The first order of prayers, the ברכות השחר birkhot hashaḥar (“morning blessings”), is arranged for private or personal recital upon waking. These are all repeated in the public or communal שחרית shaḥarit (morning) services in the synagogue, but they are clearly intended for private use in helping to structure one’s morning routine as one attains greater degrees of wakefulness and preparedness to engage the wider world. The birkhot hashaḥar begin with a short prayer after becoming aware that one is awake, then a ritual washing of one’s hands, appreciating how one’s body manages crucial activities, eliminating waste and breathing, without much or any conscious effort, and then a litany of other very fundamental aspects of living one should never take for granted. The morning blessings end with the washing of one’s face as instructed in the Talmud Berakhot 60b.6, where many of the other blessings here are derived. (We’ll note that on one day of the year, Yom Kippur, face-washing is restricted to kings and queens who cannot otherwise abandon their role as diplomatic representatives of the people.)