Every time I teach students to read Hebrew, there is a magic moment when we get to learn the Hebrew letter rayish, and the student is able to read the word Baruch. Immediately, they know the end of the sentence: Atah YHWH. They just complete the sentence, almost as an involuntary response. It just comes tumbling out of their mouths, in direct connection with their souls. From that point it is easy to recognize the second clause of the Hebrew blessing, Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam (our God, Sovereign of the universe). While letter recognition is very important, and every Hebrew student is justified in being proud for deciphering the code, there is an added dimension that fills me with joy when I have the opportunity of sharing the profound theological statement we make every time we say a blessing in Hebrew.
It is very difficult to translate the sentence Baruch Atah YHWH. This is so much the case that the new siddur of the Conservative Movement, Siddur Lev Shalem, decided to keep it without a translation. As the committee that edited that siddur explains, the formula is an introduction to a Hebrew blessing, and will be understood as a gateway to a connection, words that have a spiritual meaning which transcend explanation. The word Baruch has been translated as “Blessed” or “Praised”. From these two translations, the one that resonates more with me is “Blessed”, since the root of the word, bet-rayish-chaf means something related to blessing. Baruch is an adjective, meaning that this is a word that describes an attribute or a characteristic about the thing or the person we are talking about. Saying that God is Blessed describes the ephemeral quality of blessing that somehow defines God’s essence. Baruch can mean that all blessings come from God, and that God is the receptacle of all blessings. The next word is Atah, You. In Hebrew the verb to be has no conjugation in the present tense, added in English for the sake of grammar.
How remarkable it is that the formula we use to start a Hebrew blessing presupposes God’s presence in the immediate vicinity of the person saying it. We can only use the second person pronoun when we are face to face with someone else, speaking directly to that person. When we say a blessing we are in direct communication with God, speaking without an intermediary or an impediment.
This is followed by YHWH—God’s proper name. We usually pronounce this word as Adonai, which means my Lords (it is a word in the plural). That is why in many prayerbooks this name of God is translated as “The Lord.” Adonai is what we say but it is not what is written. The combination of letters yud-hay-vav-hay cannot be vocalized to sound as Adonai. YHWH is a combination of the letters that form the root of the verb to be. Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl (1730-1796) pronounced this name as Havaya, which he translated as The Existence. This name of God is also translated as The Eternal (understanding this name to mean that God is, was, and will be forever), The Presence or Being. Since we were created in the image of God and are instructed to follow in God’s footsteps, when we see this name of God, or when we say a blessing, we understand that by using this name we commit to being present at that moment, conscious of what we are doing.
After we pay attention to the meaning of the words in the opening sentence of the Hebrew blessing we realize what a powerful statement we make every time we say a blessing. We affirm that God is right there with us, that we are in direct communication with God, and that we consider presence an indispensable element in whatever action we take. The thrill of saying these words does not end when we learn to read them. These words have the power to connect us to God and to each other, demanding consciousness and presence. Next time you say a blessing, take the time to absorb the power of this opening statement, being present to the opportunities of partnership with God and with the community of others created in God’s image.