Surrounded by the Mitzvot: Gender and Daily Ritual in Tosefta Berakhot

9. One who performs any of the commandments must recite a benediction over them. One who makes a sukkah for himself says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has brought us to this occasion.”

[One who] enters to dwell in it says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has sanctified us through His commandments and commanded us to dwell in the sukkah.”

Once he recites a benediction over it on the first day, he need not recite the benediction again [on the remaining days of the festival].

10. One who makes a lulab for himself says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who gave us life and preserved us and brought us to this occasion.”

When he takes it [in hand] he says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has sanctified us through His commandments and commanded us concerning the taking of the lulab.”

And he must recite the benediction over it [the lulab] all seven [days of the festival].

One who makes fringes for himself [on his garment] says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has given us life . . . ”

When he wraps himself [in the garment] he says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has sanctified us through His commandments and commanded us to wrap ourselves in fringes.”

And he must recite a benediction over them [the fringes] every day [when he puts on the garment].

One who makes phylacteries [tefillin] for himself says, “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has given us life . . .”

When he puts them on [he says], “Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who has sanctified us through His commandments and commanded us to put on phylacteries.” [ . . . ]

18. R. Judah says, “A man must recite three benedictions every day: (1) ‘Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who did not make me a gentile’; (2) ‘Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who did not make me a boor’; (3) ‘Praised [are You, O Lord . . . ] who did not make me a woman.’

“A gentile—as Scripture states, All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness (Isaiah 40:17, NRSV).

“A boor—for ‘A boor does not fear sin’ [m. Abot 2:5].

“A woman—for women are not obligated [to perform all] the commandments.” [ . . . ]

24. R. Meir used to say, “There is no man in Israel who does not perform one hundred commandments each day [and thereby recites one hundred benedictions].

“He recites the shema‘ and recites benedictions before and afterwards, eats his bread and recites benedictions before and afterwards, and recites three times [the Prayer] of Eighteen Benedictions, and performs all the other commandments and recites benedictions over them.”

25. And so would R. Meir say, ‘‘There is no man in Israel who is not surrounded by commandments [which protect him]. [He has] phylacteries on his head; phylacteries on his arm; a mezuzah on his doorpost, and four fringes [on his garment] around him, and concerning them [the commandments] David said, Seven times a day I praise thee for thy righteous ordinances (Psalm 119:164). He enters a bathhouse [and sees the mark of] circumcision in his flesh, as scripture states, To the choirmaster according to Sheminith [the eighth—here taken as a reference to circumcision on the eighth day after birth] (Psalm 12:1), and scripture states, The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them (Psalm 34:8).