Birkat HaGomel In Times of War |
For months, I’ve been thinking about writing a piece about the traditional blessing of gratitude that we say in Judaism after surviving a life-threatening situation. And then, during our daf yomi siyum recently, marking the completion of Masechet Menachot, someone spoke about her recent near-death experience and how they thanked Hashem afterwards for saving her son’s life.
I’ve learned many beautiful customs and practices along the path to becoming more observant, and Birkat HaGomel and the Seudah Hodaya are certainly meaningful ones. In ancient times, when the Temple stood, an individual who had survived one of four dangerous situations that are mentioned in the Gemara (Berakhot 54b) would bring a Korban Todah to the Temple. This included situations where you survived sea or desert travel, sickness, or captivity.
With the destruction of the Second Temple, the physical sacrificial system stopped, and the sages designated prayer to stand in for sacrifices. The Korban Todah turned into Birkat HaGomel, a prayer said in the........