Birkat HaGomel - Thanksgiving Blessing (Part 2)
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
G.T. Shedd
Birkat HaGomel reads: Blessed are You Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who bestows good things upon the guilty, Who has bestowed every goodness upon me.
The congregation then responds: Amen! May He Who has bestowed goodness upon you continue to bestow every goodness upon you forever.
The text of our blessing is intriguing. As mentioned last week, the blessing we recite is not exactly the same as the original, shorter and simpler one found in the Talmud. There the text reads: “Blessed are You…Who bestows beneficial kindness.”
For at least a thousand years, however, the accepted text is “Blessed are You…Who bestows good things upon the guilty, Who has bestowed every goodness upon me.”
Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi (1013-1103), commonly referred to as the “Rif” (the acronym of his name in Hebrew), was no doubt the most influential Torah scholar and Halachic authority of his generation. He spent most of his adult life leading the prestigious community in Fez, Morocco, and he headed the famed Yeshivah there during the period commonly referred to as the “Golden Age of Spanish Jewry”. Many of the next generation of Spanish Jewry’s spiritual leadership were his students.
The expanded version of the blessing that we say is found in the Rif’s writings (פירוש למסכת ברכות דף מג/א), where he rules that it is the correct text. His ruling is accepted as well by the Rambam as the definitive text for Birkat HaGomel (Hilchot Brachot 10:8).
The opening body of the blessing - “Who bestows good things upon the guilty” - seems to have no obvious connection to the reason for the blessing itself: one recites this blessing when one has been through what our Sages see as a dangerous situation (the blessing is obligatory even if there was no apparent danger involved). Why, then, are the “guilty” mentioned? And what are they “guilty” of?
Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch, writes in his commentary Beit Yosef on the Tur that the inference from the blessing is that Hashem bestows goodness to everyone even though they may not deserve it.
The blessing teaches that, first, the one saying the blessing must recognize that Hashem pours His goodness upon everyone – including the undeserving. After internalizing that message, the person is then ready to understand that Hashem “bestowed every goodness upon me” – even though I may not deserve it!
The Chofetz Chaim was known to regularly spend time alone in his attic making a chesbon henefesh (reflecting on his actions, spiritual achievements and shortcomings) and “speaking” with Hashem. Someone once had the audacity to listen behind the closed door, and what he heard shook him to his core:
He heard the saintly Chofetz Chaim say to Hashem: “I wrote the Mishnah Berurah, which took me decades. I did whatever I could do to ensure that the Jewish soldiers in the Russian army could eat Kosher food. I wrote Machane Yisrael for Your children who were drafted into the Russian army so that they could remember You in the darkest moments, surrounded by people who hate them and who hate You. I awakened people to value the power of speech. I did whatever I could to see that the Mikvaot in my region were halachically acceptable.”
Then the Chofetz Chaim burst into tears. Through his sobs he kept repeating: “What did I ever do to deserve such kindness? You let me do so much! I have no words to tell You how grateful I am for what You have given me!”
It is entirely possible that a person might feel that they are doing “okay” in their spiritual growth; that Hashem should be proud of everything that they have managed to achieve. Birkat HaGomel comes to teach us that, more often than not, our perception of ourselves is, at best, biased and, at worst, completely incorrect.
To be continued…
