Blessing for Thunder & Lightning

When the Storm Speaks

A flash of white light fills your window. A moment later, the room shakes. Your heart jumps. Everyone feels it, whether you are five years old or eighty-five. A storm has a way of making a person feel very small, very quickly.

The Torah does not want that feeling to go to waste. Chazal gave us two brachos to say at exactly that moment: one for lightning, one for thunder. These are not long tefillos. They are short, a single line each, and you say them right there, in the middle of whatever you were doing. The bracha for lightning is Oseh ma’aseh v’reishis, praising Hashem Who performs the works of creation. The blessing for thunder is Shekocho ug’vuraso malei olam, declaring that His power and might fill the entire world. Two brachos. Two ways of standing before something bigger than yourself and giving it a name.

Before You Say This Bracha

There is no preparation needed here the way there is for other tefillos. A storm does not wait for you to be ready. But if you have a quiet moment before the next flash or rumble, let your heart open. You are about to speak directly to the One Who made all of this.

Ribono Shel Olam, the sky is shaking and the light is filling the world. I know this is Your hand. Open my eyes to see Your greatness in this moment. Let the sound of thunder remind me that nothing in this world moves without You. And in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, let this bracha rise before You as a tefillah for all of Klal Yisrael. Elaha d’Meir aneni.

If giving tzedakah, add:

In the zechus of the tzedakah I am giving for Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, may my recognition of Your power in this storm bring shalom and protection to my family and to all of Yisrael.

Birchos HaRa’am V’HaBarak: The Full Brachos

These two brachos are discussed in the Gemara in Berachos (59a) and codified in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 227). In common practice, one who sees lightning says “Oseh ma’aseh v’reishis” and one who hears thunder says “Shekocho ug’vuraso malei olam,” though the primary sources present the two brachos more broadly. Each bracha should be said immediately after seeing the lightning or hearing the thunder. If you see lightning and hear thunder at the same time, one bracha may cover both. Once you have said the bracha during a storm, you do not repeat it unless the sky clears completely and a new storm begins.

What These Words Mean for You

Oiseh ma’aseh v’reishis “Who performs the works of creation.”

This is not a past-tense bracha. We do not say “Who performed,” but “Who performs,” in the present. The wording itself teaches that creation is not only something Hashem did once. It is something He continues to uphold at every moment. When lightning splits the sky, the bracha trains us to see more than a flash of weather. We are seeing a world still held in being by the One Who made it. That is why the bracha says oseh — active, present, ongoing. Hashem is not absent from creation. He is the One continuously sustaining it.

Shekoichoi ug’vurosoi “Whose power and might.”

Two words for strength, not one. The bracha does not speak only of power, but of power and might — a force so vast that it does not stay in one place. Thunder does not merely make noise. It declares presence. It makes a person feel, in an instant, how small he is and how great the Borei (Creator) is. When you hear thunder and your body tenses, remember: this is not random sound. It is a moment Chazal taught us to answer with awe — to recognize the koach and gevurah of Hashem as they are felt in the world.

Molei oilom “Fills the world.”

Thunder does not stay where it began. It rolls across the sky, enters the room you are sitting in, and seems to shake the air itself. The bracha captures that experience exactly: malei olam. His power and might fill the world. Rambam codifies these brachos together for thunder and lightning, and the Shulchan Aruch does the same. These are moments when a person is meant to stop and recognize the Borei through what he sees and hears. The sound fills everything. So does His power.

Boruch Atoh Hashem “Blessed are You, Hashem.”

Every bracha begins with these three words. You are not speaking about Hashem. You are speaking to Him. “Blessed are You.” Second person. Direct. In the middle of a storm, when everything feels wild and uncontrolled, you turn to the One behind it all and address Him personally.

How to Say These Brachos

Say the bracha for lightning the moment you see the flash. Say the bracha for thunder the moment you hear the rumble. If lightning and thunder come together, one bracha covers both. The common practice is to say oseh ma’aseh bereishit on lightning and shekocho u’gevurato malei olam on thunder.

There is no clear requirement to stand. The main halacha is that the bracha should be said toch k’dei dibbur, within a few seconds of seeing or hearing. If too much time has passed, do not say the bracha with Shem u’Malchus on that flash or rumble. So keep the words close. Know them before the storm arrives.

Once you have said the relevant brachos during a particular storm, you do not repeat them again and again on each new flash or rumble. But if the sky clears and a new storm rolls in, you say them again. Each storm is its own encounter with the Borei Olam.

Set your kavanah simply: “Hashem, I see Your hand in this storm. I recognize that everything I am hearing and seeing comes from You alone.” Tefillah and tzedakah rise together. When you say these brachos and also give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, you are pairing your recognition of Hashem’s greatness with an act of chesed. You are not davening to Rabbi Meir. You are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the merit of this great tzaddik and your own ma’asim tovim. Elaha d’Meir aneni!

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a-18b) tells us that Rabbi Meir’s sister-in-law was held captive by the Romans in a terrible place, and there seemed to be no way out. Rabbi Meir coined the words “Elaha d’Meir aneni” as a means for salvation, and those words brought the mission to success. A person stuck in a place of danger was freed through tefillah and trust in Hashem.

When you give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, you are not davening to a person. You are asking Hashem to hear your own tefillah in the combined zechus of a great tzaddik and your act of kindness. That is what the brachos for thunder and lightning are about too: recognizing that everything comes from Hashem, and responding with something real.

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799. The scholars at Rabbi Meir’s grave in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. The charity supports Torah scholars and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. Your tzedakah and your bracha rise together.

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

A Blessing for Your Awe

When a storm stirs something deep inside a person, that itself is a message. Hashem sends thunder and lightning so that we will lift our eyes and remember Who is running the world. The very fact that you feel moved to seek out a tefillah at such a moment shows that your neshamah recognizes its Creator.

May you always have the words ready when the sky lights up. May the sound of thunder soften your heart instead of hardening it. And may every bracha you say in the middle of a storm carry your tefillos straight to the Kisei HaKavod, together with the tefillos of all of Klal Yisrael. May Hashem grant you and your family shalom, protection, and the clarity to see His hand in every moment, the quiet ones and the loud ones alike.

You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the grave of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost. They will daven for you and your family by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.

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