Efrat, Israel – The “mother of all blessings” the very Biblical source for thanking the Almighty for the many worldly gifts He bestows upon us, is to be found in this week’s portion, Ekev; “And you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord your G-d for the good land which he has given you.” (Deut. 8:10). And if preparation, consumption and cleaning-up after your meals take a great deal of time and effort, if our tradition mandates so many detailed laws about permitted and prohibited foods, and if the Talmud devotes a complete chapter (the seventh chapter of the Tractate Blessings) to the Grace After Meals – each individual blessing of which likewise derives from Ekev – it ought certainly be of great importance to study in depth this prayer-blessing which many if not most observant Jews recite three times a day every day of their lives.

Let us begin with the Talmudic rule that we only recite the full Grace after meals – three Biblical and one Rabbinic blessing – after eating a meal with bread (other foods mandate a much more abridged blessing of thanksgiving after their consumption). What is special about bread? In many societies – especially before the exaggerated opulence of the communities in which most of us live – bread was the major component of every meal, the basic mainstay and “filler” of our diet, the very “staff of life;” at the very least, each course was eaten to the accompaniment of bread. Nevertheless, the Sacred Zohar provides the deepest reason: bread symbolizes the partnership between human being and G-d; remember, there are twelve back-breaking and ingenious processes between the acquisition of the grain and the production of the bread. The individual is likely to think that it was due to his efforts alone that the food is to be found on the table; be mindful of G-d, exhorts our Sages, remember to be grateful to the Source of nature who is the ultimate provider of the bread – and then you will share your bounty with others less fortunate and you will use the energy you derive from the food altruistically and not only egoistically.

It is also interesting to note that when three or more eat together we begin with a special additional blessing –invitation or zimun in Hebrew, and when ten or more eat together the name of G-d is added to this introductory blessing. This addition teaches that the purpose of a meal ought not only be nutritional or pleasurable; it must also be social, fraternal and even communal.  Indeed, the word ‘companion,’ and company, literally means ‘with bread,’ indicating that a friend is someone with whom you share a meal and, conversely, the person with whom you share a meal becomes your companion. In effect, therefore, food serves for us as a means to human fellowship and sharing. And why should we share with others? Because G-d shares with us!

And so the “invitation” blessing leads into the very first of the Biblical blessings:  “Blessed are You, G-d … who nourishes the entire world in His goodness, with freely giving graciousness, with loving-kindness and with sensitive compassion…” G-d gives whether the recipient deserves it or does not deserve it, whether he/she has earned it or has not earned it – and so must we share with others! And G-d provides the world – not just the Jews!
 
And there comes the second of the Biblical blessings, a surprise blessing, a “zinger” blessing: “We thank You O Lord our G-d, for having bequeathed to our ancestors a desirable, good and spacious land, as it is written Your Bible, “you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your G-d for the good land which He has given you…” But the food I am eating comes from New York, from Miami, from London, from Zurich… for close to 2,000 years we lived in exile from Israel – and we still recited this blessing! Why?
 
We bless God for our ancestral land because exile expresses a precarious existence endangering human subsistence. A stranger to the land and the bread on his table are soon parted. The earth upon which we stand can be pulled out from under us if we are living on it by dint of the largesse of a Gentile owner. . Only when food comes from your own land is the food truly yours.
 
Our Grace After Meals then directs us toward Jerusalem, the earthly meeting point of G-d’s transcendence, the City from which G-d’s message of peace and tranquility will spread to the entire world. Jerusalem is the home of Divine Presence, the vision of our national mission, the beacon from whence all of humanity will be redeemed.
 
There is also a fourth blessing, established in Yavneh at the end of the aborted Bar Kochba rebellion in 135 c.e. When the last stronghold of Betar was destroyed, hope for the restoration of a Jewish national home was dashed. In the wake of this defeat came the terrible Hadrianic persecutions, the cruel Roman Emperor who mercilessly tortured to death the greatest of our pious sages. During this time the Romans forbade us to bury Jewish corpses; miraculously, the bodies did not putrefy. Thus the fourth Rabbinic blessing records praises to God “Who is good, and who does good,”—hatov v’hamaitiv—“Good because the bodies didn’t rot, and who does good because they could eventually bury their dead.”

But why, one wonders, does this historical fact about burial and decomposition find its way into the Grace After Meals?

In tying the tragedy of Betar to the Grace After Meals, to food, the Rabbis are teaching a critical lesson. It’s proper to thank G-d for great miracles, but it’s important not to forget to thank Him for simple necessities. We must, even in the face of political and national defeat, recognize that we must appreciate whatever we have, and must learn to give thanks if only to be able to give our dead a proper burial.
 
The necessity of sharing G-d’s bounty, the yearning for Israel, the spiritual goal of Jerusalem and the need to appreciate whatever we have are all expressed in our majestic Grace after Meals. Fortunate is our generation which can add to the last blessing: “May the All-Merciful-One bless our reborn State of Israel, the beginning of the sprouting of our Redemption.”