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Dvar Torah for Parshat EikevAnthology
This week we have the privilege of presenting a few selections that relate to birkat hamazon (Grace after Meals). The selections from Likutey Halakhot have been rendered and rearranged for the sake of brevity. [1] When one recites birkat hamazon, God makes Himself known in the world. [2] The recitation of birkat hamazon brings the government relief from strife and war. [3] Rebbe Nachman related that when he was young, after his meals he did not content himself with the regular birkat hamazon. He also gave thanks to God in Yiddish for everything that he had eaten. He improvised and made mention of all the things he had been given to eat that day in order. For example, he might have started off with a drop of spirits and a piece of cake. Next, before his meal, they might have served radishes as an appetizer, followed by the meal itself. The Rebbe would offer thanks for each individual item, one by one. [Note that this was in addition to, not in place of the regular birkat hamazon.] [4] We know that body and soul maintain their connection, allowing a person to live, by eating. When one eats in a holy manner (namely, by eating only kosher food, [which begins with kosher money], only a proper amount that he needs, with proper table manners), then one's soul is from the side of holiness The main source of the food we eat is the Holy Land and so the major focus of birkat hamazon is to thank Hashem for granting us the Land of Israel. [5] The food we eat becomes more and more spiritually refined with each mitzvah we perform in its preparation. The blessing we say before we eat is an additional refinement, as is how we eat. The final stage or refinement, of wringing out the last bit of holiness from the food, is the reciting of birkat hamazon. That is why the Land of Israel is prominent in the Grace after Meals: The special sanctity of the Holy Land is manifested through those mitzvot which can be performed only there, all of which relate to food. [6] A Jew does not wander around the roomăand certainly not from room to room!ă when eating. Instead he is KoVeiA makom (sets a place) to sit and eat. By doing so he is able to draw spiritual energy from batei midrash (study halls) and yeshivas which are places KaVuA (set, fixed) for Torah study. [7] All foods contain sparks of souls. (This is why we are forbidden to handle food disrespectfully, e.g. to throw food or to pour a drink over it, both of which could ruin the food.) These souls are elevated from one spiritual level to the next when they pass through –the air of the Land of Israel,” which has the same purity as the breath of innocent school children who study Torah. By making the appropriate blessings on the food we eat we are declaring God to be the Creator of all that exists. This declaration plays a major role in making the Holy Land holy (see Rashi on Genesis 1:1). Thus, when we recite a blessing on food, our very breath becomes –the air of the Land of Israel” and infuses the soul-sparks with the holiness they need to evolve to the next higher level of holiness. This is especially true of birkat hamazon in which the Land of Israel figures so prominently.
agutn Shabbos! |
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