Bless Adonoy Who is blessed.

Blessed is Adonoy, Who is blessed

forever and ever.

Blessed are You, Adonoy

our God, King of the Universe,

Former¹ of light,

footnotes: ¹ Forming, יוצר, is the act of refining or modifying an original substance, whereas, creating, בורא, refers to creating the original substance from nothing. For example, when one shapes a wooden table, to make it round, he “forms” the wood, the original substance which was “created.” Similarly, God “forms the light” which is His act of modifying or limiting the darkness He created.—Siddur HaGra

Creator of darkness,

Maker² of peace,

footnotes: ² Making, עושה, is the act of completion, such as when one completes a table by painting it. Similarly, God's finishing touch of creation is “making peace,” the vessel that holds it all together, as stated in the Mishna, “God found no vessel to contain blessing other than peace.” לא מצא הקב״ה כלי מחזיק ברכה אלא השלום—Siddur HaGra

Creator³ of all things.

footnotes: ³ The verse in Isaiah 45:7, on which this blessing is based concludes with the words, “and creates evil.” In His original creation, God created the potential for evil, which He constantly limits and controls as the Former and Maker.—Siddur HaGra

He illuminates the earth

[and provides light] for those who dwell on it

with compassion;⁴

footnotes: ⁴ God causes light to appear in stages, gradually. This is an act of great compassion for if He made it appear all at once, we would be overwhelmed and blinded by its brightness.— Avudraham

and in His goodness

renews every day, continually,⁵

footnotes: ⁵ God is not a far-off observer of a mechanism which He created and ignores, but a Living Ruler, Who guides the universe and continually maintains it.

the work of creation.

How many are Your works, Adonoy;

You made them all with wisdom,

the earth is full of Your possessions.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ Lit., Your acquisitions: See Genesis 14:22.

The King Who alone is exalted from then,⁷

footnotes: ⁷ I.e., before Creation, See p. 9: God was King before all creatures were created.

Who is praised and glorified

and uplifted,

from the beginning of time.⁸

footnotes: ⁸ I.e., after Creation. Ever since Creation, God has been praised and glorified by His creatures.

Eternal God,

in Your abundant mercy,

have compassion on us,

Master, Who is our strength,

Rock, Who is our stronghold

Shield, of our deliverance,

[Be] a stronghold for us.

The blessed Almighty, great in knowledge,

prepared and made the rays of the sun.

[The] Good [One] created [everything]

for the glory of His Name:⁹

footnotes: ⁹ See Isaiah 43:7: “All that is called by My Name, I have created for My glory.”—Avudraham

the luminaries He set

around His strength (His throne).

The chiefs of His hosts are holy beings,¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ “Holy beings” are angels. In Hebrew, the word for angels means messenger, and includes all the instruments of Divine purpose, whether in human form, or in the forces of nature.—Kuzari

the exalters of Shadai¹¹

footnotes: ¹¹ A name of God (Genesis 17:1; 35:11; 43:14, etc.) which refers to His setting boundaries and limits throughout creation.

continually recount the glory of the Almighty

and His holiness.

Be Blessed, Adonoy, our God,

in the heavens above and on earth below

for the excellent works of Your hands,¹²

footnotes: ¹² The Heavenly throne is thus conceived of as surrounded by angels and all the adoring heavenly bodies.—See Isaiah 6:12

and for the light-giving luminaries

which You formed;

they will glorify You forever.¹³

footnotes: ¹³ Those of His creatures capable of praising Him do so. The rest are evidence of His astonishing wisdom and arouse the others to praise Him.

Be blessed eternally our Former,¹⁴ our Creator, He is our King, and He will be our Redeemer. our King,

footnotes: ¹⁴ Some render צורנו “our Rock.” The Gaon of Vilna, however, maintains that it refers to God as our Creator, thus describing Him in the tri-epochal aspect of His Unity: past, present, and future. He was

and our Redeemer—Creator of holy beings.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁵ These are the Jewish People, who are sanctified in body and soul. The word Creator implies a creation of real substance—the Jewish People rather than angels.—Vilna Gaon

Praised be Your Name forever, our King,

Who forms ministering angels;

and Whose ministering angels

all stand at the height of the Universe,

and proclaim with reverence, in unison aloud

the words of the living God,

King of the Universe.

All of them are beloved,¹⁶—there is no envy, jealousy or rivalry among them. Pure—they have no selfish or ulterior motives; they serve God with all their being.—Siddur HaGra

footnotes: ¹⁶ Beloved

all of them are pure,

all of them are mighty;

all are holy

and all of them perform

with awe and reverence

the will of their Possessor.

And they all open their mouths

in holiness and purity,

with song and music,

and they bless, and praise, and glorify,

and revere, and sanctify,

and proclaim the sovereignty of—

the Name of the Almighty, the King,

the Great, the Mighty, the awesome One;

holy¹⁷ is He.

footnotes: ¹⁷ Despite the attributes we use to describe Him, He remains holy—beyond our conception.

And they all take upon themselves

the yoke¹⁸ of Divine sovereignty

footnotes: ¹⁸ The yoke of Divine Sovereignty is borne willingly and joyfully by each creature as an emblem of his free service to God.—S.R. Hirsch

one from the other,

and lovingly give leave to one another¹⁹

footnotes: ¹⁹ They take care not to precede one another in their praise of God. On the contrary, each says to the other, “You begin, because you are greater and more worthy than I.”—Avos of R’ Nosson

to sanctify their Former

in a spirit of serenity

with clear speech and pleasantness,²⁰

footnotes: ²⁰ The clear speech of the angels is the holy tongue (pure Hebrew).—Ya'avetz

all exclaim Kedushah in unison, with awe,

and reverently exclaim:

Holy, holy, holy

is Adonoy of Hosts,

the fullness of all the earth is His glory.²¹ paraphrases this verse: “Holy [is God] in the highest heights of heaven, the abode of His Divine Presence; holy upon earth, the work of His almighty power; holy [is He] forever and for all eternity.” The Talmud, (Masechcs Chulin 91b) refers to this verse as the “Sanctification of the Angels.” According to Avudraham and Ya'avetz; this Kedushah has been inserted here to refute those who maintain that God relinquished His control over the heavenly bodies, and they are now able to function independently. We are therefore told that all the heavenly hosts proclaim God's sanctification and dominion over all the universe.

footnotes: ²¹ Isaiah 6:3. Targum Yonoson

And the Ofanim²² and Serafim are various classes of Angels. Ofanim denotes animated wheels as conceived in association with the Heavenly throne. (Avudraham); Chayos are those angels who exist eternally (Ya'avetz; some angels exist only for short times for specific functions.) Serafim indicate “beings of fire.” and the holy Chayos,

footnotes: ²² Ofanim, Chayos haKodesh,

with a mighty sound rise

toward the Serafim.

Facing them, they offer praise and say,

Blessed is the glory of Adonoy

from His place.²³ God's glory is a euphemism for God Himself. Thus the verse means, “Blessed is Adonoy from His place,” conveying this concept: God is more blessed (i.e., greater) than His place; He is not confined to any place. Another view set forth in the Kuzari is that “God's glory” includes the angels. His throne, His chariot, the firmament, and the spheres. These are called God's glory, similar to a king's retinue, which is his royal splendor.

footnotes: ²³ Ezekiel 3:12. According to the Kuzari,

To the Blessed Almighty,

they²⁴ offer pleasant melodies;

footnotes: ²⁴ The angels.

to the King, the Almighty,

[Who is] living and enduring,

they utter hymns

and make praises heard.

For He alone, exalted and holy

is the Performer of mighty deeds,

Maker of new things;

Master of battles,

Sower of acts of righteousness,²⁵Deuteronomy 3:6

footnotes: ²⁵ Rabbi Pinchos ben Ya'ir was given two measures of barley for safekeeping. The owner forgot about it for a number of years. Rabbi Pinchos ben Ya'ir planted the barley seed, and each year replanted the previous year's harvest until it grew to be a substantial crop. After seven years, the owner returned to claim his two measures of barley and Rabbi Pinchos told him, “Come I will show you the great fortune you have accumulated.” God does the same with the good and righteous deeds of man. He sows each righteous deed, and when the person is ready to receive his reward, God returns the original righteous investment plus all the accumulated dividends.—Midrash Rabba,

Causer of deliverance to sprout forth;

Creator of cures.

Awesome in praise, Master of wonders,

He renews in His goodness,

each day, continuously,²⁶

footnotes: ²⁶ Since the blessing began with the praise of God as the Former of light Who continually renews the creation, it concludes on the same note.

the work of creation,

as it is said: "[Give thanks to Him]

Who makes the great luminaries,"

for His kindness is everlasting."²⁷

footnotes: ²⁷ Psalms 136:7.

(and He fashioned the luminaries,

bringing joy to the world He created)

Shine a new light upon Zion,²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ We pray that we will be worthy of enjoying the original light of creation, which God put aside for the righteous in the future world.—Ya'avetz

and may we all soon be privileged

to [enjoy] its brightness.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

Former of the luminaries.²⁹

footnotes: ²⁹ When reciting this blessing, bear in mind that even though the heavenly spheres appear immense to us and we attach much importance to them because of the vital functions they perform, in the eyes of their Creator they are no greater than worms. On the contrary, His wisdom and providence are more acutely recognized in an ant or bee because, in spite of their minuteness, they are endowed with a complex of faculties and organs.—Kuzari

[With] everlasting love You have loved us³⁰ writes, “When reciting the blessing ׳Unbounded Love’ אהבה רבה, one should bear in mind that God's Divine influence is especially directed at the Jewish People who receive it as naturally as a mirror receives rays of light. He should also bear in mind that the Torah is the expression of God's will and through it He establishes His dominion on earth as in heaven. Whenever an individual or a community attains a high degree of spiritual purity, they become worthy of receiving the Divine light to guide their destiny in a miraculous manner far removed from the ordinary course of events which affect the world. This special relationship with the Creator is called “love.”

footnotes: ³⁰ The Kuzari

Adonoy, our God;

[With] great and abundant pity³¹) for His Divine Presence to dwell among us.—Siach Yitzchok

footnotes: ³¹ God bestowed His great and abundant pity on us after we sinned in making the golden calf. He not only pardoned us, but gave us the Second Tablets and ordained the construction of the Tabernacle (Mishkan

have You pitied us.

Our Father, our King!

for the sake of your great Name

and for the sake of our forefathers

who trusted in You,

and whom You taught statutes of life,

carry out your will

with a perfect heart,

so too, be gracious to us and teach us.

Our Father, merciful Father,

Who acts with compassion

have compassion on us

and put into our hearts

[comprehension] to understand

and to be intellectually creative,

to listen, to learn, and to teach,

to preserve, to practice, and to fulfill³² the Torah by not forgetting its teachings; we practice the commandments and we fulfill them by making them permanent parts of our lives.—Siach Yitzchok

footnotes: ³² We preserve

all the words of instruction in Your Torah

with love.

And enlighten our eyes in Your Torah,

and cause our hearts to hold fast

to Your commandments,

and unify³³ our hearts

footnotes: ³³ Make us single-hearted and undivided in our love and reverence of Your Name. Keep us from distraction of personal thoughts and selfish motives.—Siach Yitzchok

to love and fear Your Name;

and may we not be subject to shame,³⁴

footnotes: ³⁴ When one has to receive a favor that is completely undeserved, he feels a sense of shame. We therefore pray to God, that our redemption will not be “handed out” to us without merit and cause us to be ashamed. We proclaim that since we “trusted in His Name” and accepted the bitterness of our exile our deliverance is not totally undeserved.—Siach Yitzchok

disgrace or stumbling

forever

for in Your holy Name—

great, mighty and awesome—

have we trusted;

may we exult and rejoice in Your deliverance.

And may Your mercy Adonoy our God,

and Your abundant kindness

never forsake us.

Hasten and bring upon us

blessing and peace quickly

from the four corners of the earth

break the yoke of the nations

from our neck

and speedily lead us

upright³⁵ to our land.

footnotes: ³⁵ May we return from our exile with our heads held high, not in meekness.—Siach Yitzchok

Because, You are the Almighty,

Who performs acts of deliverance,³⁶

footnotes: ³⁶ Even if we do not deserve to be saved in our own merit, save us anyhow because You perform acts of deliverance.

and You have chosen us³⁷

footnotes: ³⁷ At the moment God gave the Torah to the Jews at Sinai, we became His chosen people and were brought close to Him for eternity.—Siach Yitzchok

from among all peoples and tongues,

and You have brought us near our king

to Your great Name, forever in truth;

with love, that we may give thanks³⁸ to You,

footnotes: ³⁸ These final words complete the prayer begun earlier: “Bring us in peace, and lead us upright to our land, so that we may give thanks to You, and proclaim Your Oneness, with love.—S.Y.

and proclaim Your Oneness, with love.

and love Your Name.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

Who chooses His people Israel with love.