Bless you

Posted by ESC on June 09, 2005

In Reply to: Bless you posted by Nitzan on June 09, 2005

: I happened to read the postings explaining why people say "bless you" after a sneeze.
: I heard a source in Jewish Tradition that "in the beginning" a person would never be ill - rather when his time came he would sneeze and die. Apparently his soul would "escape" his body with the escaped air.
: The first person to ever be ill was Jacob (In Egypt, after being reunited with his son Joseph). He asked for the mercy of G-d so that a person would know he is about to die, and make preparations.
: G-d added illness and since then sneezes are less fateful. But until today when someone sneezes we reasure him in our reply.
: In Hebrew the reply is 'health'
: I suppose "bless you" is short for "may you be blessed with a long and healthy life"

: Hope this was educational...

It was. And interesting. Bless you.