There’s a joy in those “new” smells, whether it’s that newborn baby smell, the smell of spring, or the smell of a new car or a new pair of shoes. We often try to extend this moment of newness by saying something like “Use it in good health.” It’s a little like a prayer or a blessing that the moment of gratitude will only continue.

As the Torah stands strong throughout the test of time, so too the honoring of a life will be remembered by the placing of a headstone or marker. Interestingly, for all of the occasions for blessings we have, there is no traditional blessing recited at an unveiling. Instead, the rabbis remind us of the blessing of life, the blessings we have when we come together, when we preserve memory, and when we tell our stories.

You might be surprised by how much I’m asked about the meaning of numerical values in Judaism. Whatever power you might or might not ascribe to them, there are certain numbers whose repetition bears noting. The number 7, for example.

In our morning prayers, we read the blessing “Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haOlam she’asani b’tzalmo.” Blessed are You, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who made me in God’s image. Many read this blessing as gratitude to God for creating us in the first place. I read this as an opportunity to remember that I was created in God’s image, but so was every other human.

When we say “Blessed is the true judge” in moments of hardship, we’re not blessing the suffering itself; we’re affirming our faith in God’s wisdom and justice, even when we cannot understand it.

It’s in this week’s parshah when the first blessing of the ill is offered, and we actually see several variations. This blessing in Parshat Vayera doesn’t look quite like it does today.

Whether it’s a short trip from your home to camp in the summer, or venturing out to explore the world, the traveler’s prayer can connect us to our hearts, and the grounding of home.