Birkat Hamazon: Blueprint of Jewish Destiny (Part 6)
“Anyone who recites Birkat HaMazon is blessed through it.”
(Zohar HaKadosh to ParshatTerumah)
The second paragraph reads, “We thank you, Hashem, our
The paragraph continues with another set of three concepts. The first is Brit Milah – “Your covenant which You sealed on our flesh.” The second is the Torah – “For Your Torah, which You taught us.” The third concept involves the statutes – “For Your statutes that You made known to us.” What is the connection between Brit Milah and the Land of Israel? In Bereshit 16:7-14, Hashem makes granting the Land dependent on Avraham agreeing to perform Brit Milah on himself, and for the Brit Milah to be an integral element of the Jewish nation.
The Maharal notes that Brit Milah is performed on the physical body. The Torah is something that is understood by one’s intellect. And the statutes stretch beyond the intellect, as they are laws we cannot understand but are commanded to keep anyway. These three dimensions – the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual – must unite together so that we can serve Hashem with our entire beings.
The Maharal explains that our paragraph ends with the words, “You…sustain us constantly, every day and every hour” because our needs and desires are always in a state of flux. Yesterday’s requests are exactly that, of yesterday. And today’s needs will be quickly superseded by those of tomorrow. It is possible that a person might end up living a life as described by an English author, where unnecessary things are our only necessities!
Rabbi Yisrael Hager (1860-1936), the third Rebbe of the Vizhnitz Chassidic dynasty, once saw one of his Chassidim trying to mimic the way he prayed. The Rebbe told him, “It’s a waste of time for you to try and copy me, because my prayers and supplications of today are different from my prayers and supplications of yesterday.”
That does not mean there is anything intrinsically wrong with desiring more than we have. It simply means that we have to learn how to identify which things are truly important and which are things we want in order to make our lives easier. It is sad to say, but sometimes we are so intent on attaining what we want that we don’t even stop to appreciate what we have. In the words of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner (Pachad Yizchok, Shavuot), “Luxuries are only felt when you have them. Necessities are only felt when they are taken away.”
Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida (1824-1898), known as the Alter of Kelm, had a brother, Leib, who was a successful businessman. Despite the fact that Rabbi Simcha Zissel dedicated his life exclusively to spiritual growth, to the exclusion of nearly all materialism, he once wrote a letter to his brother asking him for a loan. His brother, being aware that Rabbi Simcha Zissel paid no attention to monetary matters, was intrigued why his esteemed brother wanted to borrow money. What could he possibly need a loan for? Rabbi Simcha Zissel explained, “I want to give charity, but I don’t have any money to give. And, unfortunately, I’m getting accustomed to the idea that I don’t have to take part in this great mitzvah of serving Hashem by giving charity!”
Rabbi Simcha Zissel teaches us an important lesson: We must learn how to channel our material desires into more spiritual spheres.
To be continued…
