## Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking

###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking 3
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
מוֹדֶה אֲנִי *I thank you*. Sleep, said the sages, is a sixtieth, a foretaste, of death. Waking each morning is like a resurrection. In this simple prayer we say thank you to God for giving us back our life.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking 6
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה *Who formed man in wisdom.*The more we know about the human body the more wondrous we discover it is. There are a hundred trillion cells in the human body. Within each cell is a nucleus and within each nucleus a double copy of the human genome. Each genome consists of 3.1 billion letters of genetic code, sufficient if transcribed to fill a library of five thousand volumes. Nor is the development of the body a matter of simple genetic determinism. It is an elaborate process of interaction between genes and environment, nature *and* nurture. Natural science is a way to the love and awe of God, as we realize the vastness of the universe and the complexity of life (Maimonides, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 2:2). Each new scientific discovery gives new resonance to the words of the psalm: “How numerous are Your works, LORD; You made them all in wisdom; the earth is full of Your creations” (Ps. 104:24).


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking 7
[Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking 7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rabbi%20Sacks%20on%20Yom%20Kippur%20Mahzor/s/Shaharit,_On%20Waking/r/7)

**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַֽתָּ בִּי טְהוֹרָה הִיא *The soul You placed within me is pure*. Despite the fact that we have genetically encoded instincts and desires, there is nothing predetermined about whether we use them for good or bad.
הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמוֹת לִפְגָרִים מֵתִים *Who restores souls to lifeless bodies*. Since waking each morning is like a resurrection, it is an intimation of the fact that the dead can be restored to life, as we believe they will be at the end of days. This prayer is a simple, subtle way of making us daily aware of the interplay between mortality and immortality in the human condition. It opens our eyes to the wonder of being, the miracle that we are here at all.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, On Waking 10
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ *Who has made us holy.*Holiness is not a given of birth, a genetic endowment. It is what we become when we submit our will to that of God. We become holy by what we do. The word *kadosh*, “holy,” means distinctive, set apart. Just as God is holy because He transcends the physical universe, so we become holy by transcending natural impulses and instincts.
בְּמִצְוֹתָיו *Through His commandments.*This blessing, said over commands between us and God, represents the intention to fulfill an act as a command, thus endowing it with holiness. Only commands between us and God require a blessing beforehand. Commands between us and our fellow humans – such as giving charity, visiting the sick, comforting mourners and so on – do not require a blessing beforehand, since in these cases the command has to do with its effect (*nifal*), rather than the act itself (*pe’ula*) or its agent (*po’el*). Since the effect of acts of kindness is independent of the intention of the agent, no preliminary declaration of intent, that is, a blessing, is necessary.