בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשּכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יום וּבֵין לָיְלָה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. שֶׁלּא עָשנִי גּוי לנקבה: גּויָה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. שֶׁלּא עָשנִי עָבֶד לנקבה: שִׁפְחָה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, גברים אומרים: שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי אשָּׁה נשים אומרות: שֶׁעָשַׂנִי כִּרְצוֹנוֹ.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who gave the rooster (or mind) insight to distinguish between day and night.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who did not make me a gentile.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who did not make me a slave (Women say: A maidservant).
Men- Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who did not make me a woman.
Women- Blessed are you, Hashem, our G-d and king of the world, who made me according to his will.
ר' יהודה אומר שלש ברכות צריך לברך בכל יום: ברוך שלא עשני גוי, ברוך שלא עשני אשה, [ברוך] שלא עשני בור. גוי - "כל הגוים כאין נגדו". אשה - אין אשה חייבת במצוות. בור - שאין בור ירא חטא, ולא עם הארץ חסיד.
Rebbi Yehudah (2nd Century) says, “A person is obligated to say [the following] three Berachot (blessings) every day: Baruch...Shelo Asani Goy (Blessed are You for not making me a gentile), Shelo Asani Isha (Blessed are You for not making me a woman), Shelo Asani Bur (Blessed are You for not making me a boor). [The reason for saying a Beracha for not making him] a gentile is because it says ‘All nations are like nothing to Him. He considers them to be empty and void.’ (Isaiah 40:17) [The reason for saying a Beracha for not making him] a woman is because women are not obligated in Mitzvot (commandments).” [The reason for saying a Beracha for not making him] a boor is because a boor is not afraid of sin.
תניא היה ר"מ אומר חייב אדם לברך שלש ברכות בכל יום אלו הן שעשאני ישראל שלא עשאני אשה שלא עשאני בור
It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: A man is obligated to recite three blessings every day praising God for His kindnesses, and these blessings are: Who did not make me a gentile; Who did not make me a woman; and Who did not make me an ignoramus.
אחא בר יעקב שמעיה לבריה דהוה קא מברך שלא עשאני בור. אמר ליה כולי האי נמי? אמר ליה ואלא מאי מברך שלא עשאני עבד היינו אשה עבד. זיל טפי
Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov )(4th century) heard his son reciting the blessing: Who did not make me an ignoramus. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said to him: Is it in fact proper to go this far in reciting blessings? Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov’s son said to him: Rather, what blessing should one recite? If you will say that one should recite: Who did not make me a slave, that is the same as a woman; why should one recite two blessings about the same matter? Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov answered: Nevertheless, a slave is more lowly than a woman, and therefore it is appropriate to recite an additional blessing on not having been born a slave.
ודבורה אשה נביאה מה טיבה של דבורה שנתנבאת על ישראל ושפטה אותם? והלא פינחס בן אלעזר עומד! מעיד אני עלי את השמים ואת הארץ בין גוי בין ישראל בין איש בין אשה בין עבד בין שפחה הכל לפי מעשיו של אדם רוח הקדש שורה עליו.
And Devorah, was a prophetess. What was she like, that she prophesied about Israel and judged them? Wasn't Pinchas ben Eleazar alive then? I bring Heaven and Earth to bear witness that the Divine Spirit may rest upon a gentile and a Jew, a man and a woman, a slave and a maid—all depends on the deeds of that particular person. (Yalkut Shimoni, Shoftim 42)
Cairo Geniza fragments: (approximately 9th Century)
"who made me a person and not a beast, a man and not a woman, an Israelite and not a gentile, one who circumcizes others and is not uncircumcised himself, free and not a slave.
From Yoel Kahn "On Gentiles, Slaves, and Women." in Birkhot Hashachar: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries. ed L. Hoffman.
Diogenes Laertius, 3rd century: Socrates used to say there were three blessings for which he was grateful to fortune: first, that I was born a person and not a beast; next, that I was born a man and not a woman; third, a Greek and not a barbarian.
The Benedictions of Self Identity/ Yosef Tabory
Plutrach reports that Plato on his death bed thanked the fates for making him a human rather than an animal, a Greek rather than a barbarian and that he lived during the time of Socrates.
Galatians 3:28 NT
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Paul)
Tur by Rabbeinu Jacob ben Asher (Spain 1269-1340) "Women customarily say , 'who made me according to His will,' and it is possible that they do this like one who accepts the justice of a bad decree."
Italian Siddur by Abraham Farissol in 1478.
"who made me a woman and not a man."
The formulation of the 3 blessings in the 1946 Conservative Shabbat and Festival Siddur. (Sim Shalom on p. 65." "One had only to adopt she'asani yisrael for the first blessing and to formulate the second in the positive, she'asani ben chorin ("who made me free".) In its new form, the blessing "who made me free" expresses the basic conviction that freedom is not a gift conferred to human beings by governmental fiat and therefor liable to be restricted or removed at the pleasure of the ruler or the desire of the majority. Freedom is the inalienable right of every human being deriving from his estate as a creature fashioned in the image of God." Robert Gordis.
סידור ואני תפילתי
ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני בצלמו.
ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני בן/ בת חורין.
ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני ישראל.
ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שעשני כרצונו.
Siddur Vaani Tefilati:
Blessed are you, Hashem, our God and king of the world, Who had made me in His image.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our God and king of the world,
Who has made me free.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our God and king of the world,
Who had made me an Isralite.
Blessed are you, Hashem, our God and king of the world, who has made me according to His will.
שירת אישה/ אסתר ראב (1969)
בָּרוּךְ שֶׁעָשַׂנִי אִשָּׁה –
שֶׁאֲנִי אֲדָמָה וְאָדָם,
וְצֵלָע רַכָּה;
בָּרוּךְ שֶׁעֲשִׂיתַנִי
עִגּוּלִים עִגּוּלִים –
כְּגַלְגַּלֵּי מַזָּלוֹת
וּעִגּוּלֵי פֵּרוֹת –
שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לִי בָּשָׂר חַי
פּוֹרֵחַ,
וַעֲשִׂיתַנִי כְּצֶמַח הַשָּׂדֶה –
נוֹשֵׂא פְּרִי;
שֶׁקִּרְעֵי עֲנָנֶיךָ,
מַחֲלִיקִים כְּמֶשִׁי
עַל פָּנַי וִירֵכַי;
וַאֲנִי גְּדוֹלָה
וּמְבַקֶּשֶׁת לִהְיוֹת יַלְדָּה,
בּוֹכִיָּה מִצַּעַר,
וְצוֹחֶקֶת, וְשָׁרָה בְּקוֹל,
דַּק מִן הַדַּק –
כִּצְרָצַר זָעִיר
בְּמַקְהֵלַת כְּרוּבֶיךָ
הַנַּעֲלָה –
קְטַנָּה שֶׁבִּקְטַנּוֹת –
אֲנִי מְשַׂחֶקֶת
לְרַגְלֶיךָ –
בּוֹרְאִי!
A song of a woman/ Ester Rabb (1969)
Blessed is He who made me a woman
That I am earth and human
and tender rib
Blessed are You for making me
circles, circles-
like the circles of the zodiac
and the circles of the fruit-
That you have given me living flesh
blooming,
And made me like the plants of the field-
bearing fruit,
That the fragments of your clouds,
slide down like silk
on my face and thighs,
And I am great
and ask to be child
crying from sadness,
and laughing and singing out loud,
oh so faintly
like a little cricket,
in the choir of your cherubs,
oh so noble-
oh so slight-
I am playing at your foot-
my creator!