Before eating

The blessing over bread covers everything else eaten in that meal.

Over anything baked from wheat, barley, spelt, oats or rye that is not bread — cake, biscuits, pasta, porridge:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכים מיני מזונות׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchím miné mezonót.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed are the foods that nourish us.

Over wine and grape juice:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך פרי הגפן׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch perí hagéfen.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the fruit of the vine.

Over fruit that grows on a tree:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך פרי העץ׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch perí ha’éts.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the fruit of the tree.

Over what grows from the ground — vegetables, and fruit from plants that do not live from year to year:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך פרי האדמה׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch perí ha’adamá.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the fruit of the ground.

Over everything else — meat, fish, eggs, dairy, water, and whatever does not grow:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך כל מה שמקים אותנו׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch kol ma shemkayém otánu.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is everything that sustains us.

A dish takes the blessing of what it is mostly made of.

After eating

After a meal with bread, say Birkat Hamazon.

After anything else:

ברוך האור בחיים,
על המזון שאכלנו, ועל הארץ שנתנה אותו,
ועל הידים שעמלו בו׃
אכלנו ושבענו וברכנו,
ואל יחסר מזון לאיש׃
ברוך האור בחיים, על הארץ ועל המזון׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím, al hamazón she’achálnu, ve’ál ha’árets shenátna otó, ve’ál hayadáyim she’amelú bo. Achálnu vesavá’nu uverachnu, ve’ál yeḥsár mazón le’ísh. Barúch ha’ór baḥayím, al ha’árets ve’ál hamazón.

Blessed is the light in life, for the food we have eaten, for the earth that gave it, and for the hands that worked it. We have eaten, we have been satisfied, and we have blessed; may no one go without food. Blessed is the light in life, for the earth and for the food.

Through the day

On waking:

מודים אנו על הבקר הזה, ששבנו אליו׃

Modím ánu al habóker hazé, sheshávnu eláv.

We give thanks for this morning, to which we have returned.

On washing the hands:

ברוכים המים החיים אשר זורמים על ידינו׃

Beruchím hamáyim haḥayím ashér zoremím al yadénu.

We bless the living waters which flow over our hands.

Before study:

ברוכה המסורת שנותנת לנו שמחה וששון
בתלמוד תורה׃

Beruchá hamasóret shenoténet lánu simḥá vesasón betalmúd torá.

Blessed is the tradition which gives us joy and happiness in the study of Torah.

Setting out on a journey:

יהי רצון שנלך לשלום ונגיע למחוז חפצנו
לחיים, לשמחה ולשלום׃

Yehí ratsón sheneléch leshalóm venagía limḥóz ḥeftsénu leḥayím, lesimḥá ulshalóm.

May we go in peace and arrive where we are going, to life, to joy and to peace.

Fragrance

Smelling spices:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכים מיני הבשמים׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchím miné habesamím.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed are the many fragrances.

Smelling scented wood:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכים עצי בשמים׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchím atsé vesamím.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed are the fragrant woods.

Smelling aromatic herbs:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכים עשבי בשמים׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchím isbé vesamím.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed are the fragrant herbs.

Smelling fragrant fruit — a lemon, a citron, an apple:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך הריח הטוב שבפרות׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch haréaḥ hatóv shebaperót.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the good scent in fruit.

In the world

Seeing lightning, or anything else in nature that stops us:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך מעשה בראשית׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch ma’asé vereshít.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the work of beginning.

Hearing thunder:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך הכח הממלא עולם׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch hakóaḥ hamemalé olám.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the power that fills the world.

Seeing a rainbow:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכה הברית שאנו זוכרים׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchá haberít she’ánu zochrím.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the covenant we remember.

Seeing the sea for the first time in a long while:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוך הים הגדול׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uvarúch hayám hagadól.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the great sea.

Seeing fruit trees in blossom in the spring:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכים האילנות הפורחים,
שנהנים מהם בני אדם׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchím ha’ilanót haporeḥím, shenehením mehém bené adám.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed are the trees in blossom, in which people take delight.

What befalls us

On something new — a season’s first fruit, a new garment, a festival, an occasion:

נברך את הכח בתוכנו
שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה׃

Nevaréch et hakóaḥ betochénu sheheḥeyánu, vekiyemánu, vehigi’ánu lazmán hazé.

Let us bless the strength within us that has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

On good news that is good for others too:

ברוך האור ביצר הטוב׃

Barúch ha’ór beyétser hatóv.

Blessed is the light of the good impulse, the Yetser HaTov.

On hearing of a death:

ברוך האור בחיים שהיו עמנו׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím shehayú imánu

Blessed is the light in the life that was with us.

On learning of an illness or suffering:

יהיה נא רפואה שלמה, רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף׃

Yihyé na refu’á shelemá, refu’át hanéfesh urefu’át hagúf.

May there be complete renewal, a renewal of spirit and a renewal of body.

In the home

Dedicating a home:

ברוכה המסורת שנותנת לנו שמחה וששון
בחנכת הבית הזה׃

Beruchá hamasóret shenoténet lánu simḥá vesasón baḥanukát habáyit hazé.

Blessed is the tradition which gives us joy and happiness in the dedication of this home.

Affixing a mezuzá:

ברוכה המסורת שנותנת לנו שמחה וששון
בקביעת מזוזה׃

Beruchá hamasóret shenoténet lánu simḥá vesasón bikvi’át mezuzá.

Blessed is the tradition which gives us joy and happiness in affixing a mezuzá.

Making a roof or a stair safe:

ברוכה המסורת שנותנת לנו שמחה וששון
בעשית מעקה׃

Beruchá hamasóret shenoténet lánu simḥá vesasón ba’asiyát ma’aké.

Blessed is the tradition which gives us joy and happiness in making a parapet.

Immersing new vessels:

ברוכה המסורת שנותנת לנו שמחה וששון
בטבילת כלים׃

Beruchá hamasóret shenoténet lánu simḥá vesasón bitvilát kelím.

Blessed is the tradition which gives us joy and happiness in the immersing of vessels.

Journeys

Before setting out on a journey:

ברוכים אנו כשאנחנו יוצאים לדרך׃

Beruchím ánu keshe’anáḥnu yotse’ím ladérech.

Blessed are we as we set out on the road.

We are leaving what we know for a while.
Let us travel carefully, let us keep our patience with delay and with one another,
and be a decent presence to the people we meet on the way.
Let us notice what we would not have seen had we stayed at home.
And let us come back safely, to people who are glad to see us.

On returning:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכה השיבה לבית׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchá hashivá labáyit.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the coming home.

We have come back. Let us put down what we carried,
say what the journey was, and let it change something in how we live here.

A wedding anniversary

Said together, on the day:

ברוכים אנו כשאנחנו בוחרים זה בזה שוב׃

Beruchím ánu keshe’anáḥnu boḥarím ze bazé shuv.

Blessed are we as we choose one another again.

We remember the day we promised this, and we know more now than we knew then.
There has been joy and there has been difficulty, and we have carried both.
What we said that day we say again today, with everything the years have added to it.
Let the time ahead be years of health, of patience, of laughter in the house;
of care for one another, and for the people who need us.

On retirement

Said at the end of working life:

ברוכים אנו כשאנחנו מניחים את המלאכה מידינו׃

Beruchím ánu keshe’anáḥnu maniḥím et hamelachá miyadénu.

Blessed are we as we put the work down out of our hands.

Work has had my hours for a long time, and some of who I am was made there.
I set it down now — not finishing it, putting it down.
There were things I did well and things I would do differently,
and I can hold both without settling the account.
Now there is time. Let me use it: for what I have put off,
for the people I have not given enough of myself to,
for learning something I have no use for.
Let me be patient with the adjustment, and let those who live with me be patient with me.
Let these years be long and useful, and let me still be of use in them.

Arriving somewhere that holds memory

On returning to a place that has shaped us:

ברוך האור בחיים וברוכה האדמה ששמרה את זכרוננו׃

Barúch ha’ór baḥayím uveruchá ha’adamá sheshamrá et zichronénu.

Blessed is the light in life, and blessed is the ground that kept our memory.

We have come back to a place that knows us.
Some of what we remember is here and some of it is gone, and both of those are true at once.
Let us walk here slowly. Let us say the names of the people who brought us,
and let the place do to us what it will.

Obtaining citizenship in a new country

Said on the day, or at the table of the first meal:

ברוכים אנו כשאנחנו נמנים עם יושבי הארץ הזאת׃

Beruchím ánu keshe’anáḥnu nimním im yoshvé ha’árets hazót.

Blessed are we as we are counted among those who dwell in this land.

We came here, and today this country counts us among its own.
Our people have arrived in places that opened to them and in places that did not,
and we know what a door is worth.
We take this up as a share in the work and not only as a right: to vote, to pay what we owe, to argue for what is just here, and to hold the door for those who come after us as it was held for us.
Let us keep what we brought with us, and learn what we have found here.
Let this be a place where our children are at home without having to explain themselves.

On coming out

Said by the one coming out:

ברוכים אנו כשאנחנו נודעים כמו שאנחנו׃

Beruchím ánu keshe’anáḥnu noda’ím kemó she’anáḥnu.

Blessed are we as we become known as we are.

I have told you something true about myself.
I have known it for a while; now you know it too.
I am not asking to be permitted. I am asking to be known,
and to go on being loved while known —
which is what I would want for anyone here.