Monday, August 2, 2010

Bestowing a Blessing

Anybody who has been to Israel or who lives there knows that crossing paths with soldiers is a very common experience. Similarly, anybody who has been to Israel or who lives there knows that witnessing the making of brakhot(blessings) is also a common sight.

However, in light of my recent post about the siddur, I took special note of the following scene:

On Thursday in the town of Zichron Yaakov, a number of soldiers were visiting the First Alyiah Museum, and the other sites of Zichron. During lunch, the soldiers fanned out to make their selections from the shops and cafes that Zichron offers. A small group of male soldiers were flagged down by an older man whilst enjoying his lunch. Beckoning the green-clad soldiers to his table, the man pulled out his siddur. He began leafing through it, as if he was looking for just the right words. The older man bestowed a blessing upon the young men, they exchanged handshakes, hugs, and parted.

As I watched from the distance I could help but think about what I was witnessing. And while we're not talking about t'fillot in the sense of davening, observing the rapid turning of pages and the grateful faces, made me appreciate on a physical level the potential of prayer. I touched on this a bit in an earlier post about the health benefits of regular prayer. However, this is about the giving and receiving of blessings, and not specifically the medicinal benefits.

As such, and perhaps as you might have expected, my blessing to you is that my story here will allow for you to have greater physical appreciation for the words that are printed, or the ones that flow unscripted from our lips.

2 comments:

Aharonium said...

The siddur as most beloved reference book, yes. What prayer or blessing do you think was being referenced for these soldiers I wonder? Averse from תהילים?

Daniel said...

You meant, "a verse" not "averse", Aharon -- correct?