Prayer III: Upon Arising

We begin our morning with prayers and rituals that express our gratitude at having awakened alive with the opportunity to begin another day, using our refreshed body in service of God.

Moda Ani

Upon awakening, we recite Modeh or ModaAni, literally “I give thanks,” in which we express gratitude to our King for returning our souls to our bodies. Women and men alike have much to be grateful for here.

We usually pray in first person plural, “we,” as part of the Jewish people. Following the rules of Hebrew grammar, we use masculine plural word forms to refer to ourselves as part of a mixed-gender group. This first expression of gratitude, however, is in the first person singular, “I.” For this reason, some women recite moda ani, the feminine form. Rav Yitzchak Yosef follows this approach:

In practice, a woman can recite whatever form she is most accustomed to.¹

Netilat Yadayim

We wash our hands – netilat yadayim – as preparation for prayer² and as a lead-in to birchot ha-shachar, the morning blessings.³ There are two main reasons:

I. Cleanliness Physically, the hands must be clean for prayer. Rabbeinu Asher (Rosh) explains why this is a particular concern at shacharit:

Since our hands are likely to move around overnight and touch body parts that may not be clean, we need to wash them before we begin to pray.

II. Spiritual Preparation Each morning we awaken as if newly created, and wash our hands to prepare for a new day of avodat Hashem. Rashba compares this to a kohen preparing for service in the Temple by washing his hands.

For Rosh, hand-washing is a practical preparation for prayer. Rashba adds that it is a spiritual act of sanctification. These approaches give rise to differing opinions on when to wash hands with a beracha. Those authorities who emphasize hand-washing as practical preparation and cleansing for prayer write that we should wait to recite a beracha over hand-washing until right before praying in the morning. Those who emphasize spiritual renewal advocate reciting the beracha when washing shortly after awakening.⁴

Women are obligated to pray every day. (See here.) Both men and women serve God each day and begin every day with gratitude for spiritual renewal. For both reasons, women should wash hands with a beracha every morning, ideally reciting all of birchot ha-shachar shortly thereafter.⁵

We wash each hand three times, alternating hands, for an additional reason. The Talmud mentions that a ru’ach ra’a, an evil spirit, does not leave the hands until we have washed each hand three times.⁶

Asher Yatzar

The blessing Asher Yatzar expresses marvel at the human body, reminding us how our most basic body functions enable us to live and to stand before God.

We typically recite Asher Yatzar after relieving ourselves, but Rema writes that common practice is to say it in the morning even if we haven’t used the bathroom. Why? Mishna Berura explains that, beyond thanking God for a specific bodily function, Asher Yatzar provides another opportunity to show our gratitude for being created anew each day.

Once again, this rationale applies fully to women. It is too easy to take the health and functioning of our body for granted.⁷

Elokai Neshama

The Talmud establishes that one should recite the Elokai Neshama blessing upon awakening. With this beracha, we recognize God as the ongoing source of the soul within the body.

In this beracha, too, a woman may say “moda ani lefanecha,” “I am grateful before you,” in the feminine rather than “modeh ani” in the masculine.

Sefer Ha-Kuzari makes special mention of Elokai Neshama as a prayer familiar to women.

Even in an era in which women lacked the education to allow for reciting all of the prayers, women knew, and gave thanks with, Elokai Neshama.

Why do we recite Birchot Ha-Torah?

Birchot ha-Torah, the berachot over the Torah, serve three primary purposes, each reflected in a Talmudic passage. Let’s begin our discussion of birchot ha-Torah by looking at each passage and its meaning.

I. Permission to Begin Study The Talmud teaches us that a beracha is required prior to learning Torah.

A person cannot simply wake up in the morning and immediately begin studying Torah; rather, one must recite birchot ha-Torah prior to learning Torah each day. If a person omitted birchot ha-Torah at the proper time, the second beracha before Keri’at Shema (which begins with the words “ahavat olam” in Nusach Sefarad or “ahava rabba” in Nusach Ashkenaz) can suffice after the fact as a substitute for birchot ha-Torah, since their content substantially overlaps.⁸

This may be akin to reciting a beracha over a mitzva. One way to understand berachot over mitzvot is as a way of obtaining permission to partake in the mitzva, much as we must recite a beracha prior to eating or benefitting from any other pleasure. (See our discussion of this here.) In that case, birchot ha-Torah grant us permission to learn Torah.

II. Framing Study A second talmudic passage ascribes the exile from Eretz Yisrael to a failure to recite the berachot over the Torah.

Recognizing God’s dominion over Torah and orienting our attitudes toward Torah and its study are essential precursors to study, without which we incur punishment.⁹ Why should this be the case? Birchot ha-Torah define our Torah learning as an essential act of serving God, of obeying God’s voice and following the Torah, and not just as an intellectual pursuit.

III. Daily Praise A third Talmudic passage teaches that each individual makes a beracha over the Torah in praise of God and the gift of Torah to us.

The Talmud cites a verse from the beginning of Shirat Ha’azinu, sung by Moshe Rabbeinu to the people of Israel. Rashi explains that Moshe calls out to God in a beracha and we answer ‘amen.’ Moshe then continues with the words of the song – words of Torah.¹⁰ This passage emphasizes our obligation to praise God, Who gave us the Torah.

Torah or Rabbinic Level obligation?

Rambam does not list birchot ha-Torah as a Torah-level commandment in his Sefer Ha-mitzvot. This makes sense because nearly all berachot are rabbinic-level obligations. Rambam presumably reads the Biblical citation in the passage above as an asmachta, an interpretive or mnemonic mention of a verse, not as a halachically definitive derivation.

Rambam includes birchot ha-Torah in his laws of prayer, viewing them as part of the daily order of prayers. This may reflect the position that birchot ha-Torah are primarily a daily act of praise to God.

Ramban, on the other hand, lists birchot ha-Torah among the positive Torah-level mitzvot that he thinks Rambam erroneously omitted.

Ramban emphasizes the importance of the berachot as a precursor to study. He cites the passage in Berachot 21a to show that making a beracha over the Torah is obligatory on a Torah level, and many halachic authorities adopt this position.

Multiple Blessings

The multiple berachot we recite reflect the multiple purposes of birchot ha-Torah that we find in the Talmud.

The berachot begin with a formula typical of berachot on a mitzva and then proceed to a request for connecting with God through study, followed by praise and thanks for how the Torah shapes us as a people.

We ideally follow birchot ha-Torah with an act of learning (see Rambam above), traditionally reciting the blessings of the Kohanim, which symbolize all of the blessings God can bestow upon us, and additional passages from the Mishna and Talmud.

The learning of Torah is meant to frame our day as a Jew. When we recite birchot ha-Torah we are defining the day as an exercise in learning about God and the Divine will. For this reason, the berachot are only said once each morning and do not need to be repeated prior to each individual act of learning. We have a connection to Torah throughout our day, even when we are not actively engaged in formal study.¹¹

Why doesn’t women’s exemption from the formal mitzva of talmud Torah extend to reciting Birchot Ha-Torah?

Women are exempt from the formal mitzva of talmud Torah. (See more here.) For this reason, we might expect Shulchan Aruch to prohibit women from reciting birchot ha-Torah, just as it prohibits women from reciting berachot on other mitzvot in which women are not obligated. (See here.) Instead, Shulchan Aruch rules that women do recite these berachot.

There are three main explanations for why this should be the case.

I. Voluntary mitzva performance If birchot ha-Torah are recited specifically over the formal mitzva of talmud Torah, then although a woman is exempt from that formal mitzva, she may still recite the berachot on this mitzva, just as she may recite the beracha on voluntary performance of any mitzva. Indeed, this seems to be Gra’s position.¹²

Gra maintains that a man cannot discharge his obligation in birchot ha-Torah by hearing them from a woman, an indication that women’s recitation of these berachot is indeed voluntary.

It is difficult, though, for Gra to explain why Shulchan Aruch rules that women recite these berachot, given Shulchan Aruch‘s objection to women’s recitation of berachot over mitzvot performed voluntarily.

II. Practical Torah Knowledge It seems that Shulchan Aruch maintains that women are fully obligated in these berachot, and that they are more than just preparatory berachot to the formal mitzva of learning Torah (from which women are exempt). His argument is based on an earlier halachic decisor, Maharil.

Maharil himself prefers for women to learn halacha through informal cultural transmission, and not through formal study. (See more here.) Nonetheless, he rules that women must recite birchot ha-Torah.

Maharil offers two explanations for women’s recitation of birchot ha-Torah. First, women are obligated in prayer, which includes scriptural passages whose recitation requires birchot ha-Torah. Maharil also cites the argument that women must learn practical halacha through formal study and that the pursuit of practical halachic knowledge is considered Torah for the purposes of these blessings.

According to this view, women’s recital of birchot ha-Torah does stem from an obligation to recite or learn Torah, albeit not the formal obligation of talmud Torah to which men are subject. Magen Avraham, a major commentator on Shulchan Aruch, follows this view.¹³

III. Torah Itself A third position asserts that birchot ha-Torah are not recited over the act of learning Torah, but over the Torah itself and our involvement with it. The Brisker Rav relates this idea in the name of his father, Rav Chayim:

According to Rav Chayim, birchot ha-Torah are not in the category of berachot recited over performance of a mitzva, like the berachot on eating matza or taking lulav. “Rather, Torah itself requires a beracha.” They are berachot of praise and thanks over the essence of Torah itself. We must recognize the gift of Torah before we engage with it daily, whether or not we are obligated in the formal mitzva of Torah study.

Women recite birchot ha-Torah because of a deep connection to Torah, a “reality of talmud Torah itself” independent of the formal mitzva to learn it, that transcends gender.

Women’s exemption from the formal mitzva of Talmud Torah affects what women study and how. But it does not lessen the importance of Torah to women. The obligation in birchot ha-Torah provides all Jews with a daily opportunity to reaffirm the centrality of Torah in our lives.¹⁴

We begin each day by acknowledging and reciting berachot over God’s essential gifts to us—our existence and the Torah.