Taamei Hamitzvos - The Four Blessings of Birkas Hamazon
Mitzvah #431
In last week’s article we discussed why the Torah attaches so much importance to reciting Birkas HaMazon after eating. We will now focus on the structure of its four blessings.
The first and most basic blessing expresses thanks for the food itself. We do not content ourselves to give thanks for the meal just eaten, but rather take the opportunity to thank Hashem for all the sustenance He provides to the entire world with unconditional and unceasing kindness.
To give an inkling of the magnitude of this feat, Hashem creates four million krill a day to feed a single blue whale, and each of those krill needs nourishment as well. We thank Hashem for having always provided for us in the past and request that He continue to do so, for the sake of His glorious Name.
The second blessing focuses on thanking Hashem for Eretz Yisrael, the inseverable heritage of the Jewish People that produces their sustenance. We are required to speak the praises of the Land, saying eretz chemdah tovah u’rechavah (a desirable, good, and spacious land) so that people will long to live there (Abudraham).
This blessing also includes thanks for the Torah and the covenant of circumcision because the land, the Torah, and the covenant are interconnected, as we were granted the land only on condition that we fulfill the Torah and uphold the covenant (ibid.). We also thank Hashem for redeeming us from Egypt because that is what made it possible for us to inherit Eretz Yisrael (HaMaspik L’Ovdei Hashem, cited ibid., Re’em ed.). Midrash Tanchuma (Masei §23) considers this blessing the most cherished of all blessings because it thanks Hashem for His most cherished land as well as other important gifts.
The third blessing focuses on Eretz Yisrael’s centerpiece, the holy city of Yerushalayim. Only when Yerushalayim is rebuilt, with the Beis HaMikdash at its top, can Eretz Yisrael fulfill its purpose: to serve Hashem. Thus, when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, we were exiled, and as long as it is not rebuilt, Eretz Yisrael remains lacking and we find it difficult to return.
We also pray in the third blessing for the reestablishment of the Davidic dynasty, which can only take root in Yerushalayim, and which is essential to maintaining Torah law throughout the land (based on HaMaspik L’Ovdei Hashem).
In the absence of all this, the rebuilding of the Mikdash in Yerushalayim and the establishment of the Davidic dynasty, we are less worthy of Hashem’s blessing (Beis Elokim, Yesodos, ch. 1). We therefore ask Hashem to nevertheless have mercy upon us and sustain us with dignity until the time when Yerushalayim will be rebuilt.
The fourth blessing expands the scope of Birkas HaMazon to include thanks for absolutely everything, past, present, and future. Unlike the first three blessings of Birkas HaMazon, this fourth blessing is a Rabbinical enactment. In a sense, therefore, this blessing is dearer to Hashem than the others, because “the enactments of the Sages are dearer than the Biblical Mitzvos” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah,ch. 1).
The background behind this enactment is that when Hadrian Caesar destroyed the Jewish metropolis Beitar and killed its inhabitants, he used the corpses to make a fence for his vineyard. Miraculously, the corpses did not rot, and seven years later, permission was granted for them to be buried respectfully. Upon seeing this, Rabban Gamliel enacted this blessing which praises Hashem using a double term of benevolence: “HaTov v’Hameitiv - Who is good and Who does good,” corresponding to the double kindness of allowing the bodies to be buried and keeping them from rotting (Berachos 48b).
As explained in the previous article, one of the main purposes of Birkas HaMazon is to prevent us from becoming haughty after eating our fill. By remembering the massacre of Beitar, we recall that every living being is destined to die one day, and this thought helps us humble ourselves before Hashem (Rokeach). This blessing is appended to the blessing about Yerushalayim because the kingdom of the Jewish people that dissolves completely with the fall of Beitar will only return with the rebuilding of Yerushalayim (Rabbeinu Yerucham 16:7, based on Yerushalmi, Succah 5:1).
We may suggest another reason for the fourth blessing. As explained, the second blessing indicates that our sustenance is dependent on our possession of Eretz Yisrael — which in turn is dependent on our upholding of the Torah and the covenant — and the third blessing indicates that our sustenance is primarily linked to Yerushalayim, the seat of our Divine service. All the above conditions for our sustenance faltered and fell with the destruction of Beitar, and thus one may have thought that Hashem would withhold His kindness until the time of the redemption. The double miracle that occurred specifically at that time, when we hit rock bottom, was an expression of Hashem’s innermost attribute of benevolence, which is absolute, all-encompassing, everlasting, and unconditional. We express this by proclaiming that “He is good and does good to all.”
The commentaries give various explanations for the many terms of praise in this blessing; see, for example, the commentaryofR’ Nosson Shapira of Horodna. To mention one of his insights, the fifteen expressions, l’chen, l’chesed…v’chol tuv (favorably, kindly…and all goodness) correspond to the fifteen meals Hashem provides us weekly, counting three meals on Shabbos. On the basic level, though, we may suggest that this blessing is so wordy because it is an expression of overwhelming gratitude and praise. It ends with an acknowledgment that we remain dependent on Hashem for our needs, and a plea that He see fit to continue providing for us.
Some of the sources cited here were drawn from an extensive article on the topic by R’ Shmuel Zlotnik in Alibah D’Hilchasa #33, pg. 42-45.
