Morning Blessings

Birchot HaShachar are a series of blessings recited each morning as part of the Shacharit prayer. They include thanksgiving for the renewal of body and soul, blessings of the Torah, and 15 blessings for daily gifts we enjoy. The blessings are mentioned in the Talmud (Berachot 60b).

The main differences: (1) Order of blessings. In Sephardi nusach, Torah blessings come after the morning blessings. In Ashkenazi, they come before. (2) The order of the 15 blessings differs. In Sephardi, the 'who has not made me' blessings are near the end (12-14). In Ashkenazi they are at the beginning (2-4). (3) Sephardi nusach includes additional 'Yehi Ratzon' prayers not found in Ashkenazi.

Two main differences: (1) Men say 'who has not made me a woman' while women say 'who made me according to His will'. (2) Men say 'Modeh Ani' while women say 'Modah Ani' (a grammatical gender change).

'Modeh Ani' is said immediately upon waking, before washing hands. After washing hands and using the restroom, one says 'Asher Yatzar', 'Elohai Neshama', and the rest of the blessings according to the nusach. Some say all blessings at home, others at the synagogue.

The Hebrew name is ברכות השחר. Because Hebrew can be transliterated in several ways, you will see it written Birkot HaShachar, Birchot HaShachar and Birkat HaShachar, and in Ashkenazi pronunciation Birchos HaShachar, or Birchas HaShachar for the singular form. All of them refer to the same set of morning blessings. This page gives the complete order in vowelized Hebrew with transliteration and English translation, in both Sephardi and Ashkenazi nusach.

The Talmud (Berakhot 60b) arranges the blessings around the actions of waking: on opening the eyes one says pokeach ivrim, on getting dressed malbish arumim, on standing up zokef kefufim, and so on. The Talmud itself gives no number, so the count varies between siddurim depending on what is included: Elohai Neshama, the blessing on washing the hands, Asher Yatzar and the blessings on the Torah are sometimes counted apart from Birkot HaShachar proper. Another factor is HaNoten LaYaef Koach, which does not appear in the Talmud at all. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 46:6) writes that some have the custom to say it but that their words do not seem correct, and the Rema adds there that it is nonetheless the widespread practice among Ashkenazim. Customs differ, so some siddurim count it and some do not. This page includes it in both nusachim. The number the sources themselves give is not eighteen but one hundred: a person is obliged to recite one hundred blessings every day (Menachot 43b, codified in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 46:3).