Tefilah: Waking Up Jewish

Unlimited Pleasure: Understanding the Blessings on Torah Study

The Chosen Nation

After "v'haerev naah" we make another blessing, "Who choose us from among the nations to give us His Torah." Most mitzvos only require one blessing. What is the nature of this additional blessing?

Aside from the mitzva of studying Torah, there is another aspect of Torah we must recognize with a blessing. If it were not for the Torah, we would be just like all of the other nations of the world. Every day we thank Hashem for elevating us with the gift of His Torah (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 3,2).

Ari woke up late and got to the synagogue at the start of the Torah reading. Before he recited the blessings on the Torah he was called up for the second aliya. When Ari recites the morning blessings afterwards, he will not have to say "asher bachar banu" since he said this as part of his aliya (Mishna Berura 139: 31,32).

Text Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Daniel Travis and Torah.org