The second blessing of every Amidah talks about G-d’s power. G-d “sustains the living with kindness….supports the falling, heals the ailing, releases the captive” All of which sounds wonderful and not foreign to our experience, for we have all seen the living sustained with kindness, etc. In particular, we in recent weeks have been able to celebrate the release of our captives. If we want to quibble, we can argue that we don’t see this prayer coming true in every case, only in most cases. The very fact that we find the exceptions objectionable is precisely because we find them to be exceptional! Our assumption is in fact that G-d does have all this power, and we are surprised and perhaps disappointed when it does not seem to be working the way it should.
Such is not the case, however, for another power that is referred to repeatedly in this berachah—in fact, may be the major theme of the berachah: “He…gives life to the dead with great mercy…keeps His faith with those who sleep in dust…Faithful are You in giving life to the dead. Blessed are You, Lord who gives life to the dead.”
The concept of resurrection, especially bodily resurrection, has driven Jewish thinkers nuts though the ages, because it is so extreme, so illogical. The ancient Sadducees didn’t believe it. Maimonides did, and his support is incorporated it into the Yigdal prayer (“metim yichayel k-el” “G-d gives life to the dead…”). Modern Reform movements have danced all around it (changing the text to “gives life to all,” as opposed to “gives life to the dead.” And the Conservative siddur fudges it by praising G-d as “Master of life and death.”
Without wading into these treacherous theological waters, there is another layer of meaning that we can explore. There is an intriguing custom that repurposes this blessing. You recite it if you see a friend that you haven’t seen or had any contact with for over a year. They were, so to speak, “dead to you.” So “death” here is more a matter of consciousness than mortality.
In similar vein, Rabbi Marcia Prager, a great modern liturgist, applies this blessing to those who felt “lost, confused, despairing. See a light come into your heart. Allow it to grow until you shine with your own source. Imagine yourself lying down at first, and gradually, as the light fills you, you come to standing. Loyal restorer of life! You are a fountain of blessing, Holy One, restoring life in the deadened.”
Mortal death we will experience once. A deadened spirit, well, that could happen over and over again. And what a pity that would be, to waste a precious moment of this gift of life that we have received. May G-d restore us!