We are now tackling the final of the brakhot that were originally said upon waking. To avoid trying to tackle them all at once, I’ve tried to organize them into groups we can digest, so we’re going to be walking through this set of 16 blessings over the next month or so. 

The information from many of my college classes has long faded over the 20 years since I first enrolled, but one lesson from my first chemistry lab class has stayed with me: before you do anything else, make sure you have the right goggles, and put them over your eyes (not your forehead). You have lots of appendages that would be bad to lose that we can make prosthetics for, but you only have one set of eyes. Vision occupies a central place in how we approach the world, both in modernity and in ancient times, particularly in biblical stories where progenitors and prophets alike have their sight tweaked to enable them to see the past, present, or future more clearly. It is fitting therefore that we begin with a blessing for this key ability, but I keep getting hung up on the middle blessing as not all have this benefit. I’d mentioned in a previous class that the Rabbinic consensus emerged that even the blind should say this blessing since they benefit from the sight of others. However, in my research I tracked down the source of these blessings directly Talmud:

Tractate Berakhot 60b.5b:

“Upon opening his eyes, one should recite: Blessed…Who gives sight to the blind.”

This structure mirrors much more closely our last blessing which is one of transitioning from darkness to light as we wake up. These blessings serve as a sort of systems check on bootup that our computers sometimes tell us they need to do and remind us that our new day is another blessing. But just before that blessing we also read:

Tractate Berakhot 60b.5a:

“Upon hearing the sound of the rooster, one should recite: Blessed…Who gave the heart [sekhvi] understanding to distinguish between day and night.”

Much ink is spilled by the sages in examining the work sekhvi which is a hapax legemon, a word that only occurs a single time in the Torah and has few if any cognates in other languages and whether this blessing should be said upon waking or each time we hear a rooster, a nightmare for a chicken farmer I suspect. Regardless of whether we’re thankful for the rooster or for our heart/ability to distinguish between night and day, I come back to a quote by Paul Alfred Weisz, a 20th century Jewish Viennese biologist who said in the opening of the Elements of Biology  “All science begins with observation”. Through observation, our ancestors and Sages discovered circadian rhythms even if they didn’t yet have a fancy name for it. This theme echoes throughout Jewish wisdom, science, and religion and it seems fitting that we begin our days thankful for the ability to observe.

1. Praise are You Adonai our God, who rules the universe, enabling us to distinguish day from night.
5 Praise are You Adonai our God, who rules the universe, giving sight to the blind.
15. Praise are You Adonai our God, who rules the universe, removing sleep from eyes and slumber from my eyelids.

1. I offer you thanks, G-d, for my ability to discern the difference between night and day,[...] and for giving sight to my eyes.
I offer you thanks, G-d, [...] for removing the last trace of sleep from my eyes.

1. Praise to you, Adonai our G-d, sovereign of the universe, who has given the mind the ability to distinguish day from night.
2. Praise to you, Adonai our G-d, sovereign of the universe, who opens the eyes of the blind.
9. Praise to you, Adonai our G-d, sovereign of the universe, who removes sleep from the eyes, slumber from the eyelids

1. [excluded]
5. Blessed are You, our Living G-d, Sovereign of the universe,  You open eyes that cannot see.
9. Blessed are You, our Living G-d, Sovereign of the universe, You take Away sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids.
Seder Ha-T’fillot, Forms of Prayer

1. Your Presence fills creation, Holy One of Blessing. You make the rooster crow at daybreak.
6. [omitted in this text]
15. Your Presence fills creation, Holy One of Blessing. You remove sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids.

Vetaher Libenu (1980)
Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley
Digitization: ZbD
License: [missing]

1. Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who gave the rooster (or mind) insight to distinguish between day and night.

6. Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who opens [the eyes of] the blind.
15. Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who removes sleep from my eyes, and slumber from my pupils.

1. Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who gives the rooster understanding to distinguish between day and night.
6. Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who gives sight to the blind.
16. Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who removes sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids.

Berakhot 60b.5:

a) Upon hearing the sound of the rooster, one should recite: Blessed…Who gave the heart [sekhvi] understanding to distinguish between day and night.
b) Upon opening his eyes, one should recite: Blessed…Who gives sight to the blind.

Berakhot 60b.6:

c) Upon washing his face, one recites: Blessed…Who removes the bands of sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids.

Koren – Steinsaltz
William Davidson Edition – English
Source: korenpub.com
Digitization: Sefaria
License: CC-BY-NC

Berakhot 60b.5:

a) When he hears the cry of the cock let him say : “Blessed…Who hast given the cock intelligence to distinguish between day and night. “
b) When he opens his eyes let him say: “Blessed… Who openest the eyes of the blind.”

Berakhot 60b.6:

c) When he has washed his face let him say : “Blessed… Who removest the bands of sleep from mine eyes and slumber from mine eyelids.

1. Bendito eres Tú Adonai, Dios nuestro que concediste a nuestra mente la facultad de distinguir entre el día y la noche.

5. Bendito eres Tú Adonai, Dios nuestro Rey del universo que restituyes la vista a los desprovistos de ella.

16. Bendito eres Tú Adonai, Dios nuestro Rey del universo, que disipas el sueño de mis ojos y la somnolencia de mis párpados.

Bendito eres Tú Adonai, Dios nuestro Rey del universo que restituyes la vista a los desprovistos de ella.

Berakhot 60b.5:

a) Wenn man das Krähen des Hahnes hört, spreche man: Gepriesen sei er, der dem Hahne Verstand verliehen, zwischen Tag und Nacht zu unterscheiden.

b) Wenn man die Augen öffnet, spreche man: Gepriesen sei er, der die Blinden sehend macht.

Berakhot 60b.6: