Yesterday, we were hanging out on our friends’ porch. Suddenly our host exclaimed, “There’s a rainbow!”
“Where, where?” said the kids.
“There,” said I.
“Where, where?” said the kids.
“There,” said I.
“Where, where?” said the kids.
“There,” said I.
“See the house next door?” I responded. “See the balcony? See the white roof over the balcony? Now, look right over the roof.”
“I have a book with a rainbow. The rainbow in the book is much clearer. There you can see the colors,” Y said, holding up clenched fists to accentuate his point.
He’s right. Rainbows in books are much better defined than real ones. But it was cool showing them their first rainbow (cool enough that we were still talking about it at bedtime).
After they oohed and aahed, we took out a siddur (prayerbook) and recited the blessing. Why is there a blessing for a rainbow?
As Y will be happy to explain to you, after G‑d brought the great flood, He assured Noah that He would never again destroy His world, and the rainbow was to be the sign of His promise. When we see the rainbow, we thank Him for keeping His covenant and not washing the world clean, however undeserving we may be.
And it ain’t just rainbows.
For every food, there is a blessing as well. From the time the kids can speak, we begin to teach them the blessings that we say on various foods. More than just mastering ritual, in our experience, having the kids learn the blessings has done so much to teach them where food comes from and give them a sense of gratitude to G‑d, from whom everything comes.
Before eating something that grows from the ground, we say the blessing that translates as “Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, king of the universe, who creates fruit of the earth.” When eating tree fruit, however, we replace the word “earth” with “tree.” You get the point.
In the beginning, they would just say the blessings with us, word for word. But by now they have mastered many on their own. And when they do not know them, and ask, “What do I say on this, Daddy?” we like to turn the question around and ask, “Well, where does it grow?”
They have learned many things. First of all, they are very much aware of where and how foods are produced. And perhaps more importantly, now when they need help with a blessing, instead of asking “What brachah (blessing) is this?” they ask where the food in question grows. I am not sure what it would be, but I am sure that there is a term somewhere to describe the process of asking one question and transferring the information to answer another.
But the blessing is just the beginning. You see, after we say a blessing, all present are supposed to answer “Amen.” Now, R has gotten it into her head that she needs to make sure that everyone answers Amen to her blessing. So after she makes her blessing, she will go from person to person making sure that they respond accordingly.
Maybe it is a power thing. Maybe it is her sincere desire to have everyone participate in her praise of G‑d. Whatever the reason, I think it is pretty cute.
