בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּךֶ אַתֶה חֲוָיָה שְׁכִינּוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדַשְׁתַנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהֶ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהָתֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קֵרְבָתְנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתָהּ וְצִוְתָנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
Blessings for learning and studying Torah
Berakhot 11b:
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Nonbinary Hebrew Project:
B’rucheh ateh Khavayah Shekhinu ruach ha’olam asher kidash’tanu b’mitzvotei’he v’tziv’tanu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Feminine God Language:
Brukhah at Ya Elohateinu ruach ha’olam asher keir’vat’nu la’avodatah v’tziv’tavnu la’asok b’divrei Torah
Haviva Ner-David, "Chana's Voice: A rabbi wrestles with gender, commandment, and the women's rituals of baking, bathing, and brightening" (2004)
Sourdough is continuity. Add it to dough and it initiates the fermentation process and causes the dough to rise. The reaction to fermentation continues within the sourdough as long as it is cared for.
This is the way it is with Torah, our sacred tradition of trying to figure out how to relate to the Divine throughout the generations. As along as we continue to fuel ourselves, others, and our children with Torah in a caring and exciting way, the Torah will continue from generation to generation.
Revelation at Sinai is like that first fermentation reaction that begins the sourdough process. That first encounter with the Divine was all that was needed to start the process of Torah's interpretation and reinterpretation.
Like the living sourdough that I passed on to my friend, Torah is a dynamic, ongoing, life infused tradition, not a static corpus. Torah is alive. It can catalyze an endless number of dynamic reactions in the soul of each and every human being who "kneads the dough." Engaging with Torah, like baking bread, is a slow process requiring patience and faith. But unlike the yeast of sourdough, which comes from the air, the discussion we call Torah requires access and empowerment.
אִם אֵין קֶמַח, אֵין תּוֹרָה. אִם אֵין תּוֹרָה, אֵין קֶמַח.
Pirkei Avot 3
If there is no sustenance, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no sustenance.
The rabble in their midst felt a gluttonous craving; and then the Israelites wept and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” Now the manna was like coriander seed, and in color it was like bdellium. The people would go about and gather it, grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes. It tasted like rich cream.
Rabbi Warren Goldstein, "Behar-Bechukotai – What is the key to happiness?" https://www.chiefrabbi.co.za/2020/05/behar-bechukotai-what-is-the-key-to-happiness/
The more we have, the more accustomed to it we become, and the more we begin to take it for granted. In other words, the more we have of something, the less we appreciate it. We become dulled to our blessings. It becomes increasingly difficult to summon gratitude, and, ultimately, to feel any happiness at all.
To learn to appreciate what we have is our life’s work – it is the true gateway to happiness. The Talmud trains us in this mindset, saying we should give thanks to our Creator “for every breath of air that we take”.