(י) וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙ אֶת־ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן־לָֽךְ׃
(10) When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.
(ד) ועל דרך הקבלה תנו לה מפרי ידיה, הזכיר כן על המדה שהתחיל עליה אשת חיל מי ימצא, כי רצה שלמה ע"ה לחתום ספרו במדה שהיא חתימת הבנין, ויען כי משם שמעו בני ישראל את התורה הוא שכתוב (דברים ד) מתוך האש, ואמר הנביא (חבקוק ג) נתן תהום קולו, לכך סדר שבחיה והזכיר מעלותיה בכ"ב אותיות התורה, וכונת הכתוב תנו לה מפרי ידיה, תנו לה ברכה, והזכיר מפרי ידיה כענין שאמרו תן לו משלו שאתה ושלך שלו, ויהללוה בשערים מעשיה, הוא ההלול, וכן הזכיר דוד ע"ה בפסוק אחד ברכה והלול, הוא שאמר (תהלים קד) ברכי נפשי את ה' הללויה. ואע"פ שכל המתברך מתברך מברכותיו של הקב"ה, מצינו שהקב"ה חפץ בברכת בני אדם והוא צוה לנו בכך, כמו שאמר (דברים ח) וברכת את ה' אלקיך, והוא יתעלה המברך (ישעיה סה) והמתברך בארץ יתברך באלקי אמן, ותתעורר במה שדרשו רז"ל כל המברך מתברך, שהוא כלל הכולל את הכל, וידוע בברכה שהוא קיום העולם, ולכך התחילה תורה בב' בבריאת עולם לפי שהברכה קיום העולם, וברך הקב"ה לאדם שנאמר (בראשית א) ויברך אותם אלקים, וברך לנח ולבניו שנאמר (שם ט) ויברך אלקים את נח ואת בניו, עד שעמד אברהם שהיה ראש האמונה ומסר הברכות בידו ואמר לו (שם יב) והיה ברכה, ולא אמר והיה ברוך או מבורך אלא והיה ברכה, אמר לו אתה מקור הברכה לברך לכל מי שתרצה, וממנו ואילך היו הברכות מסורות ביד הצדיקים, שכן כתוב ביצחק שאמר ליעקב (שם כז) ואברככה לפני ה' לפני מותי, וכן מצינו ביעקב שבירך לבניו סמוך למיתתו הוא שכתוב (שם מט) וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם, וכן מצינו משה רבינו ע"ה שברך את השבטים סמוך למיתתו והתחיל ברכתו במלת זאת, ממקום שפסק יעקב שאמר וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם, וזהו שכתוב.
(4) A Kabbalistic approach: when Solomon concludes the Book with the words תנו לה מפרי ידיה, “let her enjoy the fruit of her hands,” he refers to the virtue he had commenced with, i.e. “who can find a woman of valor?” Solomon wanted to seal his Book with the virtue which is the “seal” of the בנין, the structure comprised by the various emanations, its seal being the emanation חכמה [the simile with which he described the woman of valor. Ed.]. Seeing that the Jewish people had heard the Torah out of the fire and the prophet Chabakuk 3,10 referred to this experience saying נתן תהום קולו, “the deep gave forth loud roars” [see the whole verse, Ed.], Solomon arranged the praises of the Torah/wisdom in the order of the 22 letters of the aleph bet. The meaning of the concluding verse: “give to her of the fruit of her hands,” is a call to bestow a blessing on the emanation חכמה, also known as Torah. The whole idea is similar to what the sages said in Avot 3,7 תן לו משלו שאתה ושלך שלו, “give to Him part of what is His, for you yourself and all that is yours are really His.” The words ויהללוה בשערים מעשיה, “and let her accomplishments praise her in the gates,” are a reference to what the blessing consists of. David also used the words ברכה and הלול, in the same verse (Psalms 104,35) when he said ברכי נפשי את ה' הללוי-ה, “let my soul bless the Lord, Hallelujah.” Even though every human being is himself the beneficiary of G’d’s blessing, G’d nonetheless desires blessing uttered by human beings. He specifically commanded this when He said (Deut. 8,10) “you shall bless the Lord your G’d.” Isaiah tells us that “for whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the true (אמן) G’d.” (Isaiah 65,16) You should pay heed to the saying of the sages (Sotah 38) “he (the priest) who utters a blessing will in turn be blessed.” The reason is that by blessing the people in the name of the Lord, he (the priest) has included Everybody i.e. G’d, in his blessing. It is well known that the whole idea of bestowing a blessing is to contribute to the continued existence of the universe. This is why G’d bestowed blessings immediately after He had created certain phenomena, especially living creatures which are very fragile as compared to inert phenomena. [This is why we find already in Genesis 1,20 when the first living creatures were produced by the waters, that G’d felt compelled to bestow a blessing on them. Perhaps the absence of such a blessing for the vegetation on the third day is the reason we have non-fruit-bearing trees. Ed.] The reason that the whole Torah commences with the letter ב instead of the letter א for instance, is that it wanted to begin with an allusion to blessing. G’d blessed Adam, i.e. the human species (Genesis 1,28); He blessed Noach and his children (Genesis 9,1, the remnants of the human species). Only with the advent of Avraham (described by our author as ראש האמונה, “the father-figure of all true faith”) did G’d transfer the ability to bless to him and his descendants as we know from Genesis 12,2. Instead of telling Avraham that he would be blessed, ברוך, He told him that he himself would originate blessings, i.e. והיה ברכה, “become (a source of) blessing.” Ever since, the righteous have become the “sources” of blessings (or distributors directing blessings). This was how Yitzchok viewed himself when he said: “let me bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.” He meant that if he did not transfer the power to bless given to him, it would die with him as he was conscious of the responsibility entailed by this power to bestow blessing (compare Genesis 27,7).
At this point, Moses makes use of this power, just as had Yaakov before his death (Genesis 49,28). The remarkable thing (from a kabbalistic point of view) is the use as an introduction of the word זאת on both occasions. This is also why the sages said that Moses continued where Yaakov had left off (Devarim Rabbah 11,1) — Yaakov concluded with וזאת ( וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם )and Moses began with וזאת (וזאת הברכה).
(א) ואם מך הוא מערכך. דרשו רז"ל החייהו מערכך, לומר שאם נדר ערכי עלי והוא חייב לתת הערך הקצוב בפרשה לפי שניו כדי לצאת ידי נדרו והקדשו, והוא עני ואינו רוצה ליתן, ב"ד נכנסין לביתו וממשכנין אותו ומשיירין לו כדי חייו מערך עצמו, ונוטלין את השאר, ויצא בזה ידי הקדש ואע"פ שלא השלים כל ערכו, ואע"פ שנתעשר שוב אינו חייב כלום. והדין הזה במעריך כמו בבעל חוב שאם אין לו ללוה כשעור החוב שליח ב"ד הנכנס לביתו משייר לו הצריך לו כדי חייו ונוטל את השאר, דגמרינן מיכה מיכה, כתיב הכא בערכך ואם מך הוא מערכך, וכתיב בבעל חוב וכי ימוך אחיך, מה להלן מסדרין אף כאן מסדרין. אבל הפרש זה יש ביניהם שהרי בבעל חוב חייבה תורה להחזיר המשכון כסות יום וכסות לילה, ולא חייבה כן במעריך שאין ב"ד חייבין להחזיר לו כסות יום וכסות לילה. טעם הדבר מבואר בגמרא בבא מציעא בסוף פרק המקבל דאמרינן התם אמר קרא (דברים כ״ד:י״ג) ושכב בשלמתו וברכך, מי שצריך ברכה כלומר דהיינו הדיוט, יצא הקדש שאינו צריך ברכה, ושם מקשה ולא והכתיב (שם ח) ואכלת ושבעת וברכת, ושמע מינה דהקדש צריך ברכה הוא מדקא מזהיר וברכת, ומתרץ. אלא היינו טעמא משום דכתיב (שם כד) ולך תהיה צדקה, מי שצריך צדקה יצא הקדש שאינו צריך צדקה, שכל הצדקות שלו. ויש לך להשכיל איך העלה שם בגמרא שהקדש אינו צריך צדקה אבל ברכה צריך, וזה מבואר למשכיל.
(1) ואם מך הוא מערכך, “If he is too poor for the valuation, etc.;” on this verse our sages in Erchin 24 say that though the property of the person who vowed to pay this valuation is subject to seizure for the purpose of payment, the bailiff must allow him to retain sufficient chattels and tools, etc., to be able to sustain himself and earn his livelihood. By being deprived of the excess he is deemed to have discharged his vow. He does not have to make payments in the future to settle the part of his debt to the Temple Treasury he has not paid yet. This ruling applies even if in the interval he has become wealthy (Maimonides Hilchot Erchin 3,7).
The procedure here is similar to an ordinary debtor who claims that he is unable to pay his debts. A person deputised for this by the court enters the debtor’s home and assesses what there is that is sale-able leaving him the aforementioned items as his minimum subsistence level. According to the Talmud Baba Metzia 114 this is based on an allusion in the Torah i.e. that the word מך appears in connection with ordinary debts as well as here. Seeing that an ordinary debtor is allowed to retain the necessities of life if he cannot repay the whole debt, the same applies here. (compare Leviticus 25,35 where the Torah commands that we must assist the impoverished Jew). [The type of comparison is called a גזרה שוה, similar language in dissimilar subject matter so that there is not really a conceptual linkage. Ed.] The Talmudic expression for allowing the debtor to retain part of his belongings is known as מסדרין.
There is a difference between the ordinary debtor and the person whose economic circumstances are being assessed by a priest in our paragraph. When personal belongings of the ordinary debtor have been taken as collateral by the bailiff they have to be returned when the owner needs them, such as his pyamas at night. Such a consideration does not apply to the person whose ability to discharge his vow is being assessed by the priest in our paragraph. The reason for this difference is mentioned on the folio of Baba Metzia we quoted. In connection with the legislation concerning collateral the Torah writes that in recognition of returning his nightgown to him the impoverished debtor will bless the lender (Deut. 24,13 and Exodus 22,25). According to the Talmud, the legislation that the pawn must be returned for use by the debtor applies only to creditors in need of blessings. Seeing that the Temple Treasury is not in need of such blessings nothing is to be gained by the pawn going back and forth every night. In connection with this kind of reasoning the question is raised in the Talmud: “does not the Torah write explicitly that when we have eaten and been sated that we must “bless the Lord your G’d” (who has provided us with all this) (Deut. 8,10). Since when does G’d need our blessing? Surely this proves that even the Temple Treasury could use our blessing! The Talmud answers that it is not the blessing mentioned in that verse that determines this but the end of the verse which concludes by saying that the matter will be accounted as an act of righteousness for the party returning the pawn. This is certainly not the case with the Temple Treasury. People who are in need of the merit of having performed acts of righteousness are the subject of the legislation to return a pawn at the time the owner needs it; the Temple Treasury which has no such need does not return collateral for the use of the debtor. G’d the owner of the Temple Treasury dispenses righteousness as He has all that He needs. He does not need to acquire title to it.
The procedure here is similar to an ordinary debtor who claims that he is unable to pay his debts. A person deputised for this by the court enters the debtor’s home and assesses what there is that is sale-able leaving him the aforementioned items as his minimum subsistence level. According to the Talmud Baba Metzia 114 this is based on an allusion in the Torah i.e. that the word מך appears in connection with ordinary debts as well as here. Seeing that an ordinary debtor is allowed to retain the necessities of life if he cannot repay the whole debt, the same applies here. (compare Leviticus 25,35 where the Torah commands that we must assist the impoverished Jew). [The type of comparison is called a גזרה שוה, similar language in dissimilar subject matter so that there is not really a conceptual linkage. Ed.] The Talmudic expression for allowing the debtor to retain part of his belongings is known as מסדרין.
There is a difference between the ordinary debtor and the person whose economic circumstances are being assessed by a priest in our paragraph. When personal belongings of the ordinary debtor have been taken as collateral by the bailiff they have to be returned when the owner needs them, such as his pyamas at night. Such a consideration does not apply to the person whose ability to discharge his vow is being assessed by the priest in our paragraph. The reason for this difference is mentioned on the folio of Baba Metzia we quoted. In connection with the legislation concerning collateral the Torah writes that in recognition of returning his nightgown to him the impoverished debtor will bless the lender (Deut. 24,13 and Exodus 22,25). According to the Talmud, the legislation that the pawn must be returned for use by the debtor applies only to creditors in need of blessings. Seeing that the Temple Treasury is not in need of such blessings nothing is to be gained by the pawn going back and forth every night. In connection with this kind of reasoning the question is raised in the Talmud: “does not the Torah write explicitly that when we have eaten and been sated that we must “bless the Lord your G’d” (who has provided us with all this) (Deut. 8,10). Since when does G’d need our blessing? Surely this proves that even the Temple Treasury could use our blessing! The Talmud answers that it is not the blessing mentioned in that verse that determines this but the end of the verse which concludes by saying that the matter will be accounted as an act of righteousness for the party returning the pawn. This is certainly not the case with the Temple Treasury. People who are in need of the merit of having performed acts of righteousness are the subject of the legislation to return a pawn at the time the owner needs it; the Temple Treasury which has no such need does not return collateral for the use of the debtor. G’d the owner of the Temple Treasury dispenses righteousness as He has all that He needs. He does not need to acquire title to it.
(א) וברכת את ה' אלקיך. על דרך הפשט כשתזכור ימי הרעה שעברו עליך בגלות מצרים והיותכם שם בשעבוד גדול ותזכור ג"כ ענוי המדבר עתה, בבואך בארץ ותאכל ותשבע מפריה ומטובה תברך על זה לשמו של הקב"ה.
(ב) ועל דעת רז"ל, וברכת את ה' אלקיך הוא מצות עשה לברך ברכת המזון, והוא כמו (שם כב) ועשית מעקה לגגך, (שם טז) ועשית פסח לה' אלקיך, ובאור על הארץ ועל הארץ.
(ג) ויש לך להתעורר כאן כי יש בפסוק זה פתח להבין סוד הברכות ולא תמצא בכל התורה בשום מקום שצוה הקב"ה שנברך לשמו כי אם במקום הזה, ומזה אמר דוד ע"ה (תהלים קמה) ואברכה שמך, ואמר (שם ק) הודו לו ברכו שמו, ורבים כן.
(ד) וע"ד הפשט אומר תחלה כי הברכות אינן צורך גבוה אלא צורך הדיוט כי כיון שהוא יתברך מקור הברכה וכל הברכות הן משתלשלות ממנו כל הנמצאים המברכים אותו אין כל ברכותיהם כדאי לו כי הוא הנמצא הקדמון שהמציא הנמצאים כלם ומציאותם אינה אלא מציאותו ומציאותו תספיק בעצמו לא יצטרך לזולתו, וא"כ אם יברכוהו כל היום וכל הלילה מה יתרבה בכך או מה יתנו לו או מה מידם יקח, אין התועלת והרבוי כי אם אלינו, כי כל המברך על מה שנהנה הוא מעיד על ההשגחה שהוא יתעלה הממציא מזון לשפלים כדי שיחיו ובזכותם התבואה והפירות מתברכין ומתרבים, והנהנה ואינו מברך גוזל ממנו ההשגחה ומוסר הנהגת השפלים לכוכבים ומזלות, וזהו שאמר כל הנהנה מן העולם הזה בלא ברכה כאילו גוזל להקב"ה ולכנסת ישראל שנאמר (משלי כ״ח:כ״ד) גוזל אביו ואמו, כלומר גוזל להקב"ה ההשגחה ולכנסת ישראל הפירות, שבעון זה מתמעטין לישראל בסבתו, שהרי כל העולם כולו נדון אחר רובו וכל יחיד ויחיד נדון אחר רובו לכך יש לו להראות את עצמו כאילו כל העולם כולו תלוי עליו.
(ה) וע"ד קבלה וברכת את ה', אין הברכה צורך הדיוט בלבד וגם אינה הודאה בלבד אבל הוא לשון תוספת ורבוי מלשון (שמות כ״ג:כ״ה) וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך.
(ו) ויש לך להשכיל מאמר רז"ל שאמרו בבבא מציעא פרק המקבל בסופו בענין בעל חוב, (דברים כ״ד:י״ג) ושכב בשלמתו וברכך, מי שצריך ברכה דהיינו הדיוט, יצא הקדש שאינו צריך ברכה, ומקשה שם בגמרא, ולא, והכתיב ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלקיך, אלא ולך תהיה צדקה יצא הקדש שאינו צריך צדקה שכל הצדקות שלו. ביארו החכמים ז"ל בפירוש כי ההקדש צריך ברכה אבל אינו צריך צדקה, ומפורש אמרו בברכות אמר לו ישמעאל בני ברכני, וכן במסכת שבת אמר הקב"ה למשה היה לך לעזרני, והוא ענין הברכה. והנה כאשר אנו מברכים להקב"ה יש בזה תוספת רוח הקדש, וברכתנו היא סבה שיתברכו כל בריותיו ממנו, ואמרו עוד שהקב"ה מתאוה לתפלתן של צדיקים, ואילו לא היתה הברכה והתפלה כי אם הודאה לבד למה יתאוה לתפלתן של צדיקים המועטין יותר משאר עמים רבים והלא ברב עם הדרת מלך, אבל לשון וברכת ענין תוספת ורבוי, והוא מלשון ברכה הנובעת מן המקור, ולכך אנו מזכירין בתפלתנו תתברך תתרומם, וכן בלשון הקדיש יתברך וישתבח ויתפאר ויתרומם ויתנשא. ועוד מלשון בריכה וכריעה, מי שכל ברך כורע לו, וכן מצינו בספר הבהיר מאי משמע דהאי ברכה לישנא דבריך הוא, שנאמר (ישעיהו מ״ה:כ״ג) כי לי תכרע כל ברך, מי שכל ברך כורע לו.
(1) וברכת את ה’ אלו-היך, “you will bless the Lord your G’d.” According to the plain meaning of the text Moses means that when you reflect on the painful periods of your history, the sufferings you experienced in the land of Egypt, and you also look back on the discomforts experienced during your long trek through the desert, you will be inspired to bless the Lord as soon as you will enjoy eating the produce of this land. You will include the food of the land in your blessing of the Lord. (2) An approach to these words by our halachic authorities based on Berachot 21: our verse is the positive commandment to recite grace after one’s meal. The commandment is similar in force and meaning to: “you shall make a fence around the roof of your house” (Deut. 22,8), i.e. if you have a house (with a flat roof) you must protect the edges against the danger of someone falling from it. When you ate and were satisfied you have to bless the Lord your G’d for the food He has provided.
The meaning of the word על הארץ הטובה in our verse is the same as if the Torah had written ועל הארץ הטובה, “and for the good land, etc.” (3) This verse contains a clue to the whole mystical dimension of the concept that man “blesses” the Lord. The whole idea of the creature blessing the Creator instead of vice versa is somewhat strange. We do not find any other place in the whole Torah except here where G’d commands us to “bless” His name. This is the verse which prompted David to say in Psalms 145,1 “and I will bless Your Name.” He also said הודו לו ברכו שמו, “give thanks to Him, bless His Name” (Psalms 100,4). We find many similar quotes in the Book of Psalms. (4) According to the plain meaning of this legislation we must appreciate that we are not dealing with the needs of the Lord but with the needs of man. Seeing that G’d is the source of all blessings and all the blessings devolve on His creatures from heaven it is clearly an impossibility for any of His creatures to bless Him adequately. Seeing that He, G’d, is the original Being in this universe having “invented” all the others, there is really no existence worthy of the name. His Existence is so self-sufficient that it has no need of anyone or anything beside Him. Therefore, even if we were to bless Him all day long and all night long what would we accomplish by this? How would we thereby enhance His existence either qualitatively or quantitatively? Job 35,7 makes this point when he says: “if you are righteous what do you give Him? What does He receive from your hand?” Any usefulness of blessing G’d is one-sided, i.e. affects our well-being not His, addresses our needs, not His. When we bless G’d for what we have received and enjoyed we testify that we acknowledge His השגחה, His benevolent and ongoing interest in all His creatures. The merit we accumulate for ourselves by such an act of “blessing” G’d ensures that He will continue to favour us with His benevolent largesse. The produce, the fruit, etc., will continue to be blessed by Him seeing we acknowledge Him as the provider. This is the reverse side of what the sages said in Berachot 35 that if someone enjoys the good things of this world without reciting a benediction of thanks it is as if he had robbed both G’d and the כנסת ישראל seeing that Solomon said: (Proverbs 28,24) “He who robs his father and his mother and says: ‘it is no offense,’ is a companion to vandals.” Failure to bless the Lord for His generosity in providing for us will result in a reduction of this abundance of good food, etc., and the individual -even the one who was not guilty of not reciting such benedictions- will suffer the fate of the majority seeing that in matters of livelihood the world as well as the individual is judged according to its or his respective preponderance of merits versus demerits (Kidushin 40). Seeing that this is so we can never be sure whether our next action does not place us in the minus column with all the dreadful consequences this may entail. We must therefore always behave as if our fate was in the balance and depended on our next action. (5) A kabbalistic approach: the commandment “you shall bless the Lord your G’d,” means that this blessing is neither exclusively for the benefit of the person reciting it, nor is it exclusively an expression of gratitude; rather it is a formula depicting something additional, natural increase, etc., as we know from Exodus 23,25 וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך, “and He will bless your bread and your water.” [The assumption being that G’d will provide additional food and water. Ed.] (6) You must properly understand what the sages said in Baba Metzia 114 concerning a debtor on the verse in Deut. 24,13 that when the debtor who had to give the lender a blanket as a pawn is allowed by the lender to have it back so he can cover himself with it by night, that G’d will bless the lender who is so considerate even if the debtor will not. The Talmud says that the subject of the word וברכך in that verse is the one in need of a blessing, i.e. only human beings are in need of blessings as opposed to the Temple Treasury which is not in need of blessings. The Talmud there counters: how can you say that הקדש i.e. the Temple Treasury or any property belonging to the Temple does not qualify for blessings in view of our verse that after eating and being sated one must bless G’d the provider? The Talmud answers that the reason pawns owned by the Temple Treasury do not have to be restored at night is that the verse ends “and it will be considered a charitable act on your part (if you give it back). Seeing the Temple Treasury is not in need of charity there is no need to return the pawn at night. It is evident from that passage in the Talmud that whereas the Temple Treasury is in need of blessings it is not in need of charity. The reason is that all charities emanate from G’d (the owner of the Temple treasury).
We have a still more direct proof of the fact that blessings do apply to G’d from the Talmud Berachot 7, where Acatriel, a high ranking angel asked Rabbi Yishmael to bless him, i.e. such blessings are applicable to G’d? We also find in Shabbat 89 that G’d reprimanded Moses for not “assisting Him.” Clearly, man’s blessing or assistance is of value even to G’d? The assistance meant there was a blessing. When we express a blessing for the Lord we add a dimension of Holy Spirit in the universe. Our blessing will become the cause of more of G’d’s creatures receiving His blessing.
The sages said also that G’d is desirous of the prayer of the righteous. If the meaning of the word blessing and prayer only referred to man thanking the Lord, why would G’d be interested specifically in the prayers of the relatively few righteous people instead of His desiring everybody’s prayer? Do we not have a principle that the glory of the king is expressed by the adulation of multitudes (Proverbs 14,28)? Clearly the very word ברכה implies that the one bestowing it adds an additional dimension to the recipient of the blessing. This is why in our prayers we mention the words תתברך ותתרומם, “be blessed and (as a result) be elevated, our King, etc.” This is also the reason for the wording in the Kaddish: יתברך וישתבח ויתפאר ויתרומם ויתנשא, “Blessed and praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, proclaimed in His majesty, etc.” In addittion we find that the word ברך, knee, describes the One before Whom each knee bends, i.e. the word ברכה, blessing is directly related to a motion with his kness by the one proclaiming the blessing (compare Sefer Habahir item 4).
The meaning of the word על הארץ הטובה in our verse is the same as if the Torah had written ועל הארץ הטובה, “and for the good land, etc.” (3) This verse contains a clue to the whole mystical dimension of the concept that man “blesses” the Lord. The whole idea of the creature blessing the Creator instead of vice versa is somewhat strange. We do not find any other place in the whole Torah except here where G’d commands us to “bless” His name. This is the verse which prompted David to say in Psalms 145,1 “and I will bless Your Name.” He also said הודו לו ברכו שמו, “give thanks to Him, bless His Name” (Psalms 100,4). We find many similar quotes in the Book of Psalms. (4) According to the plain meaning of this legislation we must appreciate that we are not dealing with the needs of the Lord but with the needs of man. Seeing that G’d is the source of all blessings and all the blessings devolve on His creatures from heaven it is clearly an impossibility for any of His creatures to bless Him adequately. Seeing that He, G’d, is the original Being in this universe having “invented” all the others, there is really no existence worthy of the name. His Existence is so self-sufficient that it has no need of anyone or anything beside Him. Therefore, even if we were to bless Him all day long and all night long what would we accomplish by this? How would we thereby enhance His existence either qualitatively or quantitatively? Job 35,7 makes this point when he says: “if you are righteous what do you give Him? What does He receive from your hand?” Any usefulness of blessing G’d is one-sided, i.e. affects our well-being not His, addresses our needs, not His. When we bless G’d for what we have received and enjoyed we testify that we acknowledge His השגחה, His benevolent and ongoing interest in all His creatures. The merit we accumulate for ourselves by such an act of “blessing” G’d ensures that He will continue to favour us with His benevolent largesse. The produce, the fruit, etc., will continue to be blessed by Him seeing we acknowledge Him as the provider. This is the reverse side of what the sages said in Berachot 35 that if someone enjoys the good things of this world without reciting a benediction of thanks it is as if he had robbed both G’d and the כנסת ישראל seeing that Solomon said: (Proverbs 28,24) “He who robs his father and his mother and says: ‘it is no offense,’ is a companion to vandals.” Failure to bless the Lord for His generosity in providing for us will result in a reduction of this abundance of good food, etc., and the individual -even the one who was not guilty of not reciting such benedictions- will suffer the fate of the majority seeing that in matters of livelihood the world as well as the individual is judged according to its or his respective preponderance of merits versus demerits (Kidushin 40). Seeing that this is so we can never be sure whether our next action does not place us in the minus column with all the dreadful consequences this may entail. We must therefore always behave as if our fate was in the balance and depended on our next action. (5) A kabbalistic approach: the commandment “you shall bless the Lord your G’d,” means that this blessing is neither exclusively for the benefit of the person reciting it, nor is it exclusively an expression of gratitude; rather it is a formula depicting something additional, natural increase, etc., as we know from Exodus 23,25 וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך, “and He will bless your bread and your water.” [The assumption being that G’d will provide additional food and water. Ed.] (6) You must properly understand what the sages said in Baba Metzia 114 concerning a debtor on the verse in Deut. 24,13 that when the debtor who had to give the lender a blanket as a pawn is allowed by the lender to have it back so he can cover himself with it by night, that G’d will bless the lender who is so considerate even if the debtor will not. The Talmud says that the subject of the word וברכך in that verse is the one in need of a blessing, i.e. only human beings are in need of blessings as opposed to the Temple Treasury which is not in need of blessings. The Talmud there counters: how can you say that הקדש i.e. the Temple Treasury or any property belonging to the Temple does not qualify for blessings in view of our verse that after eating and being sated one must bless G’d the provider? The Talmud answers that the reason pawns owned by the Temple Treasury do not have to be restored at night is that the verse ends “and it will be considered a charitable act on your part (if you give it back). Seeing the Temple Treasury is not in need of charity there is no need to return the pawn at night. It is evident from that passage in the Talmud that whereas the Temple Treasury is in need of blessings it is not in need of charity. The reason is that all charities emanate from G’d (the owner of the Temple treasury).
We have a still more direct proof of the fact that blessings do apply to G’d from the Talmud Berachot 7, where Acatriel, a high ranking angel asked Rabbi Yishmael to bless him, i.e. such blessings are applicable to G’d? We also find in Shabbat 89 that G’d reprimanded Moses for not “assisting Him.” Clearly, man’s blessing or assistance is of value even to G’d? The assistance meant there was a blessing. When we express a blessing for the Lord we add a dimension of Holy Spirit in the universe. Our blessing will become the cause of more of G’d’s creatures receiving His blessing.
The sages said also that G’d is desirous of the prayer of the righteous. If the meaning of the word blessing and prayer only referred to man thanking the Lord, why would G’d be interested specifically in the prayers of the relatively few righteous people instead of His desiring everybody’s prayer? Do we not have a principle that the glory of the king is expressed by the adulation of multitudes (Proverbs 14,28)? Clearly the very word ברכה implies that the one bestowing it adds an additional dimension to the recipient of the blessing. This is why in our prayers we mention the words תתברך ותתרומם, “be blessed and (as a result) be elevated, our King, etc.” This is also the reason for the wording in the Kaddish: יתברך וישתבח ויתפאר ויתרומם ויתנשא, “Blessed and praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, proclaimed in His majesty, etc.” In addittion we find that the word ברך, knee, describes the One before Whom each knee bends, i.e. the word ברכה, blessing is directly related to a motion with his kness by the one proclaiming the blessing (compare Sefer Habahir item 4).
(ב) ובבקר תשבעו לחם וידעתם כי אני ה' אלקיכם. שתברכו את שמי על המזון כענין שכתוב (דברים ח׳:י׳) ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלקיך, ומכאן אמרו רז"ל משה תיקן להם לישראל ברכת הזן בשעה שירד להם המן, ומזה אמרו ברכת המזון דאורייתא, אבל ברכת המוציא דרבנן מק"ו ומה כשהוא שבע מברך כשהוא רעב עאכ"ו.
(2) ובבוקר תשבעו לחם וידעתם כי אני ה' אלו-היכם, “and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread and you will know that I am the Lord your G’d.” You will bless My name for supplying your food. This is the first indication of the legislation we read about in Deut. 8,10: “you will eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your G’d.” Our verse prompted our sages (Berachot 48) to conclude that Moses formulated the first benediction in the ברכת המזון prayer after meals at the time when the manna descended. Whereas thanking G’d for the food one has eaten is a Biblical requirement, reciting the benediction prior to eating is a Rabbinical law. The Rabbis arrived at the logic of this by an “a fortiori,” קל וחומר, saying that if one needs to thank the Lord after one has already had one’s fill, how much more must one do so prior to eating for having found food available at a time when one is hungry!
(ב) וע"ד המדרש יברכך ה' וישמרך, יברכך בעושר, וישמרך שתהא עושה המצות, יאר ה' פניו אליך, יעמיד בנים ממך שיהיו בני תורה שנאמר (משלי ו׳:כ״ג) כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, יאר ה' פניו אליך, יעמיד ממך כהנים שמאירים את המזבח שנאמר (מלאכי א׳:י׳) ולא תאירו מזבחי חנם וכתיב, (ויקרא ו׳:ה׳) והאש על המזבח תוקד בו לא תכבה. ויחונך, שנה רבי חייא הגדול יחנה ה' אצלך. דבר אחר ויחונך, יעמיד ממך נביאים, שנאמר (זכריה י״ב:י׳) ושפכתי על בית דוד ועל יושבי ירושלים רוח חן ותחנונים. ד"א ויחנך, יתן חנו עליך בכל מקום שאתה הולך כמו שכתוב (אסתר ב׳:י״ז) ותשא חן וחסד לפניו. ישא ה' פניו אליך, וכתיב (דברים י׳:י״ז-י״ח) אשר לא ישא פנים ולא יקח שוחד, הא כיצד, עשה תשובה עד שלא נחתם גזר דין ישא ה' פניו, כיון שנחתם גזר דין אשר לא ישא פנים. דבר אחר יברכך ה' וישמרך, יברכך בבנים וישמרך בבנות, שהנקבות צריכות שמירה, וכן הוא אומר (תהילים קכ״א:ה׳) ה' שומרך ה' צלך על יד ימינך. יאר ה' פניו אליך, יאר לך מאור פניו, ואין יאר אלא חיים שנאמר (משלי ט״ז:ט״ו) באור פני מלך חיים, וכן הוא אומר (תהילים ס״ז:ב׳) אלקים יחננו ויברכנו יאר פניו אתנו סלה. ישא ה' פניו אליך בכל מקום שתפנה יהיו פניו נשואות לך לשום לך שלום ותנצל מכל פגע ומכל מקרה, וזה השגחה פרטית ויתירה, ובהפך זה (ישעיהו א׳:ט״ו) אעלים עיני מכם. ודרשו במסכת ברכות ישא ה' פניו אליך, וכי הקב"ה נושא פנים והלא כבר נאמר (דברים י׳:י״ז) אשר לא ישא פנים אמר הקב"ה כשם שהם נושאים לי פנים כך אני עושה להם, כיצד, כתבתי בתורתי (שם ח) ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלקיך, ואדם יושב הוא ובניו ובני ביתו ואין לפניהם כדי שביעה, והם נושאים לי פנים ומברכים ומדקדקים על עצמם עד כזית ועד כביצה, לפיכך ישא ה' פניו אליך. זהו שאמר הכתוב (שיר השירים ג׳:ז׳) הנה מטתו שלשלמה ששים גבורים סביב לה מגבורי ישראל, וכי שמירה היה צריך שלמה, אלא שחקוק סביב למטתו ברכת כהנים שהוא ששים אותיות, ד"א הנה מטתו שלשלמה, אינו מדבר אלא במלך שהשלום שלו, מטתו זה ביהמ"ק, ולמה נמשל ביהמ"ק למטה, מה המטה הזו נתנה לפריה ורביה כך ביהמ"ק כל מה שבתוכו היה פרה ורבה, שנאמר (מלכים א ח׳:ח׳) ויאריכו הבדים ויראו ראשי הבדים מן הקדש, וכן הוא אומר (שם ג) והזהב זהב פרוים, שהיה עושה פירות, וכן הוא אומר (מלכים א ז׳:ב׳) ויבן את בית יער הלבנון, למה נמשל ליער, לומר לך מה יער פרה ורבה אף ביהמ"ק כל מה שבתוכו היה פרה ורבה, לכך נאמר הנה מטתו שלשלמה ששים גבורים סביב לה, אלו ששים אותיות שבברכת כהנים. כלם אחוזי חרב, כל אחד ואחד שמו של הקב"ה נזכר בו, יברכך ה' יאר ה' ישא ה'. איש חרבו על ירכו, מה ראה הירך להיותו נזכר כאן, אלא אפילו רואה אותו בחלומו והחרב שלופה בצוארו וקוטע את ירכו משכים בבקר והולך לבית הכנסת. מפחד בלילות, מפחד שראה בחלומו ורואה כהנים נושאין כפיהם והחלום רע הוא מתבטל ממנו, לכך אמר הקב"ה למשה שיזהיר לאהרן ובניו שיהו מברכין לישראל. אמר הקב"ה לשעבר הייתי זקוק לברך בריותי ברכתי לאדם ולאשתו שנאמר (בראשית א׳:כ״ח) ויברך אותם אלקים ויאמר להם אלקים פרו ורבו, ברכתי לנח ולבניו שנאמר (שם ט) ויברך אלקים את נח ואת בניו, ברכתי לאברהם שנאמר (שם כד) וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, אמר הקב"ה לאברהם מכאן ואילך הברכות מסורות לך שנאמר (שם יב) והיה ברכה, מה עשה הוליד שנים יצחק וישמעאל ולא ברכן, משל למה הדבר דומה למלך שהיה לו פרדס נתנו לאריס והיה בתוך הפרדס אילן אחד של סם המות ואילן אחד של סם חיים מורכב על גביו, אמר האריס אם אני משקה לאילן של סם חיים הרי אילן של סם המות שותה, אמר אני אעבוד זמני ואשלים ומה שהמלך רוצה לעשות בפרדס עושה. המלך זה הקב"ה והפרדס זה העולם והאריס זה אברהם שמסרו לו הקב"ה אמר לו והיה ברכה היו לו שני בנים אחד צדיק ואחד רשע, יצחק וישמעאל, אמר אברהם אם אני מברך ליצחק ישמעאל מבקש להתברך והוא רשע אלא אעבוד אני לפי שאני ב"ו. וכשנפטר מן העולם נגלה הקב"ה על יצחק וברכו שנאמר (בראשית כ״ה:י״א) ויהי אחרי מות אברהם ויברך אלקים את יצחק בנו, ויצחק ברך ליעקב, ויעקב לשנים עשר בניו שנאמר (שם מט) כל אלה שבטי ישראל שנים עשר וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם, מכאן ואילך אמר הקב"ה למשה הרי הברכות מסורות לכם הכהנים יהיו מברכין את בני, עד כאן במדרש.
(2) A Midrashic approach: The word יברכך implies being blessed with material wealth; the word וישמרך implies that the recipient is preserved so that he can perform G’d’s commandments as a result of the material wealth G’d has blessed him with. The words יאר ה' פניו אליך , mean that G’d may grant you the kind of children who are full of Torah knowledge. The Midrash bases this insight on Proverbs 6,25 כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, “for like a single candle lighting a narrow area is the performance of a single commandment, whereas the performance of the Torah in all its aspects provides great light.” Furthermore, the same words include the blessing that “from you will stem priests who in turn will illuminate the Altar in the Temple,” as it is written in Maleachi 1,10 ולא תאירו מזבחי חנם, “you will not light up My Altar without recompense.” We have another verse supporting this point in Leviticus 6,5 where the Torah writes: “and the fire on the Altar will never be extinguished.”
Concerning the precise meaning here of the word ויחונך, Rabbi Chiyah the great taught that it means that the Lord will make His camp near you (from the root חנה). Another approach holds that the word promises that G’d will make prophets descend from your loins; that school of thought bases itself on the verse in Zecharyah 12,10 ושפכתי על בית דוד ועל יושבי ירושלים רוח חן ותחנונים, “I will pour out over the house of David and over the people of Jerusalem a spirit of pity and compassion.” These are the ingredients which we think of when we think of prophets. Still another approach sees in the word ויחונך a reference to grace in the sense of being held in esteem, being appreciated. The word appears in that meaning in Esther 2,17 where we are told that all who saw Esther, including the king, immediately formed this positive opinion of her.
On the final verse, ישא ה' פניו אליך וישם לך שלום, “may the Lord raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace,” we must compare the meaning of this expression to Deut. 10,17 אשר לא ישא פנים ולא יקח שוחד, “Who does not play favourites nor accept bribes.” How can we reconcile these two apparently contradictory concepts of asking the very same G’d whom we applaud for not playing favorites in Deut. 10,17 to play favourites with the entire Jewish people in the priestly blessing formulated by the same G’d? [The word ישא has to be translated then as “will forgive.” Ed.] If the victim of an unfavorable decree has repented before the decree has been sealed his repentance is effective. If not, such as in Deut. 17,10 it is not.
A second approach to the first verse. The word יברכך implies being blessed with sons, the word וישמרך implies being blessed with daughters who require additional protection and safeguarding on the part of their parents. This is reflected in the promise in Psalms 121,5 ה' שומרך, ה' צלך על יד ימינך, ”the Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protection, at your right hand.”
The verse יאר ה' פניך אליך describes the element life which is associated with light, such as in באור פני מלך חיים, “in the light of the king’s face there is life” (Proverbs 16,15). The word appears in a similar connotation in Psalms 67,2 אל-הים יחננו ויברכנו יאר פניו אתנו סלה, ”May G’d be gracious to us and bless us; may He illuminate us with His face, Selah.”
Concerning the last verse of the blessing(s)ישא ה' פניו אליך , this means that “in every direction you turn may G’d arrange for you to find peace and harmony and be protected from all unpleasant happenings.” This is a form of G’d’s personal benevolent supervision of our fates generally referred to as השגחה פרטית. We find the reverse of this threatened by G’d as part of threats of the prophet Isaiah when he quoted G’d as saying: “I am going to turn My watchful eye away from you (G’d refusing to hear our prayers)” (Isaiah 1,15).
In Berachot 20, the sages derive from the wording ישא ה' פניו אליך that although when you look at this verse superficially you get the impression that it contradicts the verse where G’d says that He does not play favorites, using the word לא אשא פנים this way is misleading. All that is meant is that G’d will lift our countenances, i.e. respond to our first having raised our face to Him in prayer and supplication. This is not what is called “playing favorites,” i.e. using double standards. This idea is even reflected in the text of the Torah. We read in Deut. 8,10: “you will eat and be satisfied and you will bless the Lord your G’d.” Assume that father, mother, and children assemble around the family table to consume their daily meal and they find that there is not enough to sate even one of them, never mind all of them. They will turn their faces to G’d, and each one will hold back and help himself to a minimum making sure there will be enough to go around. When G’d observes such conduct, He will most certainly be affected by it and make sure that in the future this family will not be lacking for anything. This is also the deeper meaning behind the famous line in Song of Songs 3,7 that Solomon’s bed was watched over by 60 guards. Did then Solomon need these guards? Was he in danger of attacks by assassins, by terrorists? What is meant by these words is that the priestly blessing which comprises 60 letters was engraved on the edge of Solomon’s bed.
Another explanation of this line in Song of Songs: the bed mentioned in Song of Songs is not that of King Solomon at all. It is the “bed” of He who owns peace, i.e. G’d. The “bed” is the Holy Temple; The reason the Temple is compared to a bed is that just as the function of the bed is for those on it to practice the commandment of increasing the human population of the world, so it was a propensity of all the furnishings in the Temple to increase and multiply. We have a glimmer of this in Kings I 8,8: “the staves (attached to the Holy Ark) were growing longer so that they would wind up being visible in the Sanctuary in front of the Shrine. A verse indicating something similar is found in Chronicles II 3,6 where Ezra describes the gold of the Temple as זהב פרוים, understood to mean “gold which had the capacity to multiply, which produced fruit.” A third scriptural verse which at least alludes to this phenomenon as far as the materials used for the Temple is concerned is found in Kings I 7,2 where the entire Temple is described as בית יער הלבנון, "The Lebanon Forest House,” suggesting that just as a forest and its trees keep growing, so the Temple would keep expanding. The next words in that verse in Song of Songs, i.e. כלם אחוזי חרב, “all of them trained in warfare, i.e. “swordsmen,” refer to names of the Lord. The words following i.e. איש חרבו על ירכו, “each one with his sword on his loins”, beg the question what the ירך, the seat of a man's semen has to do in this verse. The answer is that these words describe that even if Solomon (symbol of the Jewish people) had frightening dreams at night, dreams during which he (they) felt in immediate danger, thanks to the encouragement derived by the proximity of all these names of G’d the people would rouse themselves in the morning, go to the Synagogue, and shake off any fear experienced during the night in a nightmare. They would find the effects of the dream dissolve without any further ado. In order to provide the Jewish people in the desert with this remedy, G’d instructed Aaron and his sons to bless the people in the way the Torah specified. G’d said: “in the past when I needed to extend a blessing to My creatures I would bless Adam and Chavah, as we know from Genesis 1,28 ‘G’d blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply etc.’” G’d blessed Noach when the latter was in need of such as blessing as we know from Genesis 9,1: “G’d blessed Noach and his sons.” He blessed Avraham as we know from Genesis 25,1: “G’d had blessed Avraham with everything.” From Avraham’s time on, G’d changed His mode of administering blessings directly and assigned the task to Avraham saying to him: “become a source of blessing” (Genesis 12,2). Avraham responded by siring two sons, Ishmael and Yitzchak. Avraham failed to bless either of them. In order to understand Avraham’s failure to bless either one of his sons, let us illustrate this by means of a parable. A king who owned an orchard entrusted it to a profit-sharing farmer to look after it. The orchard in question contained within it right in the center two trees, one of which contained the elixir of life whereas the second one contained a poison which would kill. The farmer was in a quandary, saying to himself that if he watered both trees he would further the growth of the deadly tree. If, on the other hand, he did not water either tree he would cause the elixir of life to die out. He decided to serve out his contract and to leave the decision of what to do to the king, the owner, after he himself had bowed out of the picture. The “king” in the parable is G’d. The “orchard” is earth. The “farmer” is Avraham, and the two trees, the elixir of life and the poisonous one, are Yitzchak and Ishmael respectively. Avraham said to himself: “if I bless Yitzchak, Ishmael will demand to be blessed also. Seeing that he is wicked, I cannot do that. I prefer to pass and not exercise my discretion. After all, I am only flesh and blood, not all-knowing like the Lord.” What happened? After Avraham had died we find that the Torah records that G’d bestowed the blessing He had first given to Avraham on his son Yitzchak after his father had died (Genesis 25,11). Yitzchak in turn blessed Yaakov. Yaakov blessed all his twelve sons as we read in Genesis 49,28 “all these (aforementioned ones) are the twelve tribes of Israel and this is what he had said to them when he blessed them.” From that point on, G’d said to Moses: “the blessings are at your (Israel collectively) disposal. The priests shall be the ones to administer them (Based on Tanchuma Nasso 9).
Concerning the precise meaning here of the word ויחונך, Rabbi Chiyah the great taught that it means that the Lord will make His camp near you (from the root חנה). Another approach holds that the word promises that G’d will make prophets descend from your loins; that school of thought bases itself on the verse in Zecharyah 12,10 ושפכתי על בית דוד ועל יושבי ירושלים רוח חן ותחנונים, “I will pour out over the house of David and over the people of Jerusalem a spirit of pity and compassion.” These are the ingredients which we think of when we think of prophets. Still another approach sees in the word ויחונך a reference to grace in the sense of being held in esteem, being appreciated. The word appears in that meaning in Esther 2,17 where we are told that all who saw Esther, including the king, immediately formed this positive opinion of her.
On the final verse, ישא ה' פניו אליך וישם לך שלום, “may the Lord raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace,” we must compare the meaning of this expression to Deut. 10,17 אשר לא ישא פנים ולא יקח שוחד, “Who does not play favourites nor accept bribes.” How can we reconcile these two apparently contradictory concepts of asking the very same G’d whom we applaud for not playing favorites in Deut. 10,17 to play favourites with the entire Jewish people in the priestly blessing formulated by the same G’d? [The word ישא has to be translated then as “will forgive.” Ed.] If the victim of an unfavorable decree has repented before the decree has been sealed his repentance is effective. If not, such as in Deut. 17,10 it is not.
A second approach to the first verse. The word יברכך implies being blessed with sons, the word וישמרך implies being blessed with daughters who require additional protection and safeguarding on the part of their parents. This is reflected in the promise in Psalms 121,5 ה' שומרך, ה' צלך על יד ימינך, ”the Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protection, at your right hand.”
The verse יאר ה' פניך אליך describes the element life which is associated with light, such as in באור פני מלך חיים, “in the light of the king’s face there is life” (Proverbs 16,15). The word appears in a similar connotation in Psalms 67,2 אל-הים יחננו ויברכנו יאר פניו אתנו סלה, ”May G’d be gracious to us and bless us; may He illuminate us with His face, Selah.”
Concerning the last verse of the blessing(s)ישא ה' פניו אליך , this means that “in every direction you turn may G’d arrange for you to find peace and harmony and be protected from all unpleasant happenings.” This is a form of G’d’s personal benevolent supervision of our fates generally referred to as השגחה פרטית. We find the reverse of this threatened by G’d as part of threats of the prophet Isaiah when he quoted G’d as saying: “I am going to turn My watchful eye away from you (G’d refusing to hear our prayers)” (Isaiah 1,15).
In Berachot 20, the sages derive from the wording ישא ה' פניו אליך that although when you look at this verse superficially you get the impression that it contradicts the verse where G’d says that He does not play favorites, using the word לא אשא פנים this way is misleading. All that is meant is that G’d will lift our countenances, i.e. respond to our first having raised our face to Him in prayer and supplication. This is not what is called “playing favorites,” i.e. using double standards. This idea is even reflected in the text of the Torah. We read in Deut. 8,10: “you will eat and be satisfied and you will bless the Lord your G’d.” Assume that father, mother, and children assemble around the family table to consume their daily meal and they find that there is not enough to sate even one of them, never mind all of them. They will turn their faces to G’d, and each one will hold back and help himself to a minimum making sure there will be enough to go around. When G’d observes such conduct, He will most certainly be affected by it and make sure that in the future this family will not be lacking for anything. This is also the deeper meaning behind the famous line in Song of Songs 3,7 that Solomon’s bed was watched over by 60 guards. Did then Solomon need these guards? Was he in danger of attacks by assassins, by terrorists? What is meant by these words is that the priestly blessing which comprises 60 letters was engraved on the edge of Solomon’s bed.
Another explanation of this line in Song of Songs: the bed mentioned in Song of Songs is not that of King Solomon at all. It is the “bed” of He who owns peace, i.e. G’d. The “bed” is the Holy Temple; The reason the Temple is compared to a bed is that just as the function of the bed is for those on it to practice the commandment of increasing the human population of the world, so it was a propensity of all the furnishings in the Temple to increase and multiply. We have a glimmer of this in Kings I 8,8: “the staves (attached to the Holy Ark) were growing longer so that they would wind up being visible in the Sanctuary in front of the Shrine. A verse indicating something similar is found in Chronicles II 3,6 where Ezra describes the gold of the Temple as זהב פרוים, understood to mean “gold which had the capacity to multiply, which produced fruit.” A third scriptural verse which at least alludes to this phenomenon as far as the materials used for the Temple is concerned is found in Kings I 7,2 where the entire Temple is described as בית יער הלבנון, "The Lebanon Forest House,” suggesting that just as a forest and its trees keep growing, so the Temple would keep expanding. The next words in that verse in Song of Songs, i.e. כלם אחוזי חרב, “all of them trained in warfare, i.e. “swordsmen,” refer to names of the Lord. The words following i.e. איש חרבו על ירכו, “each one with his sword on his loins”, beg the question what the ירך, the seat of a man's semen has to do in this verse. The answer is that these words describe that even if Solomon (symbol of the Jewish people) had frightening dreams at night, dreams during which he (they) felt in immediate danger, thanks to the encouragement derived by the proximity of all these names of G’d the people would rouse themselves in the morning, go to the Synagogue, and shake off any fear experienced during the night in a nightmare. They would find the effects of the dream dissolve without any further ado. In order to provide the Jewish people in the desert with this remedy, G’d instructed Aaron and his sons to bless the people in the way the Torah specified. G’d said: “in the past when I needed to extend a blessing to My creatures I would bless Adam and Chavah, as we know from Genesis 1,28 ‘G’d blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply etc.’” G’d blessed Noach when the latter was in need of such as blessing as we know from Genesis 9,1: “G’d blessed Noach and his sons.” He blessed Avraham as we know from Genesis 25,1: “G’d had blessed Avraham with everything.” From Avraham’s time on, G’d changed His mode of administering blessings directly and assigned the task to Avraham saying to him: “become a source of blessing” (Genesis 12,2). Avraham responded by siring two sons, Ishmael and Yitzchak. Avraham failed to bless either of them. In order to understand Avraham’s failure to bless either one of his sons, let us illustrate this by means of a parable. A king who owned an orchard entrusted it to a profit-sharing farmer to look after it. The orchard in question contained within it right in the center two trees, one of which contained the elixir of life whereas the second one contained a poison which would kill. The farmer was in a quandary, saying to himself that if he watered both trees he would further the growth of the deadly tree. If, on the other hand, he did not water either tree he would cause the elixir of life to die out. He decided to serve out his contract and to leave the decision of what to do to the king, the owner, after he himself had bowed out of the picture. The “king” in the parable is G’d. The “orchard” is earth. The “farmer” is Avraham, and the two trees, the elixir of life and the poisonous one, are Yitzchak and Ishmael respectively. Avraham said to himself: “if I bless Yitzchak, Ishmael will demand to be blessed also. Seeing that he is wicked, I cannot do that. I prefer to pass and not exercise my discretion. After all, I am only flesh and blood, not all-knowing like the Lord.” What happened? After Avraham had died we find that the Torah records that G’d bestowed the blessing He had first given to Avraham on his son Yitzchak after his father had died (Genesis 25,11). Yitzchak in turn blessed Yaakov. Yaakov blessed all his twelve sons as we read in Genesis 49,28 “all these (aforementioned ones) are the twelve tribes of Israel and this is what he had said to them when he blessed them.” From that point on, G’d said to Moses: “the blessings are at your (Israel collectively) disposal. The priests shall be the ones to administer them (Based on Tanchuma Nasso 9).
(יז) ובמדרש תנחומא ועשו להם ציצית, זש"ה (ישעיהו מ״ב:כ״א) ה' חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר, הקב"ה נתן תורה לישראל להנחילם חיי העולם הבא ולא הניח דבר שלא נתן בו מצוה לישראל, יצא לחרוש צוהו (דברים כ״ב:ט׳) לא תחרוש בשור ובחמור יחדו, לזרוע (שם) לא תזרע כרמך כלאים, לקצור (שם כד) כי תקצור קצירך בשדך ושכחת עומר בשדה לא תשוב לקחתו, למרוח, תרומה ומעשרות, ללוש (במדבר ט״ו:כ׳) ראשית עריסותיכם חלה תרימו, אכל, יברך על מזונו, לגזוז (דברים י״ח:ד׳) וראשית גז צאנך תתן לו, ילדה, יתן בכורה לכהן, לשחוט (שם) ונתן לכהן הזרוע והלחיים והקיבה, (שם כב) כי יקרא קן צפור, שלח תשלח, שחט חיה ועוף (ויקרא י״ז:י״ג) ושפך את דמו וכסהו בעפר, בא ללבוש (דברים כ״ב:י״א) לא תלבש שעטנז, נולד לו בן ימול אותו וישמר מאשתו עתים ידועים, נטע נטיעות (ויקרא י״ט:כ״ג) וערלתם ערלתו, קבר מתו (דברים יד) לא תתגודדו, גלח שערו (ויקרא י״ט:כ״ג) לא תקיפו, בנה בית (דברים כ״ב:ח׳) ועשית מעקה לגגך, קבע שערים (שם ו) וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך ובשעריך, נתכסה בטליתו ועשו להם ציצית. משל לאדם שטבע במים מה עשה הקברניט, הושיט לו את החבל, אמר לו הנח החבל בידך ואל תניחהו שאם תניחהו אין לך חיים, אף כאן אמר הקב"ה לישראל כל זמן שאתם מדובקין במצות יש לכם חיים שנאמר (שם ד) ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם חיים כלכם היום, עד כאן.
(17) Midrash Tanchuma Shelach 15 makes the following comment on the words: “they shall make tzitzit for themselves.” This is a practical demonstration of what is written in Isaiah 42,21: “the Lord desires His servant’s vindication that he may magnify and glorify His teaching.” G’d gave the Torah to the Jewish people in order to secure for them a permanent place in the hereafter. This is why He made sure that no part of an Israelite’s daily activities is not inextricably involved with performing His commandments. When the farmer goes out to plough his field, G’d had already commanded him not to use two mismatched animals in drawing the ploughshare (Deut. 22,10). As soon as this farmer proceeds to scatter his seed he encounters the injunction not to mix alien seed when planting a vineyard (Deut. 22,9). When it is time to harvest some of his crop, the Torah preceded this activity by warning the farmer not to go back to pick up certain minor parts of the harvest he had left behind but to leave them for the poor (Deut. 24,19). When it comes to winnowing the grain harvest, the Torah first reminds the farmer to allocate the respective tithes before doing this. Before kneading the dough in preparation for baking bread, the woman doing so must set aside the first part of the dough for making loaves for G’d, i.e. to give them to the priest (Numbers 15,20). Before and after eating the bread, or any food for that matter, the Jew is to recite benedictions reminding him of G’d’s largesse which made it possible for him to have the food (Deut. 8,10). Before shearing the wool of one’s sheep, the Torah directed that the first shearing be given to the priest. When the animal gives birth the firstborn belongs to he priest. When the animal is slaughtered certain parts of it are given to the priest (Deut. 18,3). When one encounters a nest of chicks the mother bird must be sent off before one may take the chicks or eggs (Deut. 22,7 and 9). When one slaughters birds or free-roaming animals their blood must be covered (buried) before the meat may be consumed (Leviticus 17,13). Before making or donning garments to wear one must ensure they do not contain a mixture of wool and linen (Deut. 22,11). When a son is born to a father he must circumcise him and observe a certain period of continence when he cannot cohabit with his wife (Leviticus chapter 12). When planting an orchard, the fruit which has grown during the first three years must neither be eaten nor used by the owner in another manner beneficial to him (Leviticus 19,23). There are restrictions pertaining to burial, construction of the roof on one’s house, prohibitions governing the manner in which one expresses one’s grief over the loss of family members, (no tattoos) etc., etc. The door posts of one’s house must have a parchment with sections of the Torah (called mezuzah) attached to it. In short, there is no facet of our daily lives in which the performance of the commandments does not figure prominently.
The wearing of the talit with fringes may also be perceived as similar to a man who has fallen overboard and who flounders in the water. What does the captain of the ship do? He throws him a rope or life belt to keep him afloat until he can be brought back to the ship. The talit with its tzitzit attached fulfills a similar role in our lives in which we constantly flounder were it not for the help extended by the Torah, i.e. G’d’s commandments. This is the true meaning of Deut. 4,11 “and you who have cleaved to the Lord your G’d are all of you alive this day.” Thus far Tanchuma.
The wearing of the talit with fringes may also be perceived as similar to a man who has fallen overboard and who flounders in the water. What does the captain of the ship do? He throws him a rope or life belt to keep him afloat until he can be brought back to the ship. The talit with its tzitzit attached fulfills a similar role in our lives in which we constantly flounder were it not for the help extended by the Torah, i.e. G’d’s commandments. This is the true meaning of Deut. 4,11 “and you who have cleaved to the Lord your G’d are all of you alive this day.” Thus far Tanchuma.
(א) וברכת [את] ה' [אלהיך] על הארץ הטובה. מצוה. ומכאן תקנו שלש ברכות שבברכת המזון. ואכלת א' ושבעת ב' וברכת ג', שמברך על אכילתו זהו ברכת הזן, על הארץ זהו ברכת הארץ נודה לך, הטובה אשר נתן לך, זהו בונה ירושלים דכתי' ההר הטוב הזה והלבנון. וברכת המוציא מק"ו דהשתא כשהוא שבע ונפשו קצה באוכל צריך לברך. כשהוא רעב והוא תאב ושמח על האוכל לא כל שכן? מעת' אין לירא אלא שתבעט מתוך שיפוע הטובה, ולכך אני מזהירך שלא תשכח את הק' שעשה לך כל הטובה הזאת. ואפי' כשיצערך לענותך, נתכווין לטובתך להטיבך באחריתך:
(א) ואכלת ושבעת וגו׳ מכאן אנו אומרין שלש ברכות בברכת המזון. ואכלת ושבעת וברכת שמברכין על האכילה, זו היא ברכת הזן. וברכת את ה׳ אלקיך לרבות בעל הבית.
(1) ואכלת ושבעת וגו׳, “you will eat and be satisfied;” this verse is the one from which the sages derived the first three blessings in the prayer known as ברכת המזון, saying grace after meals. The three pertinent words are: ואכלתושבעת וברכת “when you have eaten and been satisfied you are to say grace.” The first blessing concludes with the words: הזן את הכל. “He Who gives food to all.” The word את in the line: את ה׳ אלוקיך; this is a reference to the owner of the house in which you have consumed this food, i.e. your host.
(ב) על הארץ זו היא ברכת הארץ נודה לך ה׳ א'.
(2) על הארץ, “for the land; this is a reference to the paragraph in our grace which commences with the words: נודה לך, “let us give thanks to You.”
(ג) הטבה אשר נתן לך זו היא ברכת בונה ירושלים כדכתיב ההר הטוב הזה והלבנון. השתא אחר אכילה כשהוא שבע ונפשו קצה באוכל צריך לברך, מתחלה כשהוא רעב ותאב ושמח על האכילה לכ״ש שצריך לברך ברכת המוציא.
(3) הטובה אשר נתן לך, “the good one that He gave to you.” This is a reference to the third paragraph in which we ask G-d to rebuild Jerusalem, compare Talmud tractate Sotah folio 5. After a person has sated himself, and is revolted by seeing more food, he is obligated to pronounce these benedictions. If this is so, it follows automatically, without having to be spelled out, that when he is hungry and sits down to a meal that he will bless the Lord Who has provided it directly or indirectly. He does so by reciting the line concluding with the words: המוציא לחם מן הארץ, “Who has caused the earth to produce “bread,” i.e. food.
(ד) ואכלת ושבעת וברכת כאן רמז לשלשה שצריכין לזמן ואכלת חד ושבעת תרי וברכת שלישי.
(4) ואכלת ושבעת וברכת, “these words are also a hint that when three people share a meal, they add an additional blessing to Hashem,. זימון.