The Jewish day is punctuated with reciting a variety of blessings (in Hebrew, brachot), acknowledging that our food and other pleasures come from God.
This course will primarily discuss the rules of reciting brachot over food -- both before eating, and after eating. It also covers blessings said on special occasions and when seeing natural phenomenon. You’ll gain a foundation in the principles of brachot, and explore the philosophical underpinnings of the bracha concept. This 44-part course delivers it all in a thorough, step-by-step, user-friendly fashion.
This course will give you the confidence to handle a myriad of common situations:
Each class is available online, or as a user-friendly PDF version, so you can print out the material and study at your own pace -- anywhere, anytime.
For a self-check of understanding, each class has interactive online testing: 8 questions based on the written material. And all your test results are stored in your personal online account, so you can track your progress as you study the material.
And finally, there are dynamic video segments that present common scenarios, to guide you through the practical halacha in each case.
Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Rabbi Shraga Simmons holds a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, and rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He is the chief editor of Jewish Pathways, and the senior editor of Aish.com. Rabbi Simmons previously served as Director of Outreach for Aish HaTorah in Los Angeles, and is also the founding editor of HonestReporting.com. His work has been translated into Hebrew, Spanish, French, Indonesian and German. He lives with his wife and children in the Modi'in region of Israel.
Rabbi Yair Spolter
Rabbi Yair Spolter is originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, where he attended the Yeshiva High School of Greater Washington. He studied in Jerusalem for six years under the tutelage of Rabbi Zvi Kushalevsky. Rabbi Spolter is a trained cognitive behavioral therapist and has published articles in a variety of periodicals on subjects ranging from parenting to prayer. He is currently teaching at Yeshiva Gevuras Yitzchok ("Kesher") in Jerusalem. He and his family reside in Kiryat Sefer, Israel.
Rabbi Chaim Gross
Rabbi Chaim Gross was born in London and graduated from Cambridge University. For the past seven years he has been studying at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and lecturing on a range of Torah topics. He recently published a textbook on kashrut and co-authored an ArtScroll book about Sheva Brachot. Rabbi Gross lives with his wife and children in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem.
The Basics
Grain Products
Multiple Foods
More Basics
Change of Location
After-Bracha
Multiple People
Non-Food Blessings
Food Guide
