WHAT IS A BLESSING?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

Almost every rabbinic prayer begins with Baruh Ata Adonay, Blessed are you, O God.  What is a blessing?

In the Hebrew Bible, the verb “to bless” comes from the root B-R-K(The letter Kaf in Hebrew). A “blessing” is berahah. A “blessed one” is called Baruh. In Arabic it is mubarak.

There are various theories as to the origin of the root BRK. Some people connect it with the word bereh, meaning “knee.” As in “and he kneeled upon his knees-vayivrah al birkav” (2 Ch. 6:13). However, I am not convinced  that in biblical Hebrew “blessing” and “kneeling” come from the same root. In reality, given the fact that in Akkadian, a Semitic language with many ties to biblical Hebrew, the corresponding term is karabu, a totally different root, I am left to assume that we really do not know what is the connection between the verb “to bless” and its homonym “to kneel.”(ABD. I, 753). They may not even be related. Furthermore, in some cases, “a blessing”, euphemistically, means just the opposite, namely a curse, as we find in the Book of Psalms, “the grasping man reviles (bereh) and scorns the Lord’ (10:3).

In the Hebrew Bible, a blessing is usually offered by someone in authority, such as a father, as in the case of Isaac and his son Jacob,  or God and Abraham as in “I (God) will make you (Abraham) a great nation and I will bless you” (Gen. 12:2). However, in some cases, it is even uttered by individuals for other human beings, such as priests, kings or the people at large: For example, “When David finished sacrificing …he blessed the people” (II Sam. 6:18). Often God is the addressee: “Bless the Lord, o my soul” (Ps. 104:1). In Turkey, where I was born, the Sephardic custom of blessing involved kissing the hand of an elder, that is, a father or a teacher, who then placed his hand on your head.

Kent H Richards convincingly argues that “God blesses with benefit on the basis of the relationship” (ABD, I, 754). The expectation is that a divine blessing comes with a definite content, such as riches, good health or general wellbeing. Because people believed that the word itself has a power of action, once a blessing is pronounced, it cannot be taken away.

For me, a religious naturalist, a “blessing” is only an expression of good wishes pronounced by someone in authority, like a parent or even God. In Latin, to bless is benedicere, coming from bene (well) and dicere,( to say), that is, “to say good things about another.” On the other hand, when a blessing is uttered by an inferior to a superior, it simply means, “praise,” whether it comes from one person to another or from an individual to God. Furthermore, I don’t believe a blessing comes with an assured content and there is no guarantee that it will materialize. It simply means, “I love you, and wish you well, “ or, in the case of praise, “You are great and very important in my life.”

I don’t think we need  to expect more from a blessing, not that it would happen anyway.

Sept.22, 2021