| This
series has focused on the connection between the morning blessings and the individual's
daily renewal of spiritual energy and purpose. This installment discusses the
fifteenth blessing. "Baruch ata …sh'lo asa
li goy." "Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King
of the universe,
who did not make me a non-Jew." The
fifteenth blessing is a declaration of thanksgiving to G-d for not making
us a non-Jew. Objectively, the word "goy" means "nation,"
and so it is employed in all classic Jewish sources, although its current usage
is to denote specifically one of the non-Jewish nations, or a member thereof.
The basic meaning of this blessing is clear: "Thank you for not making
me a member of any other nation or faith." This gratitude and pride in being
Jewish does not imply condescension toward other peoples. Rather, it derives from
the enormous responsibility that we have been entrusted with. A non-Jew has seven
divine commandments, while a Jewish male has 613. Since we have more channels
to fulfill G-d's will, our potential to be connected with Him is greater. It
is not always easy to live up to this responsibility, yet we take pride in it.
G-d calls the Jewish people "Binee, Bichori, Yisroel"-"My
child, My first-born, Israel" [Ex.4:22]. A firstborn is proud in his extra
responsibilities regardless of the extra work involved, because they signify his
parents' greater trust in him. In this blessing we express gratitude for not having
been created with only seven Noahide commandments to fulfill. In the Torah,
the word "goy" does not have a negative connotation. We even
find it used in a superlative sense: "Who is like Your people Israel goy
echad ["one nation"] in the land" [I Chron. 17:21]. The Jews
are a "unique nation," a "nation of the One" (two possible
derivative translations of goy echad) who have elevated their lower attributes.
At his high level they can unify G-d's unique name and draw it down "into
the land," thereby fulfilling their purpose of spreading divine consciousness. While
keeping in mind this positive sense of "goy," in this blessing we stress
our gratitude for not having been created a member of those nations that are not
involved in this service of unification, but instead separate themselves from
G-d by asserting their independence of Him. At first glance, this blessing
does not seem to have a daily application. While all of the preceding ones have
been connected to some level of action and, inner-dimensionally, to spiritual
development, this one seems static; its function solely to thank G-d for a one-time
(albeit lasting) benefit. Why, then, do we say it every day? Why not only once
in a lifetime, perhaps on that day when a child comes of age? We must see how,
on a deeper level, this blessing can help to further our self-identity and provide
a basis for daily growth. The
Ramak [Rabbi Moshe Kordevero--the predecessor of the holy ARI as the main
teacher of Kabbalah in 16th century Tsfat] wrote that the prayers of non-Jews
are not nearly as effective as those of a Jew, for theirs go only to the external
sources of the Divine energy. Therefore, in preparation for prayer, we thank G-d
daily for not making us a non-Jew, so that our prayers retain the potential to
ascend to the highest possible place. He further stated that, because of
misdeeds, an alien soul of a non-Jew can attach itself to a person and tempt him
to stray from the right path. Indeed, we sometimes see a person's behavior unexpectedly
change in a manner unusual for him. One possible reason is the foreign soul that
has temporarily attached itself to him. Therefore, we thank the Creator each day
for not having let us be changed into something different than what we were the
night before, even temporarily. The
Ari [Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, 1534-1572] approached the question from a different
perspective. He taught that there is a non-Jewish aspect within each one of us
an intermediate level of impurity that contains within it the potential to be
transformed by us into something positive. The first fourteen blessings
focus on removing us from the inevitable, absolute impurity that attaches itself
to us when we sleep, for "sleep is one-sixtieth of death", the ultimate
impurity. Now we are ready to try to remove ourselves from the intermediate, more
subtle level of impurity also, in preparation for the morning prayers which can
be a vehicle for ascending to great spiritual heights. For this reason,
in Chassidic and Sephardic prayerbooks which are based on the arrangement of the
prayers set out by the ARI, this blessing (and the two that follow it--to be discussed
in future installments) come after all the others. In the Ashkenazi siddur, they
come before, since the simple level of their content relates to the essence of
the person, while the other blessings focus on particular aspects. Have
you wondered that this blessing is cast in a negative form, asserting what we
are not, rather that what we are? Simply, if we were to say "Thank you for
making me a Jew," we might miss the point that we are primarily expressing
gratitude for the greater obligation to do mitzvot. More strikingly, it
would not be so appropriate to praise G-d for making us Jews, and take pride in
it, while our present level of Jewishness may not be according to His will or
even our own expectations. In other words, G-d went to the trouble to make us
not like everyone else: it is up to us to make ourselves into true Jews!
Rabbi
Shaul Leiter is the executive
director of Ascent-of-Safed.
This series is translated and adapted from Meah Shearim
and other sources | 
