Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu leisheiv basukkah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all: who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to dwell in the sukkah.
Blessing over grape juice:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן
Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri hagafenBlessing for waving lulav and etrog:
“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us concerning the waving of the lulav.”
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al netilat lulav.
On the first day of waving add:
“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustenance, and permitted us to reach this season.”
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam shehehiyanu v’kiyemanu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.Blessing Over Torah Study:
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of Torah.
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃(ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם מוֹעֲדֵ֣י יהוה אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְא֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם מִקְרָאֵ֣י קֹ֑דֶשׁ אֵ֥לֶּה הֵ֖ם מוֹעֲדָֽי׃
(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying:(2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of יהוה, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions.
אלה הם מועדי. הם אותם המועדים שארצה בם אמנם כשלא תקראו אותם מקראי קדש אבל יהיו מקראי חול ועסק בחיי שעה ותענוגות בני האדם בלבד לא יהיו מועדי אבל יהיו מועדיכם שנאה נפשי:
אלה הם מועדי, “these are the appointed dates on which I will demonstrate My pleasure in your company.” If you were to treat these dates as ordinary days, week days, they would turn from being מקראי קודש to מקראי חול assemblies devoted exclusively to the transient life on earth and the physical pleasures people want to experience in this life. They would then not be מועדי, “My appointed times,” but would turn into מועדיכם שנאה נפשי, “your appointed times, the ones My soul detests.” (same chapter in Isaiah 1,14)
What do you make of the regulated time on the Jewish calendar? Why is it important?
How do you take the learnings about "Jewish time" into other parts of your life?
What do you think about the difference between G-d's time and humans' time?
Hiddur Mitzvah: The Case for Beautiful Ritual Objects-My Jewish Learning
Beauty enhances the mitzvot by appealing to the senses. Beautiful sounds and agreeable fragrances, tastes, textures, colors, and artistry contribute to human enjoyment of religious acts, and beauty itself takes on a religious dimension. The principle of enhancing a mitzvah through aesthetics is called Hiddur Mitzvah.
שמות ט״ו:ב׳
זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ אֱלֹהֵ֥י אָבִ֖י וַאֲרֹמְמֶֽנְהוּ׃
Exodus 15:2
This is my God and I will enshrine G-d; The God of my father, and I will exalt G-d.
נָוָה (v) heb
- to beautify
- (Hiphil) to beautify, adorn
Midrash Mechilta, Shirata, chapter 3, ed. Lauterbach, p. 25.
“Is it possible for a human being to add glory to their Creator? What this really means is: I shall glorify G-d in the way I perform mitzvot. I shall prepare before G-d a beautiful lulav, beautiful sukkah, beautiful fringes (tzitzit), and beautiful phylacteries (Tefillin).”
| As it was taught [in a baraita]: “[Yah is my strength and might, G-d is my deliverance.] This is my G-d and I will enshrine/glorify G-d. [The G-d of my father, and I will exalt him.]” {Shemot 15:2}. [This is interpreted to mean:] beautify yourselves before G-d in mitzvot. Make before G-d a beautiful sukkah, a beautiful lulav, a beautiful shofar, beautiful tzitzit, a beautiful Torah scroll, and writing in Torah is for G-d’s name for it in beautiful ink, with a beautiful quill/reed by a skilled scribe, and wrap it in beautiful silk. | דְּתַנְיָא: ״זֶה אֵלִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ״, הִתְנָאֵה לְפָנָיו בְּמִצְוֹת: עֲשֵׂה לְפָנָיו סוּכָּה נָאָה, וְלוּלָב נָאֶה, וְשׁוֹפָר נָאֶה, צִיצִית נָאָה, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה נָאֶה, וְכָתוּב בּוֹ לִשְׁמוֹ בִּדְיוֹ נָאֶה, בְּקוּלְמוֹס נָאֶה, בְּלַבְלָר אוּמָּן, וְכוֹרְכוֹ בְּשִׁירָאִין נָאִין. |
Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah 1.15
You are beautiful, my love, you are beautiful, through mitzvot . . . beautiful through mitzvot, beautiful through deeds of loving kindness, . . . through prayer, through reciting the “Shema,” through the mezuzah, through phylacteries, through Sukkah and lulav and etrog… .
Questions:
What do you make of this idea of adorning or beautifying G-d? What does that mean to you?
What do aesthetics add to your religious/spiritual experience?
What makes you feel beautiful? (Not just in the physical sense)
Do you have ways in which you practice Judaism that fits into this idea of Hiddur Mitzvah?