Leningrad Codex carpet page, 1010 CE · public domain

Judaism

Tradition·Founded c. 1000 BCE·est. ~15 million worldwide

Judaism → 8 branches

Branch
Rite of Judaism

A hundred blessings, and washed hands.

The blessing after the bathroom thanks God for openings and closings and states that if one of them failed a person could not stand for a moment. It is said several times a day, in every movement, in complete seriousness.

⏱ daily — from waking to sleeping◌ Everyone; children learn it before they can read
What happensWater poured over each hand on waking, before bread, and after the bathroom; a blessing for bread, for wine, for fruit, for thunder, for a rainbow, for a scholar, and for plumbing that works
What it needsA two-handled cup by the bed and another by the sink
What it aims atA hundred blessings a day, by the Talmud's count — attention as a discipline rather than a mood
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this rite is held

This is the layer that makes Judaism a full-time occupation rather than a weekly one. A blessing exists for bread, for wine, for anything that grows on a tree, for anything that grows in the ground, for smelling spices, for hearing thunder, for seeing lightning, for seeing the ocean, for meeting a great scholar, for meeting a monarch, for seeing a person of unusual appearance, for hearing bad news, and for surviving a dangerous journey. The Talmud sets the target at a hundred a day, which the standard liturgy roughly delivers on its own. Handwashing is ritual rather than hygienic: a two-handled cup, poured over each hand in turn, on waking, before eating bread, and after leaving the bathroom. Asher yatzar, said after the bathroom, thanks God for the body's openings and closings and observes that if one of them were wrongly open or closed a person could not survive an hour — it is printed on plaques inside the bathrooms of Jewish schools and hospitals, and it is said by people who have had surgery with a directness that surprises visitors. Non-Orthodox Jews say fewer of these and the ones they keep are usually the ones over bread, wine and candles.

The same ground, other faiths

rites that share this one's ideas
The new year. Buddhism Go deeper →
Blessing the water. Christianity Go deeper →
Aqiqah — the first words. Islam Go deeper →
No idols, no omens, no auspicious days. Sikhism · precept Go deeper →
The talisman. Taoism Go deeper →
Purity is restored, not earned. Shinto · core tenet Go deeper →

The conversation

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