[lit-ideas] "Bless you": a performative?
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 22:40:12 EDT
In a message dated 8/5/2004 1:29:05 PM Eastern Standard Time,
JulieReneB@xxxxxxx writes:
You really wouldn't take well to Judaism, Mike. Half the prayer service
consists of sentences which begin with "Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melek
ha-olam" (Blessed are you Lord our God, Master of the Universe....). When
you eat
bread you say "Blessed are you Lord our God Master of the Universe who
brings forth bread from the earth" -- when you do *anything* you bless God
first.
Prayers are interspersed frequently with "Baruch HaShem" (blessed is the
Name (of God)). Interesting, the emphasis in Christianity on God blessing
people and the emphasis in Judaism on people blessing God. Actually I
think it's
more an acknowledgement -- "I recognize that you are a Blessed One"....but
that's not how much rabbinic commentary talks about it. I read a piece on
the
blessing of God in Judaism by Heschel, I think, once, (or maybe Kaplan?)
----
While the OED recognises 'bless' as originally 'heathen', there's this note
which connects the word to the Hebrew tradition:
'to bless"
"To make â??sacredâ?? or â??holyâ?? with blood;
to consecrate by some sacrificial rite which
was held to render a thing inviolable from profane
use of men and evil influence of men or demons.
"The streaking of the lintel and doorposts with blood,
Exodus xii. 23,
to mark them as holy to the Lord and inviolable by the
destroying angel, was apparently the kind of idea expressed
by [English bloedsian] in pre-christian times.
----- So, there may be an element of 'pre-Christian' cognate with 'Hebrew'?
"Cf. also the history of the Latin words
'consecrare' and 'sacrificium'.
---- I haven't been able to check this. But 'consecrare' seems to really
have (if you excuse the split infinitive) the root for 'sangue', blood?
Cheers,
JL
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
