Barukh atah, Adonai Elohenu, Melek ha-olam

This past weekend, Ben joined a few guys/gals to do Rick's Run, a run dedicated to a friend who lost his battle to cancer last year. The combined run was 160K and money was raised to help support Rick's wife and three children. It's times like these that I take a step back to thank God for this day, a gift called today. Not everyone gets to experience this gift and those of us who do often forget to take advantage of it. The Jews saturate their lives with prayer. They have tiny prayers called a brakah, which means 'blessing,' for everything. (Think Fiddler on the Roof and Tevye's answer that yes, there's even a blessing for a sewing machine...) There is a prayer of thanksgiving for everything, even after using the restroom. Think of starting each day with:

"Blessed are you, O Lord our God, 

King of the universe, 

for returning my soul to me with compassion. 

You are faithful beyond measure."