tif’arah

Then follow blessings to be said when putting on Tzitzit, Tefillin, On washing
the hands, and on washing the face.

Rambam [Maimonides] in Hilkhot Tefillah 7:6 adds the three blessings prompted by Rabbi Meir (Goy, Eved, Ishah) and then says that these eighteen berakhot have no set order and that each berakhah is made at the appropriate time and occasion and adds “Any of the above blessings for which there is no occasion is not recited”. Most interestingly, he also states [7:9]: “The people in most of our cities have the custom of reciting these blessings in the synagogue,
consecutively, whether they are under an obligation to do so or not. This
however is an erroneous practice which should not be followed: no blessing
should be recited unless there is an obligation to do so.” Rambam’s son,
Avraham, states [Sefer ha-Maspik] that he and his father tried to abolish this
“erroneous” custom in Cairo and failed miserably! All the commentators on
Rambam seem to agree with the people from Cairo – which doesn’t mean that we
have to as well!

The order of the berakhot is also different from our habits, and reflects a
culture in which people would get dressed while still in bed under the covers
and so forth (there’s modesty for you!) Careful perusal will also reveal the
enormous influence of Kabbalah [mysticism] on the later order of the berakhot,
including the introduction of “modeh ani” and so forth – none of which is
anticipated in the Talmud (IMHO).

It seems to me that a more sensible order for the berakhot (assuming that one
would say all of them) should be:

Upon awakening: Elohai neshamah
On hearing the cock crow: Asher natan lasekhvi
On rubbing the eyes: Poke’ach Ivrim
On sitting up in bed: Mattir Assurim
On standing up: Zokef Kefufim
On feeling the ground: Roka ha-Aretz
On walking away from the bed: Ha-Mekhin Mitzadei Gaver
On getting dressed: Malbish Arumim
On clasping one’s belt: Ozer Yisra’el bi-Gevurah
On putting on one’s shoes: She-asah li kol zorkhi
On fixing one’s headgear: Oter Yisra’el bi-Tif’arah

In my own congregation we start public worship with Barukh she’Amar, viewing
everything before that as private devotions to be said at home or as private
preparation in the synagogue.

Most sincere apologies for the inordinate length of this post.

…

Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 19:11:30 +0400
From: Simchah Roth <siroth@INTER.NET.IL>
Subject: Re: Blessings for Proselytes – Rambam’s Responsum

Rene Teague asked: What does everyone think? … Can I legally say “she asani
Yisraelit”?

This question is very similar to a question that was asked of Rambam
[Maimonides]. I think it might be helpful to post both the question and the
(abridged) response.

Thus says Moshe son of the late Maimon, one of the exiles from Jerusalem in
Spain. I am in receipt of the questions of the honourable and learned Ovadya,
the righteous proselyte – may God requite his deeds and may his recompense be
perfect before the Lord God of Israel in the shelter of whose wings you have
come to take refuge. You ask concerning blessings and prayers, both when you
are praying privately and publicly: may you say “our God and the God of our
ancestors”, “who brought us out of the Land of Egypt”, “who performed miracles
for our ancestors” – and so forth [the point is that Ha-Shem is not the God of
Ovadya's ancestors etc - SR].

You may recite everything as prescribed and should change nothing. As any
Jewish-born person prays so should you pray – both in your private devotions and
when you are acting as Sheli’ach-Tzibbur [Prayer-Leader - SR].

The main principle is that it is Father Abraham who taught our people the true
faith and Divine Unity, and repudiated idolatry … and charged all that came
after him to observe the way of the Lord (Genesis 18:19). Thus it is that
anyone who becomes a proselyte until the end of time … is a follower [talmid]
of Father Abraham and has become a part of his household: just as he charged his
contemporaries so he charges all proselytes with that same charge that he gave
to the members of his family. Thus we find that Father Abraham is the father of
all his direct descendants and also of his talmidim, every proselyte. This is
why you should say “our God and the God of our ancestors”, since Abraham is your [spiritual] ancestor …

As far as phrases such as “who brought us out of the land of Egypt” are
concerned – it’s up to you: if you prefer to alter them and say “who brought
Israel out of the land of Egypt” and so forth – do so; if you prefer not to make
any change it makes no matter: from the moment that you took refuge under the
wings of the Shekhinah there is no longer any difference between you and us in
any matter whatsoever.

Of course you must say “who chose us”, “who gave us the Torah” etc! God has
most certainly chosen you and separated you from the other peoples and has given you the Torah! …

Do not take your ‘geneological tree’ lightly! Whereas we trace our ancestry to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are related to Him who spoke and the Universe was!
[There here follows a pertinent halakhic discussion on Mishnah Bikkurim 1:4 -
SR.] So you see that you must say “the Land that God promised our ancestors he
would give us”, that Abraham is your father – and ours and the father of all the
righteous that follow in his path. This is the halakhah as regards all the
blessings and prayers: change nothing.

[You can find the original in Freimann, Maimonides' Responsa, Mekizei Nirdamim,
Jerusalem, 1934 - SR].

I hope this has been helpful.

Simchah Roth, Herzliyya, Israel

from nusach Apa”m.