question for jews??

Question

is there really a prayer your supposed to recite upon seeing a funny-looking person? i heard that orthodox jews do this... what is the prayer??

Answer 1

Not "funny," but different. The purpose of the blessing is to show that we recognize individual beaty and uniqueness as being a creation of of G-d. While some might feel certain things are "mistakes" or "ugly," we are not supposed to feel that, and this blessing is a reminder.


Baruch atah Hashem, Elokeinu melech haolam mishaneh habriyot. Praised are You, the Eternal One our God, who makes all living creations different.

(I wrote Hashem [literally - the Name] and Elokeinu, rather than the actual words because we are not to take the Lord's name in vain.)

jay h - there are brachot that are made for events, such as seeing a great scholar, or hearing thunder, seeing a rainbow..., this bracha falls under that category. Yes, we (orthos) say daily brachot, and this is NOT one of them. Look it up, it is a bracha for being "unique." There is technically no blessing for a "funny-looking" person. It sounds to me a little like the person that told her this was possibly poking fun at a misunderstood orthodox practice.

Reb Yoshi - A few issues - One - there are Blacks ALL over Israel. Always have been. Did you notice the region???? Especially now with the Ethiopians. They do not only live in the Negev or Jerusalem. The Negev, you mean Dimona, right? You do NOT make the bracha over races. It refers to black as in some sort of bruising or birthmark a skin darkening, we know this because the bracha applies to albinos, and someone very red. Not race. A physical deformity. Two - You call Israel "Palestine?" It's been a looooong time. You're NK? - Three - You don't walk up to people and make the bracha "over" them. That would be crazy rude. It's made to ones self.

As a biracial Israeli that speaks Hebrew - Cushi literally means "Ethiopian." ie- M'gillat Esther m'Hodu ad Cush - From India to Ethiopia. That's first. It does not mean a "black person" except to someone that doesn't know. All blacks are NOT Ethiopians. Could it be that R' Caro lived in Spain in the 1570's and they didn't see too many Ethiopians? Thank G-d we have a Yalkut Moshe now.

Anya - Sorry about the turn your question took. Some feel the need to sprinkle things with that unecessary "something" we don't need, because theu can't help it, and not realizing it shows plenty about themselves. Through all of this I hope you got the general idea of what the blessing actually means.

Answer 2

none that i'm aware of. where the heck did you hear that?

when i was in a high school jewish youth group, however, we often read that poem about "G-d forgive me when I whine"- you know the one that says the person met a blind person and then "oh G-d forgive me when I whine, I have 2 eyes, the world is mine" it's a great poem that reminds you to be thankful for what you have.

each morning orthodox jews say a number of prayers during the 1st of their 3 prayer times each day. basically a list of "thanks for keeping alive for another day" prayers.

re: Jewish girl's post- I'll check my prayer book tonite- obviously DIFFERENT creatures is a far cry from FUNNY LOOKING PEOPLE so it's possible that the way the question was described, there's obviously not a prayer you say when you see an ugly or weird person. the prayer she referenced I believe is also used when you see a new creature like in a zoo, something you've never seen before.

Answer 3

there's a blessing for pretty much everything. i just looked it up in my siddur (artscroll) and it says this:

a blessing on seeing exceptionally strange-looking people or animals:

"baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, m'shaneh ha'briyot."

english:
"blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Who makes the creatures different."

EDIT

you're welcome dank.

well lilacs explained the reason for the blessing for more nicely than i did.

jay h, the words "upon seeing exceptionally strange-looking people or animals" comes straight from the artscroll siddur, pg 229 if you have it. i looked up the phrasing and this blessing can be found with examples of other blessings here if you don't believe me: http://home.comcast.net/~judaism/Siddur/transliterations/daily/ber_praise.htm

p.s. i'm not sure why you are upset at this. as lilacs said, the blessing isn't insulting, its a blessing of thanks to G-d for enriching us with diversity.

Answer 4

Yes, Jewish girl is correct. It is not just over funny looking people. If one had not seen a black person in 30 days he would say the same blessing. I got to do this when coming back into AMerica from Palestine.

We hadn't seen a black person our whole trip because we had been in the North, and the black people live mostly around Jerusalem, and in the NEgev. So when we landed, me and five friends asked the passport stamper if we could say the blessing over him. SO we said it in Hebrew, then I translated it into English as "who makes veriety in all of his creations." Then blessed him with success, happiness, and righteous children. He thought it was great.

YOu'd also say it over a red person, an albino, a dwarf, a giant, and a person who has had his hair matted since birth. Elephants and monkeys also get this blessing. A person whi is disfigured ghets a different blessing, Brikh Dayan emes.

EDIT: Lilac above. YOu are mistaken. The blessing is over black people. THe halakhah can be found in Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 225:8. THe Hebrew is, "HaRoeh Cushi...." One who sees a Cushi. Cushi means a person from Cush, the name for Africa south of Egypt in Loshon HaKodesh, the holy dialect of Hebrew used in the BIble, Mishnah and SHulchan Aruch. In Modern Israeli Hebrew, Cushi is a disgusting insult used to mean "N%gger;" but in the holy tongue it just means a black person. You see, we are not racist, and thus recognize that different types of people testify to G_d's wisdom and greatness; so we do not shy away from pointing out differences and being thankful for them, rather than trying to cover them up and pretend they are not there.

In 225:9 it is explained if the person has changed due to an injury or accident, one does not make this blessing, but Barukh Dayan EMes. SO you do not make the blessing over a black-and-blue person, G-d forbid; you make the blessing Barukh Dayan Emes.

Anyways, for the asker, I will quote the actual passage so he can see all the people the blessing is over, "If one sees a Black African, a person born ruby red, an albino, a person who is so tall he must bend, a person with an enormous belly who must bend (considered in classical Judaism a sign of male beauty), a dwarf, a person covered in warts from birth, a person who's hair is matted into one piece since birth, an elephant, or a monkey, one must say, Blessed are you O L-rd our G_d King of the Universe, who makes variety in his creations. If one sees a person born lame, a person with stumps, a blind person, a person with boils, or a shiny person, then if they have been like this since birth, one says, 'Who makes veriety in his creations', if they were not born like this, you say, 'Blessed is the truthful Judge.' " - SHulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim, 225:8-9.

BTW, Yosef Caro is quoting gemmorah Brakhos, written in the 5th century . As an Israeli you speak Ivrit, the Modern dialect of Hebrew. The SHulkhan Arukh speaks in Loshon Kodesh. Cush means Ethiopia now, but Ethiopia did not exist as a nation back then, it was a general name for the are south of Egypt as I said. I also live in the region. In Ramat Beis Shemesh near Jerusalem. Rabbi Caro did not live in Spain when he wrote Shulchan Aruch, he lived in Palestine then and is burried in Tzfas, called Safed in English. He was not writiing from his own mind, but quoting gemmorah brakhos. I'm sorry you are uncomfortable with your own faith's enlightened gratitude concerning racial differences.

Answer 5

That was really good Jewishgirl,
thank you for posting

Answer 6

this isnt true i never heard such a thing and being jewish i would

Answer 7

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL