Parshas Eikev
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
No, I’m not talking about what you often find at the gym, where those big, strong muscular guys will lie on a bench and press weight upward using either a barbell or a pair of dumbbells. That’s a whole different benching altogether!
Rather, I refer here to the mitzvah of Bircas HaMazon, known in English as the Grace After Meals, and in Yinglish as Bentching, (lit. “Blessing”), a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish law prescribes following a meal that includes enough bread to satisfy one’s hunger.
As the Torah commands us in this week’s Torah Portion, Parshas Eikev: “And you will eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless the L-rd, your G-d …” (Deuteronomy 8:10). There are four major components to the Bircas HaMazon: (1) the blessing of HaZan, (2) the blessing for the Land, (3) the blessing of Building Jerusalem, and (4) the blessing of HaTov VeHameitiv. The first three blessings are Biblically mandated, while the last blessing was added on by the Rabbis.
HERE ARE SEVEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT BENTCHING
(1) The Bircas HaMazon is the only blessing over food that is biblically mandated (the only other biblically mandated blessing is the Bircos HaTorah, which is recited upon studying Torah).
(2) One who eats a quantity of food that does not satisfy his hunger is [still] obligated by rabbinic law to recite Grace after Meals – so long as he ate at least a kezayis (olive-size) piece of bread. The Talmud (in Berachos 20a) cites a related homiletic interpretation. Rav Avira taught, sometimes he said it in the name of Rabbi Ami, and sometimes he said it in the name of Rabbi Asi: The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, in Your Torah it is written: “The great, mighty and awesome G-d who favors no one and takes no bribe” (Deuteronomy 10:17), yet You, nevertheless, show favor to Israel, as it is written: “The L-rd shall show favor to you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:26). He replied to them: And how can I not show favor to Israel, as I wrote for them in the Torah: “And you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless the L-rd your G-d” (Deuteronomy 8:10), meaning that there is no obligation to bless the L-rd until one is satiated; yet they are exacting with themselves to recite Grace after Meals even if they have eaten a piece of bread the size of an olive. Since they go beyond the requirements of the law, they are worthy of favor.
(3) Kavanah (concentration and intent): It is important to have kavanah when reciting the bentching. In fact the Ba”ch, in his commentary on the Tur Shulchan Aruch, quotes the Sefer HaChinuch who writes that “whoever is careful regarding the recitation of the Grace after Meals will merit to receive his livelihood in a dignified manner all the days of his life.”
(4) Did you know that there is only one letter in the Hebrew alphabet that cannot be found anywhere in the first four blessings of the bentching? That letter is a pay-sofit. (The letter pay פ is called pay-sofit when placed at the end of a word, and it looks like this: ף ). The Ba”ch explains that the letter pay-sofit represents anger (as in the words af and ketzef which end with the letter pay-sofit and which mean anger and destruction.) And from here we learn – says the Ba”ch - that whoever recites the bentching properly will be protected from all manner of anger and destruction.
(5) There is a custom to remove a metal knife from the table before Birkas HaMazon is recited. One reason for this custom is based on the following incident: A person was once reciting Birkas HaMazon when he came to the third blessing, the blessing in which we ask G-d to rebuild Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. He became so distraught at the thought of the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile, he picked up the knife and stabbed himself. [The custom to remove the knife was patterned after this incident. Since it occurred during the week, the custom applies only during the week, but not on Shabbos. In the same vein, the custom wouldn't apply to plastic knives, since the incident didn't involve a plastic knife, and since plastic knives aren't 'lethal' in the classic sense.] Obviously nobody you or I know is at the level where they can get so distraught over the Temple’s destruction and the Jewish people’s exile as to actually stab themselves to death … but the custom is there to teach us that there once were such people …
(6) Three or more men over the age of thirteen who ate a meal together that included bread are obligated to recite Birkas HaMazon as a group. This is called zimmun. One of the men recites a passage, inviting the others to join him in reciting Birkas HaMazon. The others recite another passage in response. If ten or more ate together, they add the word Elokeinu when reciting the passage.
(7) Mayim Acharonim (lit., last waters, “Washing the hands before bentching”): One is required to wash his hands at the end of the meal (even if his hands are clean) before reciting Bircas HaMazon. The water is poured on the fingers up to the second joint. The water is poured over the fingers into a vessel, which should be removed from the table before bentching. One should not eat or drink between washing Mayim Acharonim and reciting Bircas HaMazon. Some rely on the opinion that today Mayim Acharonim is not required.
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