The blessing is important for you more than it is for God receiving thanks for what He has done. The blessing reminds you that God has provided you with all this, and that you should enjoy having the Torah, the mitzvot, etcetera. Reciting the blessings ‘alerts’ you to the fact that you have got great amounts of food and freedom, and so you should be thankful, because lots of people out there in the world do not have that. Judaism puts a big emphasis on gratitude – it is something that allows us to realise what other people are doing in our lives.
Explain how the blessings which you have studied might influence a Jews’ attitude towards people who live in poverty.
The blessings state that God “gives nourishment to all flesh” and that He “nourishes and sustains all.” Although it says this, that God will do all this, we see that it isn’t happening as lots of people living in poverty, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, are dying from starvation – in fact, 41,000 human beings die every day from malnutrition and starvation. Samson H. Hirsch says, “The verse doesn’t say that a righteous person will never be hungry. It just says that a righteous person will never be forsaken.” This is true – God has given us the food for everyone, he has provided the nourishment that will feed everyone, but now it is our responsibility to distribute it. The blessing will make Jews feel pity towards people living in poverty. It will influence Jews not to just disregard people living in poverty, but instead change their attitude so they see people in poverty need food therefore they should be trying to help by giving tzedakah. God makes it our duty to hand out the food to people in poverty, and so if God still cares about them, then so should we, so Jews will start to care for them more, helping with charities, etc. The Torah tells us to give food to anyone that says they need – that includes everyone. We are told we’re not allowed to check whether they’re lying or not, we must just give the food.
The blessings we have studied may also help Jews change their attitude towards people in poverty by reminding us that we were once captured in Egypt and had similar conditions. Jews know a lot about the story of Egypt, and so if they know how Jews must have felt living in Egypt, they will get a similar thought of how people in poverty currently feel. By realising how these people feel, they may change attitude and want to do something for them (such as give charity).
‘Saying "thank you" to God is the most important duty for a Jew.’
Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view.
I do not agree with this statement. God knows what we think and so in fact, doesn’t need our thanks. God has asked us to do so many thingas, with the Torah and through other methods, and so doesn’t want you to thank him for this, but rather would like you to carry them out. Actually doing what you’re thanking God for or appreciating it is much more valuable than thanking God. Jews have lots of duties to fulfil – saying “thank you” is certainly not priority. For example, God tells us to give charity – and so giving to charity, and helping people that are in need, is much more important than thanking God for telling us to give charity.
Alternatively, people could say thanking God is the most important thing because He has given you the opportunity to live, and more importantly, live in his creation. He’s given you the Torah and everything you will need (such as the food mentioned in the blessing). Many Jews will believe also, that if we do not give our appreciation to God, he will regard it as if we are arrogant and we aren’t recognising how much He has actually done.
In conclusion, I think that saying “thank you” to God is not the most important duty for a Jew, and that there are many other things God would prefer us to do before thanking him.
