Birkat Ha-mazon

It is a Torah commandment that after a person eats bread and is satiated, he must bless God, as it states: “You shall eat and be satiated, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land that He has given you” (Devarim 8:10). The Sages learned that Birkat Ha-mazon must include three themes. From the words “you shall bless the Lord your God,” they learned that one must recite the berakha of Ha-zan, in which we bless God for the food. From the words “for the land,” they learned that one must bless and give thanks for the Land. And from the fact that the Torah went on to say “for the good land that He has given you,” they learned that one must bless for the best and choicest part of the Land, namely Jerusalem (Berakhot 48b).

The Torah commandment is that the one reciting the berakha mention these themes in whatever wording he wishes, according to his understanding and ability to express himself. Then Moshe, Yehoshua, David, and Shlomo came and instituted a choice and complete text, in keeping with the good that had been added in their days. When the manna fell for Israel, Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the text of the berakha of Ha-zan, but a text had not yet been fixed for the berakha on the good land. When Israel entered the Land, Yehoshua bin Nun instituted the text of the berakha on the Land, but a text had not yet been fixed for the berakha on the good and choicest place in the Land. When King David established Jerusalem as the city of holiness and kingship, he instituted the text of the berakha “for Israel Your people and for Jerusalem Your city,” and when King Shlomo built the Temple, he added “for the great and holy House.” While the Temple stood, they would ask God to preserve it, and after it was destroyed, a text was instituted in which we ask God to have mercy on us, rebuild Jerusalem, restore the kingship of the House of David to its place, and rebuild the Temple (Berakhot 48b; Rashba and Ramban, as cited in Beit Yosef 187:1; Shulḥan Arukh Ha-Rav 187:1-3).

The Sages said (Berakhot 48b; SA OḤ 187:2-3) that in the berakha on the Land one must mention the Land’s praise, that it is “a desirable, good, and spacious land.” One must also mention the covenant of circumcision (brit mila) and the Torah, because it is through these two mitzvot that we inherit the Land. As was said to Avraham Avinu when he was commanded regarding brit mila: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God” (Bereishit 17:7-8).

We also learn that it is in the merit of the Torah and mitzvot that we inherit the Land, as it states at the beginning of the passage in which we were commanded regarding Birkat Ha-mazon: “All the commandment that I command you today you shall keep to do, so that you may live and multiply, and come and inherit the land that the Lord swore to your fathers” (Devarim 8:1). It also states: “He gave them the lands of the nations, and they inherited the toil of the peoples, so that they might keep His statutes and observe His teachings. Halleluya” (Tehillim 105:44-45).

The Sages further said that the mention of the covenant must precede the mention of the Torah, because thirteen covenants are mentioned in connection with brit mila, whereas only three covenants were made regarding the Torah. Brit mila expresses the intrinsic holiness with which God sanctified His people Israel, a holiness that does not depend on our choice, and it is the foundation for receiving the Torah, which requires us to choose the good.

In the third berakha, the Sages instituted mentioning the kingship of the House of David, because it was through David that Jerusalem was sanctified, and the settlement of the Land and of Jerusalem depends primarily on the kingship of Israel (Berakhot 48b; SA OḤ 188:3).