👑 Blessed be "The Name"

Baruch Hashem • בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם

Barukh Hashem (בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם) is the Hebrew way to say, “Thank God”.
It is a way to express appreciation for what we have and what we are experiencing.

Different Meanings:

It can mean so many different things.

• - It can convey the feeling of: “Don't even ask. My enemies should have my troubles!”
• - Or with a dubious tone it conveys, “I am not so sure everything will be ok.”

In the Bible:

Barukh HaShem is mentioned four times in the Bible. Noah, awakens from a wine-induced sleep and discovers that his sons spared him losing his own dignity in his drunkenness. He gratefully utters the blessing, “Barukh HaShem” (Genesis 9:26).

Abraham, the first Hebrew, when he asked his trusty Canaanite servant Eliezer to find the perfect wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. When Rebecca agrees to allow Eliezer to lodge with her family on his sacred errand, Eliezer says “Barukh HaShem.” (Gen. 24:27).

Later on, Isaac is offered a peace treaty by King Abimelekh, who responds with, “Barukh HaShem.” (Gen. 26:29).

And when The Midianite priest Jethro learns about the miracle of how God delivered the Israelites from Egypt he exclaims, “Barukh HaShem.” (Exodus 18:10).

Non-Israelites:

Noah, Eliezer, Abimelekh and Jethro – all Biblical characters who were not even Israelites! When they bless God, they do so from a sense that everything they enjoyed was because of a power greater than themselves. They are true role models for us to express gratitude in our everyday lives.

Who's Name?

But here is the thing: Barukh HaShem doesn’t literally mean “thank God;”
It literally means “Blessed be 'the Name’, as in God’s Name.

If we want to express gratitude to the Divine, are these the words we would use?

The Israelites had awe for God’s proper name, spelled with the Hebrew letters yud, hay, vav, hay. But without knowing the vowels that accompany those letters, the Israelites thought it was better to substitute “the Name” instead of messing up the exact pronunciation of God’s name.

That’s how this expression seeped into the vocabulary of gratitude.

Gratitude:

The expression is a response to the good we see in our lives, or even the good we hope for in our lives. And that is something worth striving for. Can we exude that kind of thankfulness the way that Noah, Eliezer, Abimelekh and Jethro did? If not, what holds us back? Maybe we think that only Orthodox Jewish people use this expression. Maybe we get stuck on the theology implied by the word “blessed,” because we don’t believe in God, the traditional ‘blesser.’
If we attribute everything good to a higher spiritual power, what happens to our own sense of personal agency?

A word of Caution:

When you have built fine houses to live in and everything you own has prospered, watch out – your heart may grow overly confident. You may forget that God freed you from the house of bondage – lest you say, “My own power and might have won this wealth for me.”
(Deuteronomy. 8:11-14, 17)

Set the Example:

The Bible tells us that there is a pretty good chance we can get over confident. And gratitude is one protector against that. Saying “Barukh HaShem” does not have to mean abandoning our own sense of personal agency. But acknowledging a higher power in our lives is a way to walk the talk of gratitude. When we encounter goodness in our lives, we can remain humble and not to take it for granted.

Gratitude is good for us. Gratitude is our daily lives in its fullest expression.

And, even said in its subtlest tone, “Barukh HaShem,” can help us realize that things could often be worse, and indeed, we do have so much to be grateful for!!