Saying the Blessing

When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to YHWH your Elohim for the good land which He has given you. Deuteronomy 8:10

When – Maimonides’ list of the 613 mitzvot includes this verse.  It is mitzvot number 24, the blessing concerning meals.  In Judaism, it is called the birkat ha-mazon.  You can find several recitations on the internet.  There are several important things to notice about the birkat ha-mazon.  First, it is responsive.  The leader begins the blessing and all of the participants respond.  In other words, it is communal blessing, not an individual prayer. All who eat acknowledge the good things God provides for the sustenance of our lives.  Second, did you notice that this blessing comes after we have been filled and satisfied?  In another revision of God’s instructions, most Christian blessings come before the meal.  But this commandment specifically calls for a blessing after the meal.  The Hebrew text doesn’t actually contain the English “when.”  The Hebrew literally says, “And you shall eat and be satisfied  and you shall bless YHWH your Elohim . . .”  Of course, the idea is sequential.  First you eat, then you offer the blessing.

If this is the prescribed biblical pattern, why do Christians commonly offer a blessing before the meal?  The reason for this aberration is found in the object of the blessing.  This is the fundamental difference between the Hebraic worldview and the Christian worldview.  Deuteronomy 8:10 is an instruction to bless YHWH, not to bless the food!  Christian blessings typically emphasize the food, not the provider of the food.  We pray, “Lord, bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and us to Your service.”  But we have missed the point.  It is in God’s nature to provide what is good for us.  We do not have to bless what God has already blessed.  If we are about to eat what He tells us is food for our bodies, things He has already provided for us, then why are we blessing it again?  Do we think God overlooked something?  Of course, we might try to bless what God does not consider food, but that is a futile and useless exercise, isn’t it?  You can’t make shrimp into food by asking God to bless what He tells you not to eat.  But let’s not argue about this.  Just ask yourself why Christianity changed the sequence.  Do you suppose it might be connected with denying the validity of Torah?

The Hebrew point of view recognizes God has already provided us with His blessing.  Therefore, we eat, enjoying what He has given.  And when we are filled and satisfied with His good provision, we do not bless what He has already blessed.  We thank Him!   Here the Hebrew word birkat can mean both bless and thank.  To bless God is to thank God.  This simple change implies a paradigm shift.  From the Hebraic perspective, the world is God’s good provision.  It was created fruitful and sufficient.  It does not need further human spiritual endorsement nor is there any need to ask God to re-establish His goodness in the world.  From a Hebraic perspective, God has done all that He needed to do to provide for us.  So, we thank Him rather than attempt to remind Him to give us one more “good” meal.   The world shifts under our table because eating is no longer about asking God to care for us.  It is about understanding that He already has cared for us!

Topical Index:  blessing, meal, birkat ha-mazon, Deuteronomy 8:10