Birkat Hamazon: Blueprint of Jewish Destiny (Part 3)
“Anyone who recites Birkat HaMazon is blessed through it.”
(Zohar HaKadosh to ParshatTerumah)
The first blessing begins: “Blessed are You, Hashem, our
The first three blessings of Birkat HaMazon are unique in that they are the only blessings over food that are mandated by the Torah. All other food-related blessings are Rabbinical decrees. Our Sages teach (Brachot 48b) that the first blessing of Birkat HaMazon was composed by Moshe Rabbeinu when the mahn (manna) began to fall in the desert. The second blessing was composed by Yehoshua when the Jewish nation entered the Land of Israel, after journeying through the desert for forty years. The third blessing was composed by King David and King Shlomo. King David composed the first part of the blessing, and his son, King Shlomo, added the section that speaks of “the great and holy House, on which Your Name is called” – a reference to the Holy Temple that King Shlomo built. The fourth blessing is not a Torah obligation, but, rather, was instituted by the Rabbis.
One of the most basic tenets in Judaism is that Hashem is intimately involved in the running of the world. As opposed to Deism, which propounds that
My Rebbe once related that at one of his Sheva Brachot, Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna (1890-1969) was present. Rabbi Sarna was the head of the Chevron Yeshivah and was an influential spiritual leader. During the festive meal, Rabbi Sarna asked my Rebbe what the words “grace, kindness and mercy” refer to. On the table was an orange, and the Rabbi picked it up and pointed out that oranges are full of minerals and vitamins, which is what makes them so healthy for us. When Hashem created oranges, He did so as a source of health and goodness. Fruit that was to be plucked from the tree, peeled and eaten with minimal effort. This is the kindness and the mercy that is mentioned.
Rabbi Sarna then asked, “But what is grace?” He explained that grace is that the orange looks delicious and tastes even better! The word for grace in Birkat HaMazon is chen. Chen is actually a difficult word to translate because it has no physical aspect to it. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch writes that the word chen is related to the word chinam, which means “free.” Rabbi Sarna explained that there is no need for oranges to look and taste as they do. They could just as well be drab and tasteless, and we would still eat them. Perhaps, not for our enjoyment, but because we need their minerals and the vitamins. An orange being enticing to the eye and exquisite to the taste is a wondrous gift from Hashem. This is an example of the chen that Hashem has bestowed upon us for free.
In the expressive and colorful (pun intended) words of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, “Hashem does kindness with a measure far beyond our ability to picture. He feeds everybody and He does it with kindness. He delivers packages of food, wrapped in beautiful red wrappers, hanging from trees, and beautiful gold wrappers hanging from trees, and beautiful yellow wrappers. Apples and oranges and bananas are packages of food that Hashem is delivering to us. To whom? Not only to you; to everybody, all the time!”
The very first blessing of Birkat HaMazon is teaching us one of the most foundational lessons of all: not to take Hashem’s blessings for granted. Rather, we should open our eyes to the indescribable deliciousness that Hashem showers upon us. And, then, we should be careful to thank Him with the proper sense of gratitude for what He has given us.
To be continued…
