Blessed (are You)

who has released me

from the punishment¹ the father is no longer responsible for their sins. Why then is this Beracha recited at the time of Bar Mitzvah? The Dover Meisharim, cites sources stating that on the contrary, children sometimes perish because of their fathers׳ sins. The fathers, in turn, are punished for causing the untimely deaths of their young children. Thus when they reach thirteen and are no longer liable for their fathers’ sins, the fathers too are released from the punishment they could have received for causing their children to perish. The Beracha is therefore recited at the Bar Mitzvah when the son becomes fully independent of his father. of this [boy].

footnotes: ¹ The father is liable for the sins of his children only until they have been taught and trained to perform and observe the mitzvos. Once they have reached this level, even though they are not yet thirteen years of age,

This is the Torah which Moses placed

before the children of Israel

at Adonoy's command by the hand of Moses.

It is a tree of life

to those who grasp to it,

and those who support it are fortunate.

Its ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all its paths are peace.

Long life is at its right,

at its left, riches and honor.

Adonoy desired,

for the sake of His righteousness,

to make the Torah great and to glorify it.

May it be the will

of our Father in heaven

to establish the House of our lives²

footnotes: ² The Holy Temple.

and restore His Divine Presence to our midst,

speedily in our days, and let us say Amein.

May it be the will

of our Father in heaven

to have compassion upon us

and upon our remnant,

and to keep destruction and plague from us,

and from all His people, the House of Israel;

and let us say Amein.

May it be the will

of our Father in heaven

to preserve among us the sages of Israel,

them, their wives,

their sons and their daughters,

their disciples,

and the disciples of their disciples,

wherever they live;

and let us say Amein.

May it be the will

of our Father in heaven

that we may hear and receive

good tidings

[of] deliverance and consolation;

may He gather our dispersed

from the four corners of the earth;

and let us say Amein.

[As for] our brethren,

the entire House of Israel

who [still] remain in distress and captivity,

whether on sea or on land,

may God have compassion on them,

and bring them from distress to relief,

from darkness to light,

from servitude to redemption,

at this moment, speedily, very soon;

and let us say Amein.