The Jewish art of saying berakot, blessings for any good thing encountered, I learned during one of the bleakest periods of my adulthood. . . . The tradition delights in creating prayers for every occasion, including difficult ones. When the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof is asked whether there is an appropriate blessing for the czar, he thinks a moment and intones, "God bless and keep the Czar — far away from us!"

Robert Corin Morris, Wrestling With Grace