A person is obligated to bless upon the bad just as he blesses upon the good. As it says, “And you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and all your soul and with all that you have.” (Deut. 6:5) “With all your heart” – with your two inclinations, with the inclination of good and the inclination of evil. “And in all your soul” – even if He takes your soul. “And with all that you have” – with all your money. Alternatively, “With all that you have” – with every measure that is measured for you thank Him very much. Man must not be light with his head [frivolous] near the eastern gate, for it is near the foundation of the house of the Holy of Holies. One may not enter the Holy Mount with his staff, or with his sandal, or with his belt-pouch, or with dust on his feet, and may not make it a shortcut, and spitting is forbidden, as deduced from [the principle of] lesser to greater. All that ended the blessings when they were in the Temple would say, “From the world.” When the heretics corrupted [matters] and said, “there is no world but this one,” they [the Sages] corrected this so that they should say, “From the world and until the [next] world.” And they corrected this, that one shall inquire after the peace of his friend with the Name [of God], as it says, “And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, ‘God be with you’, and they said to him, ‘God bless you.’” (Ruth 2:4) And it says, “God is with you, great and valorous one.” (Judges 6:12) And it says, “Do not scorn, because your mother is old.” (Proverbs 23:22) And it says, “It is time to do for God, they have broken your Torah.” (Psalms 119:126) Rabbi Nathan says, “'They nullified your Torah' – because it is time to do for God.”
Daniella Levy
“Your presence in this world has been made that much greater, has increased, through this fruit You created that I am about to enjoy.”
I’m declaring that whatever it is I’m making the blessing for – whether it’s a food I’m enjoying, a roll of thunder I heard, or a mitzvah I’m about to perform – is increasing God’s presence in the world, through my recognition of His role in creating or commanding it.
This is one of the main themes of Judaism: channeling the Divine into the mundane and revealing the spiritual through the physical. Through this worldly experience, I experience God; and when I declare that recognition, I make His presence in the world that much more known.
Simply put: in this apple, I see God.
There are three main types of blessings.
(א) והיה ברכה ברכת ה' היא שישמח ה' במעשיו כמו שאמרו רז''ל ישמעאל בני ברכני אמרתי לו יהי רצון מלפניך שיגלו רחמיך על בניך. אמר אם כן היה לי ברכה במה שתתבונן ותקנה שלמות ותלמוד דעת את העם:
And be a Blessing: The blessing of Hashem is that Hashem should be happy with his creations, as the Sages taught (Brachos 7a) "[that God asked:] Yishmael my son, bless me, and I [R' Yishmael] answered, may it be Your will to reveal your mercy upon Your children." Hence, God is saying, be for Me a blessing, in that you shall gain understanding and perfect yourself and teach knowledge to the people.
The Gemara answers: As it is stated: “Stand up and bless the Lord, your God, from everlasting to everlasting, and let them say: Blessed be Your glorious name, that is exalted above all blessing and praise” (Nehemiah 9:5). One might have thought that for all blessings there should be only one praise, i.e., all blessings are answered with amen. Therefore, the verse states: “That is exalted above all [al kol] blessing and praise,” which indicates that for every [al kol] blessing, you should give it its own praise.
Rabbi Elisha Greenbaum
The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement, would travel the countryside asking people about their life, all in an effort to elicit a "Baruch Hashem," or other words of praise directed at our Creator. He used to describe thanking G‑d as "paying G‑d His dues," or "giving Him His livelihood."
Rabbi Elisha Greenbaum
Not because G‑d needs our paltry words of praise, any more than parents need their children to express thanks for all their sacrifices, but because we, the recipients, feel the need to acknowledge G‑d's constant presence in our lives.