Judaism has blessings for everything! Did you know there is a special blessing that a person says after surviving a dangerous experience?
Birkat Hagomel (pronounced beer-KHAT hah-GOH-mel) is a prayer of gratitude commonly said after recovering from a serious illness or a life-threatening accident.
It originated in the Talmud, and was recited for a variety of situations that were considered harrowing during the time, including being freed from jail, traveling at sea or through the desert, giving birth to a child, and surviving a mortal danger.
Birkat Hagomel is often recited at a synagogue after the Torah has been read, in the presence of a minyan (quorum of ten people) so that it can be made as a public declaration of gratitude to God for God’s protection. But an individual may say the blessing privately too.
Here are the words:
Baruch ata adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, ha-gomel t’chayavim tovim she-g’malani kol tuv.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the world, who rewards the undeserving with goodness, and who has rewarded me with goodness.
After a person recites the blessing, those who heard it respond:
Mi she-g’malcha kol tuv, hu yi-g’malcha kol tuv selah.
May God who rewarded you with all goodness, reward you with all goodness forever.