The ancient Hebrew word ברוך (barukh) has puzzled scholars for centuries - should it be translated as "praised" or "blessed" when referring to God in Jewish liturgical blessings? Both interpretations present logical challenges, yet this fundamental term shapes Jewish prayer and theological understanding. Through systematic analysis of sources ranging from biblical texts to modern prayer books, this research demonstrates that ברוך functions primarily as an adjective describing God's essential nature as "bountiful" rather than as a passive participle denoting human action toward God. Examination of the Tanakh, rabbinic literature, medieval commentaries, and contemporary scholarship reveals that understanding ברוך as "bountiful" - positioning God as the source of all blessing - resolves longstanding theological difficulties while coherently explaining various halakhic regulations governing berakhot. This interpretation accounts for why most blessings appropriately use present tense to describe God's ongoing nature, and clarifies how the response "Amen" serves to affirm a factual claim about divine bountifulness. Ultimately, this reading transforms the berakhah from an expression of human praise into a recognition of God's fundamental characteristic as giver, highlighting both the giftedness of existence and the religious obligation to channel divine bounty toward human needs.