Q:
What does the word ‘boruch’ mean in all the brachos that we say?
A:
The word boruch comes from the word berech which means a knee. Fundamentally, ‘boruch’ means ‘the One to Whom our knees are bent.’ Boruch atah Hashem means ‘You Hashem are the only One to Whom we bend our knees’.
We don’t actually bend the knees except where Chazal tell us to, but the expression of this word is that we have an attitude of humility. Why do we bend our knees? In hachna’ah, in humility. Because You, Hashem are the One Who gives; You are the nosein and we can’t give anything back to you in return. יָלָﬠ יƒהֹלוּמו¿‚ַּ ̇ לָּכ 'הַל יבƒׁ ָ̆‡ הָמ – What can I recompense Hashem for all that He bestowed upon me? (Tehillim 116:12). What can I give back to You, Hashem, for all the good that You’ve done for me?
You can’t give back anything! All you can do is be nichna. And the Chovos Halevavos says that this is called avodas Hashem. What is avodas Hashem? You’re an eved Hashem if you’re nichna to Him because of all that He does for you and your realization of your inability to pay Him back.
So, ‘Boruch atah Hashem’ means, “You are the One to Whom our knees are bent;” and to nobody else in the world. Of course, we thank those who You tell us to thank. We thank our father and our mother because You told us to thank them. We thank our rebbe because You told us to thank him. We thank the black bus driver and Italian fireman because You told us to.
But whatever we do to thank anybody in the world, it’s really because we are thanking You. Everything is really only from You. And every time we say the words ‘Boruch atah Hashem’ we’re thinking, You’re the only One in the universe Who deserves the bending of our knees.
APE # E-178 (February 25, 1999)
