Birkot haShachar Session 2: Who Am I?

Similarly, Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who derives benefit from this world without a blessing, it is as if he enjoyed objects consecrated to the heavens, as it is stated: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s, the world and all those who live in it” (Psalms 24:1). Rabbi Levi expressed this concept differently. Rabbi Levi raised a contradiction: It is written: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s,” and it is written elsewhere: “The heavens are the Lord’s and the earth He has given over to mankind” (Psalms 115:16). There is clearly a contradiction with regard to whom the earth belongs. He himself resolves the contradiction: This is not difficult. Here, the verse that says that the earth is the Lord’s refers to the situation before a blessing is recited, and here, where it says that He gave the earth to mankind refers to after a blessing is recited.

(14) A person is in duty bound to recite every complete day one hundred blessings. How are these hundred blessings made up? There are twenty-three blessing which we have enumerated in this chapter; and seven blessings before and after the morning and evening recital of the Shema. When putting on the Zizith,^*Fringed garment (Numbers 15:37-41). the blessing is recited, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us with Thy commandments and commanded us to wear a fringed garment". When putting on the Tephillin (phylacteries), the blessing is recited, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us with Thy commandments and commanded us to lay the Tephillin". All these, together with the three daily Services, each consisting of eighteen benedictions, make up eighty-six blessings. When two meals are taken each day, fourteen blessings are recited, seven at each meal, as follows; one blessing on washing the hands, one for the meal, three after its conclusion, one blessing before taking a drink and one after, making seven blessings for each meal.

(15) At the present time, since the institution of the blessing concerning Heretics as a part of the Amidah Service, and the addition of the blessing beginning, "Who is good and Who doest good" to the Grace after meals, there are five additional blessings (beyond the hundred). On Sabbaths and Festivals when the Amidah service consists of seven blessings, and on other days if one was not under the obligation to recite all these benedictions, as, for instance, if one did not sleep the whole night, did not loosen his girdle, or did not need to visit the toilet, and so forth, he has to complete the hundred blessings by partaking of fruit.

(16) How so? He partakes of a little vegetable, reciting the blessings before and after doing so; then a little of various kinds of fruit, reciting the appropriate blessings before and after each kind; and counts the blessings till the hundred, to be daily recited, are completed.

And there are three further blessings, etc.. in Menachot 43b, and he brings the Ro"sh and the Ri"f in Berakhot 60b. And Rashi explains that an idol worshipper and a woman, since they are not commanded people, it is better to bless [on not being them?]. And in the Gemara a question is raised that there is no difference between a slave and a woman regarding mitzvot [...] and we teach that a slave is worse [and therefore Jewish men bless on both being free and being male]. And some question why it was not established "Who made me Jewish", like all the other blessings established about the kindness done for us, in the positive! As with "who gave the heart understanding", "who clothes the naked", "who makes the blind see", etc. And we explain according to the words of our rabbis of blessed memory: it would be better for man not to have been created, but since man has been created they should do mitzvot (Eruvin 13b). And this orients these blessings; one says "I wish I had not been made [as the rabbis indicate]! But since I have been created I will bless God, who has not made me an idol worshipper or a slave or a woman." And it is nice to expound this, but there is no question here. Since if one had blessed "Who made me a Jew", one would not be able to bless "Who made me free" and "Who made me a man", for the language of "Who made me a Jew [ישראל]" includes the understanding of free, and also, Jew is a gendered word since women are called Jewess [ישראלית]. And if so, one would not bless three blessings but rather only one, and it was not the intent to shorten but rather to extend in praise and to bless God for every kindness individually. And because of this one blesses "Who has not made me an idol worshipper" and further on the kindness "who has not made me a slave" (who is worse) and further "who has not made me a woman". And the explanation of "who has not made me an idol worshipper/slave/woman" is that God did not by means of God's angel suffer the soul to descend into the body of an idol worshipper, slave, or woman, at the beginning of their creation. Because of this, the convert does not bless "Who has not made me an idol worshipper", and so writes the Beit Yosef, and Abudarham who writes thus, see there, and the Rama"h, that the convert is also unable to bless "who made me Jewish" since they entered into the Jewish religion by their own free will which God surrendered into human hand, and it's not appropriate to say that the Blessed One made them a convert, since they accepted the religion of Moshe and Israel. And so a convert blesses only two of these three blessings, who has not made me a slave and who has not made me a woman. And this is not like the note of the Shulchan Aruch, who wrote that a convert can bless "Who has made me Jewish", and it isn't.