DEUT371 The mitzvah of saying Birkas HaMazon--a blessing of thanks to Hashem--after eating bread. Key concepts: By way of introduction, Hashem is the Master of all honor, glory and good, as well as all the wisdom, power and blessing. Accordingly, whatever a person says or does--good or bad--it is of no benefit or harm to Him. Similarly, when we say, ברוך אתה ה׳״—Blessed Are You, Hashem,” we are not adding or bestowing blessing upon Him, God forbid, for He has no need for additional blessing. He is Master of all and already has all. Blessing and good are His creations. He brings them into existence out of nothing, and out of His infinite goodness He bestows of them wherever and on whomever He pleases. The concept of saying a “blessing” to Hashem is beyond human understanding. The matter involves profound secrets of creation, but my great desire to reach but a fraction of understanding has stirred me to speak about this subject and offer a partial explanation. Hashem, Creator of the Universe, is abundantly kind and desires to bestow good on others. At the same time, He wants mankind to be deserving of His good. In view of these principles, the matter of “blessing” is simultaneously a reminder and a good deed that makes us worthy of His blessing. While reciting a blessing our souls are aroused, as we recall that He is the Source of all blessing. When we express this idea verbally and with feeling, and we also express our gratitude to Him, declaring that He is King and can send blessing to whomever He pleases, it is a good deed that draws Divine blessing upon us. In different blessings, after making this declaration and expressing our gratitude, we ask for our needs--for knowledge, for forgiveness of our sins, for cure for our ills, for financial success and so on. After our request we again acknowledge that only from Him can we obtain what we need. This, in short, is the essence of each blessing’s introduction and “signature” (conclusion)--to declare that only He provides our needs. As to why, regarding food, we bless after we eat, while regarding Torah learning, we bless beforehand, the explanation lies in the fact that man has a material, animalistic side. This lowly aspect of his being does not recognize good until after it physically senses it. Therefore, Hashem does not ask this part of us to serve Him by thanking Him and acknowledging Him until after it receives its portion. By contrast, learning or reading the Torah benefits the spiritual part of our being--our soul and intellect--and this part of us already knows Hashem. This part of us understands and recognizes ahead of time, before the benefit from Him arrives and his felt. For this reason, Hashem requires us to say the blessing of thanks and acknowledgment before learning or reading the Torah.

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DEUT372 One who speaks lashon hara also transgresses the prohibition of הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ, “Guard yourself, lest you forget Hashem, your G-d" (Devarim 8:10), which cautions against arrogance. One who ridicules and mocks another person presumably considers himself wiser and more distinguished than others, for if he recognized his own flaws, he would not ridicule another person. There is a well-known statement of Chazal (Sotah 4b), which describes the severity of the sin of arrogance: one who is arrogant will not merit to have his remains rise for techiyas hameisim (the resurrection of the dead); he is considered as one who worships idols and other forces; the Shechinah wails over him; and he is called “abominable.” In particular, if one glorifies himself by degrading another person, then he certainly violates this prohibition, besides forfeiting his share in the World to Come, for Chazal, in their Divine wisdom, excised such a person from the World to Come, as they said, “One who glorifies himself through the degradation of another person has no share in the World to Come.”

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DEUT373 It was taught: R. Meir says: Whence is it derived that one must bless [the Lord] for the ill as he does for the good? And you shall bless the Lord your God" -- whatever His judgment upon you, whether for good [as implied by "Lord," connoting mercy] or for ill [as implied by "your God," connoting strict justice] (Berachoth 49b)

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DEUT374 See [[GEN805]] Genesis 13:13 sinners GATES 169-171

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DEUT375 While it is true that most Reform Jews do not recite blessings after they eat everyday meals, there is a growing awareness in Reform circles that its recitation serves as an authentic form of Jewish expression of gratitude. We find in the Torah the following words: “When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Eternal your God for the good land given to you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). This passage serves as the proof text for Birkat HaMazon, the first of all blessings regarding eating and food. It reflects the historical relationship between God and the Jews. When we complete our meal, we are to remind ourselves that the food we have eaten is a gift to us from God, just as the manna in the desert was a gift to us from God that sustained us during our wandering years. The recitation of the Birkat serves as a form of Thanksgiving. If one reads the preceding verses in the same chapter of Deuteronomy, it becomes clear that reciting Birkat is a form of thanksgiving for the fulfillment of a covenant between God and our ancestors; The covenant through which God gave us the Land of Israel, manna to sustain us in the desert, food from the land, provided us with all of our needs, and more. In reciting the Birkat, our words served as a form of fulfillment of our part of the charge outlined in Deuteronomy, “to faithfully observe all the Instruction” (Deuteronomy 8:1) that God has enjoined upon us. There is another important reason for reciting the Birkat. The Mishnah informs us that “three who have eaten are to recite the Birkat HaMazon” (Mishnah B’rachot 7:1). Why should this be so important to the Rabbis? The eating of food is a reflection of our own human character. When we eat alone, we eat for survival. The only thing that matters is satisfying our individual need. Yet, eating in community transforms the physical act into a social, spiritual, and/or religious expression. For the Rabbis, eating in community served as an act of humility. When we eat together, we take care of one another and we nurture each other. For example, over a meal, we often ask about each other’s welfare. Eating and community should be seen not as a “right” or entitlement of being human, but rather as a privilege and honor, for doing so means sharing “in community” with our fellow beings and with the Divine. So often in America today, people eat alone, in cars, or in fast-food restaurants. Americans are deeply influenced by the consumerism of our times, and our eating habits have become a reflection of our isolation from one another and of our connection to things. Our tradition stands in contrast to such behavior, and Birkat HaMazon recognizes that eating together is important, because gathering over food represents living in community all the time. (By Bennett F. Miller, “THE JOY AND PRIVILEGE OF BLESSINGS BEFORE AND AFTER A MEAL”)

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DEUT379 See [[DEUT75]] Deuteronomy 4:9 forget GATES 203

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DEUT380 See [[EXOD356]] Exodus 20:3 other OXFORD 39

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DEUT376 "Beware lest you forget the Lord, your God". This is the prohibition against being conceited (Sotah 5a). One who ridicules others is generally motivated by a feeling of superiority. If he were aware of his own faults, he surely would not deprecate others. The Talmud (ibid.) equates arrogance with idolatry and states that whoever has this trait will not be privileged to be resurrected by tchiyas hamaisim. The gravity of the transgression is increased if the speaker elevates his own esteem through the medium of degrading someone else. Our Sages (Yerushalmi Chagigah 2:1) I have declared that such a person will lose his share in olam haboh.

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DEUT381 The rabbinic scheme of classification identifies a group of commandments called lav she'ein ba ma'aseh, negative prohibitions not involving action. Included in this category are commandments involving thoughts--remembering or forgetting, speech, hearing, sight, or simply acts of omission. These commandments are considered more stringent than those involving action (See Rabbi Jonah Gerondi, Sha'arei Teshuvah, p. 28). Some of them refer to basic attitudes affecting our relationship to God: "Guard yourself lest you forget ..." "Do not say in your heart..." "Do not fear them ..." (Deuteronomy 8:11, 9:4, 7:18, 20:1). In the moral sphere we have the following: "You shall surely give him, and let not your heart feel badly when you give it to him" (Deuteronomy 15:10). Even when the proper deed is being performed and you are making a contribution to the poor, do it with a cheerful mien and a generous spirit. This demonstrates the point made earlier that the personal attitudes of the agent are of moral significance. Consider also: "If there be among you a needy man… thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand …" "Thou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people." (Deuteronomy 15:7, Leviticus 19:18). The rabbis interpreted this to mean that a person is in violation of this prohibition if, for example, he responds positively to a request for a loan but says, "I am lending you my snow shovel because I am not like you, who, if you recall, refused to lend me yours when I asked for it last winter" (Yoma 23a). What is immoral is not merely making the statement but carrying the grudge. (Continued at [[DEUT36]] Deuteronomy 23:10 anything SPERO 138).

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DEUT377 Pride is the coin which the great, Blessed King has invalidated and which He has exhorted us about in His Torah, as it is written [this verse]: "Take heed lest you forget Hashem your God." For the proud man forgets his Creator, as it is written (ibid.8:13-18):. And in relation to a king it is written (ibid. 17:20): "That his heart not be lifted above his brothers." If the Torah exhorts even a king in this respect, it goes without saying that average men should not vaunt their wealth in front of each other.

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