Q&A: What Does "Who Has Made Me According to His Will" Mean?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
What Does "Who Has Made Me According to His Will" Mean?
Question
Hello, I’m having trouble understanding the wording of the blessing “who has made me according to His will,” and I would really appreciate your explanation. From what I understand, “Blessed is He who has made me according to His will” means thanking Him for making me the way He wanted. And I have 2 questions about that:
- What exactly is there to give thanks for here? That God made me in accordance with what He wanted? And not in accordance with someone else’s will?
- If this is a general blessing for the fact that God does things the way He wants, why is it specifically in the gender context? Why not, for example, “who made the elephant according to His will”? Thank you very much, have a good day.
Answer
- I think this is simply internalizing that what you are is the right thing. As opposed to the thoughts we sometimes have that we could have been in a better situation.
- It is said in the gender context because according to the Sages, being a woman is indeed less good. Therefore, specifically she needs to internalize what I wrote in 1.
Discussion on Answer
Not necessarily. The fact that women are obligated in fewer commandments is also an advantage. A man takes precedence over a woman because he is obligated in more commandments. That does not mean it is better to be a man. The chance that at some point in your life someone will ever be competing with you over rescue is negligible.
I understand, thank you. And you don’t agree with the Sages that it is less good to be a woman? After all, a man takes precedence over a woman in being kept alive, which implies that when you weigh all the various advantages in a man’s life and in a woman’s life, a man’s life comes out preferable. At least from a halakhic standpoint. No?