Thursday, August 18, 2011

Eikev 5771

In this week’s parsha, Moshe continues his discourse to Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel), telling them what to expect and how to behave when they enter the Land of Israel. He reminds them: “It is not by bread alone that man makes a life for himself; by everything that comes out from the mouth of G-d, man lives.”
Most of us are familiar with the beginning of this well known statement (man cannot live by bread alone), but its ending is not as well known.  What does it mean?
With these words, Moshe points out the importance of acknowledging the Source of our sustenance.  Rabbi A.L. Scheinbaum notes that the Hebrew word for bread is lechem, but lechem also has another meaning, “to wage war.”  Horav S.R. Hirsch, z.l., explains that man, using intelligence and creativity, wages war with nature and competes with his fellow man in order to harness nature and wrest nourishment from it.
Rabbi Scheinbaum writes: “The tragedy of man begins when he thinks that his ability and creative power are the sole ingredients of his material success.  The prime factor in man’s sustenance is G-d’s Providence.  Every morsel of bread in which we are fortunate to partake is due solely to G-d’s beneficence.  To forget or disregard this fact is to fall prey to man’s greatest delusion.”
To stave off this inclination, we begin each meal that includes bread with a blessing that acknowledges the One Who “brings forth bread from the earth.”  The Hebrew for “brings forth” is motzi, which is a form of the word motza used in the above passage to mean “comes out.”
It is no coincidence that several verses later in this parsha, we find the commandment to say a blessing after we eat. “You will eat and be satisfied. You must [then] bless G-d...” Moshe composed the blessing while Bnei Yisrael were in the desert and G-d provided manna, heavenly bread.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe writes: “Moshe’s words are applicable now as well [as during the time in the desert] because it is not the physical efforts of working the land alone that causes the land to yield produce.  Rather, man’s efforts merely create a ‘vehicle’ into which G-d places His blessings, and it is the Divine blessing which provides us with sustenance.  Therefore, even the food which grows from the ground is in fact ‘food from heaven’ so it is indeed appropriate – even nowadays -- to thank G-d for one’s nourishment with a text which was composed in praise of ‘bread from heaven.’”
As parents, we must nourish our children’s souls as well as their bodies. We should cultivate in them the habit of verbalizing gratitude to G-d for the food placed before them, as well as thankfulness to Him after they have eaten their fill.  Here is a link to the full English and transliterated Hebrew text of the Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals, known in Yiddish as bentching): http://njop.org/resources/shabbat/guides-to-shabbat-at-home/bentchingbirkat-hamazongrace-after-meals/

No comments:

Post a Comment