Bent-Kneed Blessings
And so besides for the word Atah we come now to the next most important word in the Shemoneh Esrei. It’s the word that is found together with Atah most frequently: בָּרוּךְ. Boruch! What does the word ‘boruch’ mean? So we say it means ‘blessed’. But fundamentally, the word boruch means “we bend our knees to You.” It comes from the word berech, which means a knee. Boruch means ‘the One to Whom our knees are bent’.
When you're humbled in gratitude what do you say? You say thank you, thank you and thank you. That's all you can say. What else can you do for Hakadosh Baruch Hu? And that's why boruch is translated as ‘blessing’ – all of our blessings are from You – but actually it means ‘I am humbled before You because You are giving me what I cannot repay’.
The Ninety-Nine Percenters
So, for example, when you say אַתָּה חוֹנֵן לְאָדָם דַּעַת, you’re reminded that if it wasn’t for Hakadosh Baruch Hu you’d be a raving lunatic. Don’t think “I’m sane. I was born sane. I have to be sane.” You don’t have to be anything.
Insanity is very prevalent chas veshalom. A great part of the populace is suffering from it, whether they're institutionalized or not. So many people, men and women, can't get married because they have quirks in their mind; and they're suffering. So many people cannot earn a living. They can't adjust to others.
Sanity is a tremendous gift! So you don’t have it a hundred percent? Ninety five percent is also very good. And so boruch means that my knees are bent to You, Hashem, for every minute that You’re giving me daas. And the more you thank, the more you think about that when you say בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' חוֹנֵן הַדַּעַת, the more you’re using tefillah for it’s purpose.
The Healthy Bent-Kneed
All the brachos are the same. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' רוֹפֵא חוֹלֵי עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל. ‘Oh, Hashem, I thank You so much for my health!’ Does a person realize how many hundreds of thousands of complicated situations take place in his body every day? And every one is mamesh a miracle.
It's worthwhile looking once in a while into the big textbooks on diseases. There are so many diseases that the physicians are not able to cure. Some are serious and some not but there are so many for which they know no cause, no known cause. This syndrome and that syndrome – names they have plenty but they don't know the cause and they don't know how to cure it. They won't tell it to you like that, but it's a fact. If you read the books it will open up your eyes.
And so if you’re more or less healthy, use those words in the tefillah to feel bent-kneed to the One Who gave it to you. And beg Him that it should stay that way. If you have health, you should be very much concerned about holding onto it because every little corner of your body is susceptible chas veshalom. And so you must ask that all the pratim should be in perfect harmony because the smallest part of your body, if it wouldn't function correctly could chas veshalom make life miserable. You need Hakadosh Baruch Hu on your side to keep you well. Nothing else will help.
