On 25 Oct 2001 04:20:58 GMT, (Ken Smith) wrote: >

>Perhaps we could all take a leaf out of Jewish ritual and say “Blessed

>are you. Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has …”

>

>>Les Brown

>

I personally would like that, but please don’t say amen at the end. In Judaism, that is considered arrogance. It’s a bit lit making a declaration and then saying “yes, I agree with what I just said”. Saying “Amen” (which, btw, is related to the word “Emet” meaning; truth) should only be left to others to respond to your blessing.

One should not include thanks to others in a blessing because that is equating their efforts to that of G-d. When someone prepares food, they are merely acting as agents of G-d. Just as we do not thank angels for their work, we mustn’t thank G-d AND others in the same breath. Of course saying thank you to others afterwards is only right and proper, but first, bless G-d who has made it all possible for the person who prepared the food.

Les Brown

(A Jew)

Related Articles:

• Henri Nouwen – more wisdom
• LIVING A WHOLE LIFE (Richard Rohr)
• Faith and feelings
• Beautiful video with a comforting message…
• Wisdom from Henri Nouwen

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.