I bless you that you should find your soul mate. You should be blessed with good health. We all want blessings in our lives. But what does blessing really mean? Is it simply what we say when we really want something to happen? Is it a good wish?

Let’s start by looking at the Hebrew word for blessing, bracha. 

The very first time we see this word in the Tanach is in Genesis 1:22 when God blesses the fish and birds, “And God blessed them saying: Be fruitful and multiply…”

The blessing repeats itself a few verses later when God blesses man to be fruitful and multiply as well.

Based on these verses, blessings or bracha seems to be related to increasing or multiplying—to have more than what you have. This makes sense because when we bless someone, we often wish a great increase for that person.

Let’s go a little further.

The word bracha is related to another Hebrew word breicha which means a water cistern. These two words share the same root letters but they are pronounced differently.

What was a water cistern (breicha) in the ancient world?

The cistern was the place where water was gathered and from there it would expand out to provide water for multiple uses—drinking, farming, cleaning, cooking etc. It was the source of the water that provided for many.

Like a water source, a bracha bursts forth to provide nourishment and sustenance to all who receive it.

When we bless someone, we are acknowledging the source of blessings, namely God. We do not bless people with good health or happiness. We bless people that the source of all blessings, God, should give them good health and happiness.

Another Hebrew word related to bracha (blessing) is the word berech which means knee. What is the relationship between these two words?

When we offer a bracha and recognize God as the source of all blessings, we are, at the same time bending our knee in recognition of God’s greatness and submitting to His will.

Blessings are a way of connected everything in our lives back to God, the source of all.