Once a person says the blessings on the Torah, it is not appropriate to delay the performance of the mitzvah of learning Torah. One explanation of why two blessings are made on the study of Torah is that they symbolize the written and oral components of Torah. The first blessing relates to actual Torah study while the second blesses God for choosing the Jewish people to receive the Torah. Since it is a commandment to study Torah daily, and since the daily prayers themselves contain Biblical passages, the next blessings recited are the Birkhot Hatorah, the blessings on the Torah. Most Ashkenazic prayer books, however, include Elohai Neshamah later on. Since both of these blessings relate to parts of man that God created, Sephardim and some Ashkenazim recite them in succession. Elohai Neshamah ("My God, the soul…") thanks God for restoring man's soul to him each morning when he wakes up. Like al netilat yadayim, the worshiper says this blessing privately before the start of the service. Asher yatzar (literally "who fashioned") is a blessing that praises God for creating the body and for preserving man's health and life. The next blessings thank God for creating man's body and soul. The prayer leader does not say this blessing out loud. The proper time to say this blessing is after washing the hands and dressing in the morning, but many people say it at the start of the morning prayers. It is a mitzvah to wash one's hands in the morning, both for hygienic and symbolic reasons: the cleansing represents the removal of spiritual impurity. The first blessing ( al netilat yadayim) relates to washing the hands. It is customary to stand while reciting the preliminary blessings. Because the order of the preliminary prayers was never fixed in Jewish law, it differs not only between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, but even between different prayer books of the same liturgy.
Even today, some people continue to say the morning blessings either at home or privately at the synagogue. But gradually, as people became less knowledgeable about the blessings, they began to be included in the synagogue service so that the cantor could recite them out loud for those who were not able to recite them on their own. These blessings, which address many aspects of Jewish life, were originally said in the home, not in the synagogue.
#First paragraph birkat hamazon transliteration series#
The morning prayers start with a series of blessings that center around the routine of waking up in the morning. Jewish Prayers: Table of Contents| Torah Reading| Shema
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