Quick question about Jewish law

Netti-Netti

Netti-Netti

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It appears there is a standard blessing that can be cited in connection with an aesthetic experience, something about a Mitzvah in the presence of beauty.

What is that called?? And what is a good source for more info?

Thanks!
 
Netti,

there is a standard blessing formula that is re-fit with different endings for different situations. That formula is:

Baruch atah adonai (some say hashem if the formula is used outside of an actual prayer and both words are a substitute for the tetragrammaton) eloheinu (some say elokeinu outside of an actual prayer. ) melech ha-olam

which I often translate as: "A source of blessing are you, (here I would substitute Adonai or Hashem or Yah (Yah's not standard) instead of going with translation) our G!D (interestingly it goes from Adonai or "My Lord" to Eloheinu or "our G!D" and then from there expands to) ruler/king of the world (or more loosely one could say governing intellect, cosmic majesty or somesuch.)

Even the direct translation I gave isn't entirely literal, but that's more an issue of translation where the words can and are understood outside of their literal meaning from traditional perspectives, e.g. reading it as "a source of blessing are you" instead of "blessed are you." Hopefully I'm not including too much information in trying to be more inclusive of that.

So in the case of a beautiful thing it would end with

... shekacha lo b'olamo (whose universe holds such things)

but then there are also different brachot that may be more appropriate for, for example, seeing a rainbow or a wonder of nature or the ocean or a blossoming tree or lightning all of which might be beautiful.

I couldn't actually find a list of brachot (blessings) online except for the ones over types of food and certain ritual activities. A siddur (hebrew prayerbook) should have them. For general info you could try here: My Jewish Learning: Blessings (Berakhot) . there is a list on that site at another page My Jewish Learning: Blessings but it's primarily focused on food and ritual, though there are some other brachot included.

Hope that helps.

-- Dauer
 
on seeing a rainbow: ...zokher haberit vene’eman bivrito v’kaiyam bema’amaro (who remembers the covenant, is faithful, and keeps His word)

...because the rainbow was given to be “l'ot brit” (for a sign of the covenant) between the G-d and the earth to keep it from destruction by deluge. Genesis 9:12-17
 
dauer said:
...in the case of a beautiful thing it would end with

... shekacha lo b'olamo (whose universe holds such things)

but then there are also different brachot that may be more appropriate for, for example, seeing a rainbow or a wonder of nature or the ocean or a blossoming tree or lightning all of which might be beautiful.
Click to expand...
Hi Dauer, Thanks for that.

So the 'blessings' are ways of expressing recognition?

Also: What is it to seek santification and make activities "like jarusha leiam" (sp)?

I'm interested in finding out more about the jarusha leiam, which seems to be a sacred standard of some kind.
 
Hey Netti.

That is a part of it, yeah. There is room for interpretation in that different people may find different purpose/meaning in blessings, but if I were to say generally that it's about connecting an experience back to G!d I feel fairly confident that would apply pretty universally, though wouldn't apply in the same ways to every individual or situation.

By jarusha leiam do you mean yerushalayim? That's the hebrew for Jerusalem. I don't know precisely what you're referring to. What was the context in which you saw that?
 
dauer said:
By jarusha leiam do you mean yerushalayim? That's the hebrew for Jerusalem. I don't know precisely what you're referring to. What was the context in which you saw that?
Click to expand...
Hi dauer,

It's from this video ....
Shavuot: Accepting the Torah - Class 12: Complete Goodness - Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller - Naaleh - Torah Online

It's right after an edit, starting at 46.5 seconds:
... And then we took it further. We said it has to be like yerushalayim. It should be something in which the primary side of the relationship is its spiritual essence and the pleasure and everything about it is in service, so to speak, of that goal.
​
The edit is distracting, but I gather she is talking about the goal of santification. The passage, then, seems to use Jerusalem as part of a frame of reference for the goal of sanctification.
 
Netti,

It sounds like she was making a reference back to another video where she'd spoken at greater length about that. She's discussing the birkat hamazon which is the grace after meals. The grace after meals does mention Jerusalem a bit so my guess is that she was giving an interpretation of those passages that connect the idea. Yeah I just watched a little bit further and she repeats the last passage she went over. If you watch the video before this it should explain what she was discussing. It might be easier to understand with the birkat hamazon in front of you. This is a PDF version: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/birkat_hamazon.pdf

and the passage she was discussing is numbered 9 in the pdf, though from the sounds of it she was also dealing with 7 on that sheet. The verses between 7 and 9 are for specific occasions and the end of 7 deals explicitly with some of the ideas she glossed over from her last talk. Yerushalayim is not a general term related to sanctification. She's using it in a symbolic way, though it's also possible she's connecting it back to messianism and the rebuilding of the temple, but that too has the potential for being a little symbolic. I unfortunately can't give you more context. If you can find the video before this one in the series, that would probably be the most useful resource for you.

-- Dauer
 
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