Parashat Ekev - The Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals) (5782-2022)

In the Jewish tradition we are full of blessings. We bless during the prayers of each day, during the festivities, when witnessing various wonderful phenomena of nature, before performing certain commandments and also before eating. However, did you know that the only blessing that is mentioned in the entire Torah is the Birkat HaMazon (the blessing after meals)? Of all the brachot (blessings) that we recite, the only one whose origin is in the Torah is the grace after meals, all the others are creations of our Sages of blessed memory.
The origin of this blessing is found in our Torah Portion. Moshe tells the people of Israel that they will soon arrive in the promised land and that once they are there: “they will eat, they will be satisfied and they shall bless” (Deut. 8:10). It is the only time in the entire Torah that we are commanded to bless for something. From this verse derives the obligation to give thanks after finishing eating (b. Brachot 21a). Just as parents teach their children to say "thank you" when someone prepares something for them to eat, so too Moshe teaches the Jewish people to say thank you to God after every meal. Eating is perhaps the most daily and even animal act that we do, however a blessing elevates it to a sacred act in which we understand how lucky we are to have a plate of food in front of us every day. A blessing transforms a natural instinct into a religious act. It gives it value, it gives it meaning.
Giving thanks after eating is so important that although our teachers as a general principle teach us that another person can bless on our behalf and thus get us out of the obligation, the Birkat HaMazon is different and each one of us is commanded to thank with our own words (j Brachot 3:3). It is so important to teach ourselves and our children to be thankful that we cannot delegate this blessing and furthermore, even though most blessings are commonly to be said in Hebrew, the sages in the Talmud (b. Sotah 33a) rules that the Birkat HaMazon can be said in any language so that everyone understands what they are blessing for.
May we all learn from this verse that having the opportunity each day to eat and be satisfied is a blessing and for that we should say thank you. In any language, with our own words but us and no one else. Everyone should give thanks for his own blessings.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Uri