This blessing can be found on page 402 of Siddur Sim Shalom.

This bracha is recited upon returning from a trip in which one has experienced possible danger or after someone has been spared potential tragedy. This bracha is always recited after a person has had an aliyah to the Torah. This is obviously a ubiquitous statement. It sets a criterion for recitation of a prayer based on purely subjective standards. Like the prayer for a person health (the Mishaberach) there is no objective criterion for when this prayer should to be said. In fact, both of these prayers are up to personal determination to decide whether or not it should be said.

So for example, there are those who travel by airplane regularly and feel very comfortable boarding an aircraft and flying to their destination, while there are those who rarely step foot on a plane and are petrified by the experience. While the opposite is true as well, even the most frequent of flyers can feel uneasy with the prospect. Some feel more comfortable on the longer flights while there are those who feel more comfortable on the short shuttle flights. Therefore, I suggest that each person depending on whether or not they feel they have been saved from a precarious position recite this bracha.

The content of this bracha is magnificent. It suggests a philosophy about our relationship with God that is extremely comforting. By using the phrase, "bestows favors on the undeserving" the author reminds us of God's unconditional love for us. God, like our parents remains loving regardless of what we do. Whether or not we deserve God's ever-watchful eye, God is conscious of our existence. It is true that philosophically, this does not work, because we know of plenty of people who are loved by God but who have not been saved from disaster. However, this prayer suggests that God's ways are simply unknowable. As Ben Sira once taught, "we have been shown more than we can ever understand."

In this bracha we approach God with humility, reminding both God and ourselves that we are "undeserving" of God's grace. We come to God humble as only being spared tragedy can do. We are saved from a car wreck and we recognize how fragile life is and how easily life is snuffed out. We deplane a horrific flight and recognize how tenuous air travel is. We survive a near fatal heart attack and we are grateful to the Almighty that our number has not yet come up.

This bracha done only in the company of a prayer quorum (as is necessary for the reading of the Torah) reminds all around that they need not be spared from disaster before they recognize how brittle life is. Upon hearing someone recite this bracha our initial response is to ask what happened to which we normally say "thank God you are all right." Then we usually think to ourselves that just as easily it could have been me. The only thing left to ask at that point is, would I have been as grateful to God. This bracha reminds us to do just that.

Copyright © 2001 Rabbi Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved. 

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