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Top Document: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Observance, Marriage, Women in Judaism (4/12) Previous Document: Question 5.13: What happened to the observance on 14 Nisan as Passover? Next Document: Question 6.1: What is Kosher? Doesn't a rabbi just bless the food? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Answer:
First, note that both Mother's Day and Father's Day are American
holidays, not Jewish holidays. Although some congregations may
recognize them, they are not Jewish holidays, as demonstrated by their
being observed on a Sunday, a traditional Christian day for church
worship.
So, how to bless your mother. Listen to what she says; do what she
asks. Find a nice Jewish person to marry.
Seriously, although one may be able to develop a blessing for
anything, in traditional Judaism, blessing one's parents is not the
normal construction. In traditional Judaism, blessings are generally
bestowed by the have to the have not: kohein to masses, Abraham's
children to the rest of the world, parent to child, rebbe to
student/chasid. To bestow a blessing implies having G-d's "ear".
Everyone has G-d's attention, and "The blessing of commoners should
not be a light thing in your eyes." This adds much meaning to wishing
another "Mazal Tov!" or "Refu'ah sheleimah" (complete healing).
However, codified blessings tend to run in one direction. A creative
rabbi, of course, could craft something, but it wouldn't be a codified
construction (i.e., standard in Judaism).
By the way, what is a good day in Judaism for recognizing parents?
We've noted above that Mother's Day and Father's Day are not
(actually, they were created by the greeting card companies). Here's a
suggestion: Shavuot is a great time for children to honor their
parents, as the Torah portion for the week is a reading of the 10
commandments that includes the directive. It is also a great time for
remembering all the other 9 commandments, and that we should be
following them (as we do every week when we study Torah).
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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