Guidance

GUIDANCE

,םָלוֹעָה ךֶלֶמ וּניֵהֹלֱא הוהי הָּתאַ ךוּרָּב .רֶבָג יֵדֲעְצִמ ןיִכֵּמַה Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Majesty of the world, who prepares and guides a person’s steps.

LEARNING

This blessing literally means that God prepares the footsteps of humankind. Humans are the only species that walks upright. In Jacob’s famous dream, the ladder described in the Torah “is rooted to the ground, yet its top reaches the heavens.”19 This is also a metaphorical description of the human being. Our feet are rooted to the ground, yet our souls strive to transcend. In this blessing, we thank God for preparing our paths as unique human beings with an impact to leave on the world, an impact that connects our soul’s striving with the footsteps of our actions.

INSPIRATION

This blessing is an appreciation that God prepares our footsteps not only as a species, but also as individuals. It acknowledges a personal relationship in which God attends to our unique path, cheers our successes, joins in lamenting our mistakes, and provides what we need in order to learn from those mistakes.

REFLECTION

How can we open our hearts and minds to see messengers and messages as signposts for the path that is ours to walk?

PERSONAL PRAYER

Allow me to accept that I can’t know where the paths of life will lead. Embed in me the understanding that in choices there is no absolute evil or absolute good. Open my eyes to see Your guidance; May that guidance be toward a path for good. Pour into me the faith that we will arrive at the most fitting destinations, even if the way bends and is not always clear. Teach me to step with confidence.

— Sigal Benglas, Rehovot, Israel