Morning Prayers

Question

Rabbi, in the morning blessings in my siddur a man thanks God for “not making me a woman”. Would you kindly explain this blessing?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The Blessing for men thanks Hashem for not having made me a woman, and the one for women thanks Hashem for having made them according to His will. The reason ties into the fact that men have to keep many more Mitzvos than women. The men thank Hashem for having given them chance to perform so many Mitzvos. However, the Brachah is made in a roundabout way because we are not actually performing the Mitzvos in the way that we should be.

    The Maharal explains that the closer a certain thing was created to the first Shabbos of the Creation the greater is its inherent spirituality. Adam was created after the animals and therefore mankind is inherently more spiritual than the animals. However, Chavah was formed after Adam (in fact, Chavah was the last being to be created before the sunset) and subsequently her spirituality was even greater than that of Adam.

    In a sense Mitzvos are gimmicks, designed to keep us focused on Hashem and our relationship with Him. Men need those “gimmicks” to allow them to grow closer to Hashem. The need of Women is much less because of that inherent spirituality. The potential to grow is completely different because the spiritual attachment to Hashem begins on a higher plane.

    I know that it is hard to grasp but the “women’s’” Blessing is a spiritually loftier Blessing. The Blessing recited by the men is conditional, I thank Hashem for having made me a man because I need the Commandments to keep me attuned to the Creator of the world. The Blessing recited by women does not have any precondition. In effect what the women are blessing is the fact that they are spiritually so close to Hashem that they can recognize Him – even without the “gimmicks”.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team