Blessings in Everyday Moments: History, Meaning, and Practice
Why say brakhot (blessings)? How can the experience of saying blessings shape how we go about our daily lives? In this class, we will focus on a different blessing each class and take a closer look at the language, history, and meaning of that blessing, through the lens of ancient, medieval, and modern thinkers. We will focus on blessings such as asher yatzar, the blessing on going to the bathroom, and borei nefashot, the blessing after eating certain snacks or having a drink, as a way of exploring the meaning of blessings in the Jewish tradition and our lives.