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The Three Blessings: Boundaries, Censorship, and Identity in Jewish Liturgy
In the traditional Jewish liturgy, a man thanks God daily for not having been made a gentile, a woman, or a slave. Yoel Kahn traces the history of this prayer from its extra-Jewish origins to the present, demonstrating how different generations and communities understood the significance of these words.
Marginalized and persecuted groups used this prayer to mark the boundary between "us" and "them," affirming their own identity and sense of purpose. After the medieval Church seized and burned books it considered offensive, new, coded formulations of the three blessings emerged as forms of spiritual resistance. Book owners voluntarily expurgated the passage to save the books from being destroyed, creating new language and meaning while seeking to preserve the structure and message of the received tradition. During the Renaissance, Jewish women defied their rabbis and declared their gratitude at being "made a woman and not a man." And, as Jewish emancipation began in the nineteenth century, Jews again had to balance fealty to historical practice with their place in the world. Seeking to be recognized as modern and European, early modern Jews rewrote the liturgy to suit modern sensibilities and identified themselves with the Christian West against the historical pagan and the uncivilized
infidel.
The Three Blessings is an insightful and wide-ranging study of one of the most controversial Jewish prayers, showing its constantly evolving language, usage, and interpretation over the past 2,000 years.
Marginalized and persecuted groups used this prayer to mark the boundary between "us" and "them," affirming their own identity and sense of purpose. After the medieval Church seized and burned books it considered offensive, new, coded formulations of the three blessings emerged as forms of spiritual resistance. Book owners voluntarily expurgated the passage to save the books from being destroyed, creating new language and meaning while seeking to preserve the structure and message of the received tradition. During the Renaissance, Jewish women defied their rabbis and declared their gratitude at being "made a woman and not a man." And, as Jewish emancipation began in the nineteenth century, Jews again had to balance fealty to historical practice with their place in the world. Seeking to be recognized as modern and European, early modern Jews rewrote the liturgy to suit modern sensibilities and identified themselves with the Christian West against the historical pagan and the uncivilized
infidel.
The Three Blessings is an insightful and wide-ranging study of one of the most controversial Jewish prayers, showing its constantly evolving language, usage, and interpretation over the past 2,000 years.
- GenresJudaism
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 30, 2016
For anyone interested in a detailed textual analysis of the evolution of the Jewish Siddur (prayer book) Kahn's book is a fascinating read. The author analyzes only the three blessings and the associated "100 blessings", as they change over time, from their earliest expressions in Talmud Menahot (43b) and Brekhot (60b) to the 20th century.
In the mirror of these few initial blessings of the day the reader discovers the entire history of the Siddur, the evolution of Jewish thought, Jewish relations with the surrounding cultures, the suppression and expression of female agency, and a complete story of textual and spiritual evolution across the centuries. In the fractal sense, everything is contained in a small part of everything.
Of particular interest to me was the strength and breadth of the advocacy for keying the "100" (really only about 18) brakhot not to a ritualized recital in synagogue but to the emergence of consciousness and specific acts as one awakens in the morning. I think I'm going to go with Rabbi Avraham ben Maimon (son of the Maimonides), and with the views of many others, in my own translation of the Siddur, on this point, and against current Rabbinic practice. We give thanks for the ability of the rooster to distinguish between night and day when we hear the rooster doing so, and not regardless of whether we hear the rooster doing so. We give thanks for opening our eyes when we open our eyes, not an hour later in synagogue, etc. I know, I know, I can already hear your objections concerning ritual impurity and hand washing prior to pronouncing the Name, but read the full history here, and then see if you still want to make that argument.
Yes, this is a very specialized book. If one was not already deeply familiar with the Siddur and Jewish studies, I'm not sure that one could make it through the whole book, although it might be interesting to dip into and skim through. Because I am working on a Siddur translation it is of professional and personal interest.
I highly recommend this.
In the mirror of these few initial blessings of the day the reader discovers the entire history of the Siddur, the evolution of Jewish thought, Jewish relations with the surrounding cultures, the suppression and expression of female agency, and a complete story of textual and spiritual evolution across the centuries. In the fractal sense, everything is contained in a small part of everything.
Of particular interest to me was the strength and breadth of the advocacy for keying the "100" (really only about 18) brakhot not to a ritualized recital in synagogue but to the emergence of consciousness and specific acts as one awakens in the morning. I think I'm going to go with Rabbi Avraham ben Maimon (son of the Maimonides), and with the views of many others, in my own translation of the Siddur, on this point, and against current Rabbinic practice. We give thanks for the ability of the rooster to distinguish between night and day when we hear the rooster doing so, and not regardless of whether we hear the rooster doing so. We give thanks for opening our eyes when we open our eyes, not an hour later in synagogue, etc. I know, I know, I can already hear your objections concerning ritual impurity and hand washing prior to pronouncing the Name, but read the full history here, and then see if you still want to make that argument.
Yes, this is a very specialized book. If one was not already deeply familiar with the Siddur and Jewish studies, I'm not sure that one could make it through the whole book, although it might be interesting to dip into and skim through. Because I am working on a Siddur translation it is of professional and personal interest.
I highly recommend this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review