In the story of God creating the world in Genesis, God recites blessings in three moments. The first is on the fifth day, and it is for living beings in the air and water:
וַיְבָ֧רֶךְ אֹתָ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֗וּ וּמִלְא֤וּ אֶת־הַמַּ֙יִם֙ בַּיַּמִּ֔ים וְהָע֖וֹף יִ֥רֶב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase, fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” (Gen. 1:22)
The second is on the sixth day, when God creates land animals, including humans, and blesses the humans:
וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.” (Gen. 1:28)
The third blessing is on the seventh day, when God stops God’s work of creation, blesses the day and declares it holy:
וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (פ)
And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. (Gen. 2:3)
The specifics of these blessings raise a lot of interesting questions, but I’m thinking right now about the act of reciting a blessing. I’m imagining God saying a blessing.
The picture that comes to me as I imagine God saying a blessing starts from the Hebrew, בָ֤רֶךְ ( b-r-k, “bless”). Immediately the word בִּרְכַּיִם (b-r-k in a plural form, “knees”) comes to mind. So the word for blessing in Hebrew tells us that a blessing involves the knees. Whether or not a blessing specifically tells us to bend our knees, as in va-anachnu, the word for blessing itself suggests that we do just that.
So I imagine God stopping the work of creation to look out at the world God created, at the living beings in it, and appreciating it all. God even appreciates the time to appreciate! And God recites blessings, bends the knees toward life and the special space created in time to appreciate life.
Bending the knees signifies many things to me. Respect comes first into my mind. Submission. Awe. Jews bend the knees at various times during prayer, and it signifies all these things in relation to God. But imagine God expressing the same things toward that which God created. Respect recognizes the worth of life and of time, so intimately connected to life. Submission recognizes and bows to human sovereignty in making our own choices.
And awe? Well, I remember when my sons were born. With each, I was in awe. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Everything about them was beautiful, amazing, extraordinary, miraculous . . . awesome. When I imagine God surveying creation, living beings, and bending the knee, when I imagine God in awe of us, it completely transforms my perception of how humanity relates to God.
And then it’s time for creation, for human beings in particular, to respond in kind. There are so many ways to respond, with acts of loving-kindness, with prayerful conversation, with expressions of joy and gratitude — but there is one important Jewish way of responding, with a blessing. We are in a reciprocal relationship. God bends the knee to us as God recites a blessing . . . And we, in turn, bend the knee to God:
בָּרוּך אַתָּה אַדָנָי אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם הָמוֹציא לֶחם מן הַארץ
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
As we “stop” for a brief moment in the expanse of time, appreciate the moment, notice what is before us, truly notice the miracle of this world being here at all, of us being here in this moment to see it . . . notice that our world provides what sustains us, our bread . . . then we cannot help but feel respect, submission to what is much greater than we can possibly grasp or imagine, awe and amazement.