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| Praised are you
O Lord who restores the souls to the lifeless, exhausted
bodies. |
Barukh ata adonai HaMachazir neshamot lifgarim
matim. |
This blessing can be found on page 63 of the new
Siddur Sim Shalom page 10 of the older edition.
According to our sages human life is made up of
two parts. Borrowed from the dualistic idea of the Greeks we have
come to understand that each of is made of a soul and a body.
The body is holy in so much as it houses the soul which many Jews
believe lives eternally. Because the body is a sacred gift to
us from God we are instructed in its care and its maintenance.
In a series of laws known as Shemirat HaGoof, guarding the body,
we are commanded to care for our bodies. We are supposed to healthfully
while conversely we are prohibited from ingesting anything that
would prove detrimental.
The history of this bracha recalls a time when the
belief surrounding sleep was such that the ancients believed that
each night when you went to sleep, your soul as taken from your
body and then returned in the morning. Thus this bracha was taken
quite literally as appreciation for having our souls returned
each morning. This bracha was a thank you for permitting us to
live one more day.
Although the idea of the body/soul relationship
has developed into a more sophisticated understanding this bracha
still has great application. Each of us has felt at times exhausted.
Each of has felt moments where we find it difficult to even get
out of bed. Whether it is because of an emotional battle or a
physical one, sometimes our bed has a grip on us. This bracha
simultaneously thanks God for the strength in the past that we
were able to continue on while it reminds us that we will once
again be victorious over the pain and fatigue even if in this
moment we are not.
This bracha helps us to draw strength from the past,
from others and from the future. We have seen people who have
bottomed out and they have survived. We too have waged battles
over which we have won. Both of these point us to future successes
in our battles. There is no one who hasn't struggled. There is
not a single individual who hasn't felt as though the life force
has run out of them. This bracha says God will return it to you.
God does return it to you. God will always stand with you giving
you the power you need to survive each day and wake each morning
to fight for survival.
This bracha reminds me of the unique partnership
between the human experience and God. It is all about the relationship
between the body and the soul. We must do our best to live a life
that is healthy. We must be meticulous is eating properly and
staying away from those substances that cause us harm. If we do
our part, God will meet us more than half way. God stands ready
to care for our souls and return them to us each day as long as
we are committed to the up keep of the housing unit, the body.
We know the better we feel physically, the better we feel emotionally.
If our bodies are in good shape then so will our souls. I now
I feel better when I am eating right and exercising. I suppose
that is because God maintains my soul while I mind my body.
Copyright © 2001 Rabbi
Yohanan Stein. All rights reserved.
New Jersey Region United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism
PO Box 390; 1025 St. Georges
Ave
Linden, NJ 07036-0390
Phone: 908-925-USCJ (8725)
/ Fax: 908-486-USCJ (8725)
E-mail: njersey@uscj.org
Copyright © 2000 -
2003 New Jersey USCJ. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 2003
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