{"id":62047,"date":"2019-06-12T12:01:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T17:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=62047"},"modified":"2019-06-12T12:34:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T17:34:12","slug":"the-power-of-a-bracha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/the-power-of-a-bracha\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of a Bracha"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the first mitzvot<\/em> we teach our kids is to say brachot<\/em> before \u2013 and as they get older, also after \u2013 eating. We train them to say the words, and hopefully also start instilling a concept of the meaning behind this mitzvah.<\/p>\n

Often, we tell them that eating without saying a bracha<\/em> is like stealing from Hashem \u2013 but that explanation doesn\u2019t quite express what Chazal themselves say about brachot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Where does the mitzvah <\/em>to say brachot <\/em>come from? The Torah instructs us to bless after <\/em>eating bread (or any of the seven species of Israel, according to some): \u201c\u05d5\u05d0\u05db\u05dc\u05ea \u05d5\u05e9\u05d1\u05e2\u05ea \u05d5\u05d1\u05e8\u05db\u05ea \u05d0\u05ea \u05d4’ \u05d0-\u05dc\u05e7\u05d9\u05da…\u201d – \u201cYou will eat and be satisfied and bless Hashem, your G-d\u2026\u201d (Devarim 8:10) Saying a bracha<\/em> after eating other foods, however, as well as before <\/em>eating, is purely Rabbinic \u2013 and we should pay attention to the reasons they themselves offer for this practice.<\/p>\n

One explanation is found in the Tosefta in Brachot 4:1, which states that a person must bless before benefiting from the world (such as by eating), based on the pasuk<\/em> in Tehilim that states \u201cThe earth is Hashem\u2019s, and its fullness\u201d (24:1). If the world and everything in it belongs to Hashem, the Tosefta explains, then anyone who takes from it \u2013 such as by eating an apple \u2013 has essentially violated me\u2019ilah<\/em> \u2013 taking sacred property for oneself. This statement sounds a lot like what we tell our kids: Everything belongs to Hashem, so we have to \u201cask\u201d before eating it or else we\u2019re stealing.<\/p>\n

I remember wondering, though, when that explanation was offered to me: Why do we wait to ask until the apple is on its way to our mouth?. Shouldn\u2019t we say the bracha <\/em>before picking it, if the issue is stealing?<\/p>\n

If we look more carefully, it seems that brachot <\/em>are not about taking G-d\u2019s property in our hands, but about using<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

After all, the Tosefta actually uses the word \u201cbenefit,\u201d not \u201ctake,\u201d and it uses the word me\u2019ilah<\/em> \u2013 which is different from theft. Theft begins with picking up an object that belongs to someone else without permission, while me\u2019ilah <\/em>only applies if one benefits from the item. (Not that I\u2019m an expert on either area of halacha, but so I\u2019ve read; see Rambam Hilchot Gezeilah 1:3 and Rav Pinchas Kehati\u2019s introduction to Mesechet Me\u2019ilah.) More significantly, when someone steals something, there is no way they can change what they\u2019ve done: if the owner doesn\u2019t give permission, the thief has no power to take the object without it being theft. But with me\u2019ilah<\/em>, the person taking the sacred object has the power to determine whether that act is forbidden or permitted, even sacred, by following the rules of using<\/em> it in a holy way. Usually, that means something like making sure that an animal belonging to the Temple is used only for a sacrifice, not for someone\u2019s personal hamburger. But what does it mean if we apply the word \u201cme\u2019ilah<\/em>\u201d to eating without a bracha<\/em>?<\/p>\n

An apple might not seem to have anything particularly holy about it, but it belongs to Hashem. If I eat that apple without a bracha<\/em>, I have misused it; I missed the chance to use it for a holy purpose. But simply by making a bracha<\/em> and acknowledging that Hashem is the One who brought this miraculous food into the world, I turn my use of this food into a holy act. As the Gemara says on Berachot 35a: before the bracha<\/em>, the food belongs to Hashem; with a bracha<\/em>, it belongs to the person who said the bracha<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Could we ever transform an act of theft that easily?<\/p>\n

In fact, the Gemara tells us that once a person says a bracha<\/em>, the second half of that pasuk<\/em> from Tehillim applies: \u201c\u05d5\u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05e0\u05ea\u05df \u05dc\u05d1\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d3\u05dd\u201d – \u201cG-d gave <\/em>the earth to humans.\u201d I am not only taking legitimately; I am accepting <\/em>something which was given to me. Unlike a thief, we have the power to decide to take ownership of something that had belonged to Someone else. Unlike a thief, we have the power to transform the action of taking: without a bracha<\/em> it\u2019s me\u2019ilah<\/em>, forbidden; with a bracha<\/em>, it becomes not just permitted, but a holy use of the apple. Because Hashem gave it to us, as long as we recognize it as His gift and shape our use appropriately.<\/p>\n

We actually have this power in other areas of life, too. Just a few days ago, on Shavuos, we expressed the holiness of the day with the words \u201cmekadesh Yisrael v\u2019hazmanim<\/em>\u201d \u2013 G-d sanctifies Israel and the times. We mention G-d\u2019s sanctification of His people first because we play a role in the sanctification of the \u201ctimes\u201d; 6 Sivan becomes holy because we declare that day to be 6\u00a0Sivan. (See Nedarim 78b and Beitza 17a). When we use an object for a holy purpose, it can become holy. (See Megillah 26b.)<\/p>\n

Holiness might seem very far away \u2013 untouchable, like someone (Someone) else\u2019s property. But it\u2019s actually all around us, and we can make it happen.<\/p>\n

As Rav Soloveitchik writes:<\/p>\n

Holiness does not wink at us from \u201cbeyond\u201d\u2026but appears in our actual, very real lives\u2026 The beginnings of holiness are rooted in the highest heavens, and its end is embedded in the \u201cend of days\u201d\u2026but the link that joins together\u2026is the halakhic conception of holiness\u2026the holiness of the concrete.\u00a0 An individual does not become holy through mystical adhesion to the absolute nor through mysterious union with the infinite\u2026but, rather, through his whole biological life\u2026actualizing the Halakhah in the empirical world\u2026 Holiness is created by man, by flesh and blood.\u00a0 Through the power of our mouths, through verbal sanctification alone, we can create holy offerings\u2026\u00a0 (Halakhic Man<\/em> p.46-47)<\/p>\n

Hashem decides what can be holy, but we take that potential and make it real.<\/p>\n

Reciting berachot<\/em> before eating, or deriving any other benefit from G-d\u2019s world, is much more than a way to say \u201cplease\u201d and \u201cthank you.\u201d It\u2019s one way we actualize our G-d-given power to make even simple actions, like eating a hamburger or an apple, into a holy part of our daily lives.<\/p>\n

\n

Sarah C. Rudolph is a Jewish educator and freelance writer. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller,\u00a0Jewish Action<\/a>, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through\u00a0www.TorahTutors.org<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0www.WebYeshiva.org<\/a>. She is also Editor-At-Large at Deracheha:\u00a0womenandmitzvot.org.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the first mitzvot we teach our kids is to say brachot before \u2013 and as they get older, also after \u2013 eating. We train them to say the words, and hopefully also start instilling a concept of the meaning behind this mitzvah. Often, we tell them that eating without saying a bracha is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133529,"featured_media":62048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of a Bracha - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/the-power-of-a-bracha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of a Bracha - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the first mitzvot we teach our kids is to say brachot before \u2013 and as they get older, also after \u2013 eating. 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