Birchot HaShachar Lesson Plan

Atara Bienenfeld
‫ ברכות השחר‬- Lesson Plan
Grade: 5
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Goals:
o Students will understand the meaning of all of the brachot.
o Students will be able to identify which bracha each actions corresponds to.
Trigger: In groups, ask the students to order the stack of cards you give them. They
should order them in which they do first through last when they wake up in the morning.
o Index cards would say on them: Put on their shoes, open their eyes, put clothing
on, stretch their arms, stand up, walk
Lesson Flow:
o Explain that we say a bracha on the ability to do each of these things in the
morning.
o What does each bracha mean? Hand out a chart similar to the one below. One
column says the name of a bracha and one says “explanation” where the students
will write in what the bracha means.
o Then go back to the activity you started off with and take their answers.
o Checking For Understanding:
 Ask the following questions:
 Which bracha means that Hashem gave us the ability (like a
rooster) to wake up in the morning?
 When was the bracha of ‫ שעשה לי כל צרכי‬said?
 In which bracha do we thank Hashem for giving us the ability to
see?
 Which 3 brachot are linked together? Why?
o Thinking questions:
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What if I walk around barefoot today?
What about blind people?
(The Rema says we all say these brachot even if one does not apply to us that day
or ever since we are thanking Hashem for giving this ability to mankind)
Exit Card: Ask the students which three brachot they think are most important to say.
Explanation
…Who gave the heart the intellect to
understand the different between night and
day.
There are two different opinions about what
the word ‫ַש ְכוִי‬
ֶּֽׂ ‫ ל‬means. One is that we thank
Hashem for implanting in us the rooster
character trait and role which is waking others
‫ברכה‬
‫ַש ְכוִי בִינָּה‬
ֶּֽׂ ‫ הַּנֹותֵ ן ל‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫ְל ַה ְבחִין בֵין יֹום ּובֵין לָּ ֶּֽׂי ְלה‬
up. We thank Hashem for having that ability.
Secondly, it can mean we thank Hashem since
it is through the heart that man distinguishes
between night and day when hearing the
rooster. Since this has to do with the morning
and waking up, we say this bracha first.
We thank Hashem for not making These three
us a slave since non-Jews were not brachot are all not
given more than just the 7 mitzvot connected to a
b’nei Noach
specific action but
We thank Hashem for not making rather creation of
us a slave since slaves do not have each of us.
the luxury of doing many mitzvot. Because of this,
we say them early
Men thank Hashem here for not
making them a woman. The classic on in the sequence
(Ashkenaz).
approach here is since women are
exempt from time-bound mitzvoth,
men thank Hashem for obligating
them in so many mitzvot.
Women thank Hashem for making
them according to his will – the
way he made us.
Hashem makes the blind see. We can
understand this amazing miracle by closing our
eyes and then opening them moments later and
seeing the wonderful sights Hashem creates
each day.
We thank Hashem for giving us clothing as
protection. It actually refers to the clothing
Hashem gave Adam and Chava when they left
Gan Eden. Clothing separates us from animals
and is a sign of our free will. We thank
Hashem for making the difference between
man and the animal world so we therefore
cover what we have in common with them, our
bodies, but leave exposed what is different, our
faces, hands, and heads. Our hands give us the
ability to act with that free will.
Hashem, thank you for untying what is bound
and locked up. We thank Hashem for giving us
the ability to move our limbs. While sleeping,
we have no voluntary control over our limbs
and we thank Hashem for this control back
when we wake up. This also includes our
speech and hearing since those are also “tied
up” while sleeping.
‫ָּשנִי ּגֹוי‬
ֶּֽׂ ַ ‫ שֹּלא ע‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ָּשנִי עָּ ֶּֽׂבד‬
ֶּֽׂ ַ ‫ שֹּלא ע‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ָּשנִי ִאשָּה‬
ֶּֽׂ ַ ‫ שֹּלא ע‬,‫מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫ָּשנִי כ ְִרצֹונֹו‬
ֶּֽׂ ַ ‫ שע‬,‫מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫ּפֹוק ַח ִעו ְִרים‬
ֶּֽׂ ֵ ,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ ַמ ְלבִיש ע ֲֻרמִים‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫סּורים‬
ִ ‫ מַתִ יר ֲא‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬...‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
We thank Hashem for giving us the energy and
strength to get out of bed. Even though who,
chas v’shalom, cannot get up still say this
bracha as a tefilla and a hope. Additionally, it
was composed for normally functioning
people.
Thanks Hashem for planting our feet on secure
and safe ground. This can easily be related to
earthquakes, twisters, and other natural
disasters that unfortunately caused many to not
plant their feet on firm ground. We are also
thanking Hashem for creating the world in the
way that the earth’s crust covers the waters.
I have been given all that I need. We do not say
everyone has what THEY need since we have
the obligation to do Chessed. We recognize
Hashem gave ME what I need to live in the
world today.
This bracha used to be said upon putting shoes
on one’s feet. I am able to do everything I need
because I have shoes on my feet. If I was
walking around barefoot I would not be as
successful.
Thanking Hashem for our ability to walk – He
plants and firms man’s footsteps.
Which path are we following? We praise
Hashem for helping us make wise decisions.
We thank Hashem for placing us at the
crossroads we find ourselves at and how to
decide where to go from there.
You give all of Klal Yisrael strength.
Crown Israel with splendor. This is referring to
putting on Tefilla since that is how Jewish men
“crown” themselves.
We thank Hashem for crowning us with the
melachim around us. The melachim are there
from us doing mitsvot. He receive Hashem’s
shchinah from doing the mitsvot.
Hashem replenishes a person’s strength. We
wake up feeling refreshing after a night’s sleep.
This pasuk is put here in the order because of
it’s theme. It may seem like a personal request
so it should be at the beginning of the brachot.
In truth, the word ‫ יעף‬comes from a pasuk in
Yishayahu talking about Klal Yisrael being
‫ זֹוקֵף כְפּופִים‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫ רֹוקַע הָּאָּ ֶּֽׂרץ עַל הַמָּ ֶּֽׂי ִם‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך ָּהעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ שעָּ ֶּֽׂשָּה לִי כָּל צ ְָּרכִי‬,‫מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם ַה ֵמכִין ִמ ְצעֲדֵ י גָּ ֶּֽׂבר‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ְבּורה‬
ָּ ‫ אֹוזֵר יִש ְָּראֵל ִבג‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ְָארה‬
ָּ ‫ עֹו ֵטר יִש ְָּראֵל בְתִ פ‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
‫ הַּנֹותֵ ן ַלי ָּעֵף ֶּֽׂכ ַח‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬.
exhausted from Galut.
We praise Hashem who removes sleep from
our eyes and eyelids. In short, this bracha
doesn’t seem to belong here since its individual
again. We are really thanking Hashem for
waking us as a Jew and member of our nation.
‫שנָּה ֵמעֵינָּי ּותְ נּומָּה‬
ֵ ‫ ַה ַמ ֲעבִיר‬,‫ מֶּֽׂלְך הָּעֹולָּם‬... ‫בָּרּוְך אַתָּ ה‬
‫מֵ ַע ְפ ַעּפָּי‬..