This blessing is the purest expression of the millennial yearning of the Jewish people for a return home to Israel. It begins with reference to the shofar, our ancient trumpet, a primal scream. For what? Freedom. Think of William Wallace at the end of Braveheart, crying “Freedom!!!” Now repeat every weekday, three times a day, for thousands of years, and you can understand what a profound impact this prayer had on our people. It simultaneously reinforced the sense that we were in “galus,” in exile; and inspired and reinforced the feeling that our long hoped for redemption was sure to come.
The text continues by asking for fulfillment of the promise from Isaiah 11:12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”
The blessing is short and sweet. It ends very simply: Blessed are You, Lord, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel.” It is not coincidental that this blessing is exactly in the middle of the weekday Amidah. If the Amidah begins with praise, centers on petition, and ends with thanks, this blessing is the central focus of the entire exercise.
Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, it should be noted that in the bizarre world of anti-Zionism, the themes of this blessing are commonly denied. In that dark place, there is a denial of the link between Judaism and Zionism; a denial that there ever was an exile from Israel; indeed, a denial that there ever was an Israel; and above all, a denial that there ever was, or is, a people of Israel. I won’t go into the intellectual and historical contortions that are necessary to come up with such crazy ideas. Suffice it to say that there are challah loaves with fewer twists. The important point is this blessing is found in the siddur. And the siddur, more than any other classic Jewish text, is closest to what was going on in the hearts and minds of our ancestors.
May it be that way for us, as well.