Birkat Hamazon: Blueprint of Jewish Destiny (Part 13)
“Anyone who recites Birkat HaMazon is blessed through it.”
(Zohar HaKadosh to ParshatTerumah)
The fourth Blessing concludes: “He was bountiful with us, with grace and with kindness and with mercy, with relief, salvation, success, blessing, help, consolation, sustenance, support, mercy, life, peace, and all good; and of all good things may He never deprive us.”
Our Sages teach (Berachot 45b-46a) that our blessing does not end with the formula, “Blessed are You, Hashem…” is because it has a different status than the first three blessings. It is a blessing that was mandated by the Rabbis and not by the Torah. In fact, despite its relative lengthiness, the essence of our blessing can really be summed up with two words: “Hatov v’Hameitiv – Who is good and does good.” Interestingly enough, there is also a much shorter blessing that has exactly the same phrase of “Hatov v’Hameitiv,” one that is recited when a person hears good news (Orach Chaim 222).
What is the connection between the shorter version of the blessing and the longer one we recite in Birkat HaMazon to commemorate the miraculous burial of those martyred at Beitar? In his brilliant composition, Anaf Yosef, Rabbi Chanoch Zundel ben Yosef explains that the preservation of the dead bodies in Beitar for seven years without their decomposing was an enormous kindness for each one of the slaughtered. When the wicked and cruel Romans finally granted permission for their burial, it was a moment of great blessing for everyone, both the dead and the living. This is as our Sages teach that the soul of the deceased can only really complete its passage into the World to Come once the physical body has been buried.
Fascinatingly, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau (1713-1793), in his penetrating insights on the Talmud titled Tziyun L’Nefesh Chayah (commonly known by its acronym, Tzelach), writes that in this world we recite the blessing “Hatov v’Hameitiv” over good news, and we recite the blessing “Dayan haEmet” over bad tidings. However, we are taught that, in the future, the blessing of “Hatov v’Hameitiv” will be made for both good news and bad news. Explains Rabbi Landau, this does not mean that in the future there will not be disturbing news. Rather, it means that we will be able to recite “Hatov v’Hameitiv” over it because we will then be able to discern why whatever happened needed to happen.
Rabbi Elimelech Biderman, an influential spiritual mentor, relates that in 5776/2015 in Bnei Brak, very late at night after Rosh Hashanah, many people were waiting at the bus stop for the last bus to Yerushalayim. The bus was scheduled to pick them up at 1:15, but at 1:30 there was still no sign of it. Among those waiting were parents with young children, elderly people and those with infirmities. It became later and later, and emotions were running high. At some point, an empty bus finally drove up, but according to its number it wasn’t going to Yerushalayim. Rather, it was on its way to Rechovot. The people were already exhausted, frustrated and at the end of their patience. In desperation, some of them spoke with the driver, pleading with him to have pity on them and change his route to take them to Yerushalayim instead. At first, the driver said that it was impossible. But after a while, he agreed to do it. He changed the number of his bus and they all started boarding. As they entered, they inundated the driver with heartfelt blessings. They blessed him that he should have a sweet year. A year of prosperity. A year of success in all his endeavors and his personal relationships. In short, they blessed him with anything and everything they could think of.
On the highway going to Yerushalayim, one of the passengers asked the driver why he agreed when he would probably get into trouble with the management. He replied, “The company was perfectly aware that the bus never arrived and that there were a lot of people waiting to get to Yerushalayim. So, they sent me in place of the bus that never came. But I was scared. I knew that if I got to the bus stop instead of the bus that hadn’t arrived, everyone would be furious with me for coming late. After all, you couldn’t possibly have known that it wasn't my fault. I would probably end up being cursed by everyone. So, I showed up as if the bus was supposed to go to Rechovot and then I “changed my mind” to help you. As you saw, everyone blessed me. I received so many blessings. And now, on the strength of all your blessings, I am certain that it will be an absolutely outstanding year!”
What an astonishing message. Everything that Hashem sends our way is for our benefit. Even when it seems as if the bus is going in the wrong direction, it is a case of Hashem being “Hatov v’Hameitiv.”
To be continued…
