We continue with hiddushim from Rabbenu Avraham ben Rambam, on the laws of berachot.
He says that in actuality, one should have to make a beracha when he moves his hand, opens his eyes, or closes his eyelid, because all of these things are happening, without a doubt, because God willed them to happen. God is giving us a benefit at that moment. So why don’t we make a beracha? He explains that firstly, it’s because we do these things so often that it cause nonstop berachot to come out of our mouths-we would never be able to stop making berachot.
As we quoted from Rav Wolbe, the last pasuk in Tehilim says,
כֹּ֣ל הַ֭נְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּ֥ל יָ֗הּ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ
Every soul should praise God, but it can also mean that we should really thank God for every breath. We should inhale, make a beracha, exhale, make a beracha.
But we’d be making Berachot all day.
And what would be wrong with that?
He explains that if we were to constantly say berachot, then the berachot would lose their meaning, and they would no longer serve a purpose (Therefore, the Chachamim decided on certain times for berachot, and this way we can focus at those times).
Furthermore, he says that the person who is moving his hand and opening his eyes at the same time would have to make two berachot at the same time, and this would be impossible to institute.
However, in essence, we should be doing this. Therefore, he says that if a God-fearing person is sometimes aroused and has a feeling of thanks to God (because of one of these natural things that he can do), at that moment, he should say a pasuk that fits the situation. This is an interesting thought.
You can say a pasuk at any time, if you are well versed in Tehilim or something else. You can say a pasuk when halachically something doesn’t warrant a beracha. If you have an emotional need to say thank you, you can say a nice pasuk. For example, if somebody tries something and sees success, he can say, “ Eleh b’Rechev, V’eleh b’susim/These go with chariots, and these go with horses… And we just mention the name of God.“ That is a nice pasuk to say if you prayed for something and it happened.
But the Rabbi’s point is that, in essence, we really should be making berachot constantly. The reason that we don’t is because they would lose their meaning. But if, in truth, you get that urge to thank God for something in a specific situation, you can’t make a beracha because you can’t say God’s name in vain, but you can say a pasuk, at any time. It is a wonderful thing to have a pasuk that fits the situation when you have an urge to thank Hashem.
He continues on to Berachot of Mitzvot, and says that there are two reasons to make a beracha on a mitzvah. One, that we’ve mentioned before, is that it makes you focus on what you are doing. If you just put a talet on, without the beracha, you wouldn’t be focusing on what you’re doing. The Beracha is there to cause you to focus.
Secondly, he says that, in his words, “Mitzvot are religious benefits, and spiritual pleasures to the holy people of the Torah, just like eating, drinking and smelling are benefits to everybody else in the physical sense. If we have to uplift God and praise Him for the physical benefits, surely we have to uplift and praise Him for what, to us, is a spiritual benefit.”
He says that is why there is a difference in berachot. For pleasure, such as Boreh Peri HaEtz; we talk about creation. But when it comes to a mitzvah, we say, “Asher Kiddishanu B’Mitzvotav V’Sivanu … it’s appreciating the holiness that comes upon us when we do a mitzvah, when God commanded us. We have to appreciate the spiritual pleasure and benefit. This is something we have to think about. Do we really think before we do a mitzvah? When we say Asher Kiddishanu B’Mitzvotav V’Sivanu, are we actually thanking God for a spiritual benefit and pleasure? When we sit down to eat a sizzling steak, we acknowledge that we have to say Shehakol; when we eat a big meal, we feel the need to say Birkat Hamazon. But does a lady have that same feeling when she’s about to light her candles, that she wants to thank God for the spiritual benefit and the holiness that is coming upon her, and the fact that God commanded me to fulfill His commandment…?
This is the purpose of a beracha - to arouse these kinds of thoughts, and gain more from our Mitzvot.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we will focus more on our berachot, especially the berachot for Mitzvot.
We have to realize that, as we said, we should really be making berachot all day- it’s just that it would be overkill and would not have an impact on us.
Have a great day.