One of the 613 Mitzvot is
וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙ אֶת־ ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ
You should eat and be satiated, and bless Hashem, your God
This is a Mitzvat Aseh/positive commandment, Birkat Hamazon, is the only Beracha that is definitely from the Torah (there are questions about Birkat Torah).
Other Berachot, like Shehakol, are rabbinical. It’s logical that you shouldn’t benefit from the world without blessing God, but it is not clearly stated in the Torah.
This lends extra power and importance to this Beracha.
The Ben Ish Chai tells us, regarding Birkat Hamazon, that we should be as careful with it as we are with the Amida.
He says that if you know Birkat Hamazon by heart, you should close your eyes when you say it, put your hands on your chest, and focus. The Pele Yoetz says the same thing, and adds that we should focus like we do during Amida.
Furthermore, it’s quoted in the name of the Chida (thank you Rabbi Ebstein for sharing) that a Segula for wealth is to say Birkat Hamozon loudly and Simcha/ happiness. The source for this is a pasuk in Mishleh that says, “The blessing of Hashem will bring wealth, and there will be not sadness in it.”
The Chida explains, “Birkat Hashem -the beracha that we have to do from the Torah, that will bring wealth, but (there’s a catch) don’t be sad when you say it.
Birkat Hamazon should not be said in a low, despondent mood. It has to be said with happiness.
The Pele Yoetz, on the topic of eating and drinking, quotes the Zohar that says, “There is a great need and responsibility to do whatever you can in order to say Birkat Hamazon when you are happy.”
I once saw somewhere that one should eat dessert before Birkat Hamazon, in order to make yourself happy (dessert makes us happy).
Anything we do with Simcha has added power and value. The Pele Yoetz quotes the Sefer Hinuch that says there is a tradition that anyone who is careful with Birkat Hamazon, his Mazon/sustenance will be available, with respect, for his entire life.
The Pele Yoetz adds that we see from this great reward how much Nachat ruach/ good feeling this gives to Hashem.
But he ends with a warning-Don’t say Birkat Hamazon with simcha because you want to make money. Say it with simcha because your are truly thankful for your mazon, because you appreciate what Hashem gave you.
So we see that this is a powerful Mitzvah. And as we know, the more powerful the Mitzvah, the more the Yetzer Hara gets involved. That’s why we sometimes try to avoid Birkat Hamazon. It is too long, it takes time…. People try and find mezonot bread in order to avoid saying Birkat Hamazon. But that is the Yetzer Hara trying to steal this wonderful Mitzvat Aseh from the Torah from us.
It is brought down that this is a very powerful Mitzvah:
We fulfill this Mitzvah with our mouths speaking, we make a Beracha to Hashem, and therefore, at the end, we make requests to
Harachaman
the One who is Merciful.…
The Ben Ish Chai says that a person can make any request he wants after he says Birkat Hamazon. Some things are specifically delineated, but if a person has a problem after he finishes Birkat Hamazon, he can make a request.
Lastly, for the Mekubalim amongst us, the Pele Yoetz writes that the four Berachot in Birkat Hamazon correspond to the four letters of Hashem’s name, and they bring bounty down from the four worlds.
We are in the lowest of these worlds- the world of doing, and the fourth of these Berachot corresponds to our world, so when you get to the tail end of Birkat Hamazon and you are, so to say burnt out of concentration, remember that this last blessing brings Baracha to our world.
Hopefully, this will be something of an incentive for us, in this wonderful Mitzvah of Birkat Hamazon that we have in this week’s Parasha.