Birkat Hamazon: Blueprint of Jewish Destiny (Part 2)
“Anyone who recites Birkat HaMazon is blessed through it.”
(Zohar HaKadosh to ParshatTerumah)
As we learned together in the first part of this introduction, the message of Birkat HaMazon is truly extraordinary. Yet, there is another element, as well. An American writer, Jon Dos Passos (1896-1970), is famous for coining the phrase (which is a bit of a tongue-twister), “We work to eat to get the strength to work to eat to get the strength to work.” It often seems that the whole world revolves around the dual concepts of our need to eat to be able to work and our need to work to be able to eat.
Another dimension of Birkat HaMazon is that there is so much more to our existence than simply existing. When we eat, rather than just fueling our bodies, we are also feeding our spiritual selves. When done with the correct intent, the physical act of eating provides our souls with the resources needed to continue enhancing our connection to Hashem. By enriching our physical beings, we allow ourselves to experience how the physical and spiritual can unite together to serve Hashem.
How is this idea found in Birkat HaMazon? For most people, not eating over a prolonged period of time causes them to become less in tune with the needs of others. An adage is that a hungry man is an angry man. A contemporary word has been coined to encapsulate the combination of hunger and anger – hangry. When a person is “hangry,” they lack patience. The ability to deal with the behavior of others is considerably impaired. And, since they don’t take the feelings of those around them into account, they not only make themselves less accessible to those in their vicinity, they also distance themselves from Hashem. Our interpersonal relationships are integral to our relationship with Hashem.
This is a fundamental concept. Our Sages teach that Hashem relates to each of us just as we relate to others. When a person irritably tells someone off, not because the other person deserved it but because the one rebuking is hangry, it causes discord. Discord is more than a lack of harmony. When we don’t get on with each other, we are delaying the arrival of the Mashiach and actively hindering the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. And our unfortunate behavior would be the cause of distress to Hashem. When we sit down and eat a meal, the good feeling generated slows down the time it takes us to react negatively to something or someone. It leaves us feeling satiated and better able to deal calmly with those around us. Which, in spiritual terms, means that we have brought the Mashiach and the construction of the Holy Temple one step closer.
It is now clear why Birkat HaMazon deals with such seemingly disparate concepts. Together, they teach us what we gain (pun intended) by eating bread and reciting Birkat HaMazon carefully. Because, Birkat HaMazon is not simply a means of saying “Thank You” to Hashem. It is also a vehicle to draw our attention to our obligation to become more thoughtful and gentler to those around us. And, by doing so, we are bringing the Final Redemption one step closer.
In effect, Birkat HaMazon is our blueprint for heralding in the Messianic Era. May it happen very, very soon.
To be continued…
