The Barakhah Or Blessing

The barakhah, blessing or benediction, is the chief form of prayer in Jewish worship. The New Testament provides numerous examples of the use of this form of prayer by Jesus and the apostles. The barakhah (translated in the Christian Scriptures aseucharistia[thanksgiving] or eulogia [blessing] and in the Latin Bible as benedictio [blessing] or gratiarum actio [thanksgiving]) was and is the chief form of prayer in Jewish liturgy and spirituality. It is the chief form of prayer because it determines the meaning and context of all prayer, as well as the dynamic movement and horizon of all liturgy and all the feasts. The barakhah consists in an attitude and formula of wonder, praise, thanksgiving, and acknowledgment of the unmerited divine benevolence that provides for God's children and gladdens them with the fruits of the earth and every kind of blessing. In the course of time the mark of the barakhahcame to be the set, standardized words with which every prayer began and ended: "Bless…