This week’s parshah discusses the mitzvah of bentching birchas hamazone after eating bread (8:10). Interestingly, we learn out the mitzvah of making all brachos before and after food, from here.

The Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 430) points out that everyone is constantly looking for segulos for parnassah. People look high and low for a good one & are open to doing anything that may work. However, states the Sefer HaChinuch, nobody has to look further than the mitzvah of bentching. “Whoever is careful with bentching, his food will always be readily available to him and in an honorable fashion”. The Mishnah Berura (siman 165 s”k 1) quotes this Sefer HaChinuch as well and reiterates that bentching with kavanah is a tremendous segulah for parnassah*.

Why is bentching, in particular, a segulah for parnassah? Why isn’t davening shemonei esrei with kavanah, for example, touted as the ultimate segulah for parnassah? What is so unique about bentching?

Furthermore, one could argue that bentching with kavanah is not such a great feat. After all, one is only doing so after having been satiated from a delicious meal. If so, why is bentching with kavanah so special?

R’ Moshe Tuvia Lieff was asked this question. He commented that indeed it is strange how we spend so much time putting kavanah into shemonei esrei, which according to many is a mitzvah d’rabanan, while bentching, which is a mitzvah m’doraiysa, is often said much quicker and without the same focus on having kavanah.

He went on to say, “allow me to explain the distinction as to why bentching is indeed so valuable and unique:

When one davens shemonei esrei, he is hungry; he is lacking and begging Hashem to provide something to him. We all beg in shemonei esrei: ‘shema koleinu, chus v’rachem aleinu, v’kabel brachamim uveratzone tefilloisaiynu’ – ‘Listen to our voice. Have pity and mercy on us and accept with mercy and grace our prayers’. While this is certainly praiseworthy, we all know, as the famous saying goes, that ‘there are no atheists in the foxholes’, and therefore, it is somewhat natural to cry out to Hashem when we feel in desperate need of something.

However, when it comes to bentching, we are already full and satiated. We already had everything that we were looking for. Therefore, it is natural to bentch quickly. As the pasuk states ‘Yeshurun became fat and rebelled’. In fact, the pasukim directly after the pasuk of bentching, goes on to state that it’s natural for when one is successful to forget Hashem and conclude ‘Kochi v’atzum yodi asa li es hachayil hazeh’ – ‘my strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth’. The Alter of Kelm, Rav Simchah Zissel Ziv, points at that the Torah states this matter of factly, as it is indeed human nature to conclude this, unless one works on himself.

It is for this reason that when an individual - who after being satiated, satisfied and tasted success – still fights his inner nature of feeling independent, and rather, uses it as a vehicle to come close to Hakodosh Baruch Hu, to focus on Him, and to sincerely bentch (which both Thanks Hashem for our sustenance and also recognizes that we are dependent on Him, by asking Him to continue to sustain us) - Hashem says ‘what wouldn’t I give him? He is using blessing for the proper reason, and he is using it not to forget Me, but rather to remember and connect to Me’. It’s no wonder why being careful to bentch and to do so with kavanah is such a unique and unequivocal segulah for parnassah.**

Living Inspired

We are living in a period of history where the average person has more luxurious than a king of yesteryear (think about air conditioning, smooth drives in our cars, fruit in every grocery that is out of season and flown in from across the world, etc). This poses a risk of someone chas v’shalom no longer feeling as strong of a need to call out to Hashem and to sincerely connect to Him. After all, as mentioned earlier, although there are no atheists in the foxholes and it is easy to cry out to Hashem and recognize that He alone runs the world when we are in trouble, it can be difficult to do so when one feels comfortable and in no danger. This puts all of us living in today’s generation at a spiritual disadvantage.

At the same time, the relative wealth of this generation affords us a tremendous opportunity. As illustrated above, while it is natural to feel dependency on Hashem when we are lacking, it is often not so when we feel satiated. If we focus on bentching with even a little more kavannah*** after feeling satiated; if we recognize that all of our parnassah and successes are from Hashem and comes as a responsibility to use as a vehicle to serve Him – we will reach the highest spiritual heights, we will take our connection to Hashem to the next level, and will duly earn this segulah for parnassah that Hashem has given to us and wants us to achieve.

Gut Shabbos

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*- It is important to note that we do not believe in “magical” segulah shortcuts. Rather, the Hashkafa of the Yeshiva velt is that the only true segulos worth pursuing, are those brought by credible sources and those that enhance our Avodas Hashem in a logical and meaningful way – and are not merely a shortcut. Being careful with bentching is one such thing and it is logical that bentching may earn Hashem’s mercy in the area of parnassah.

**- This appropriate hashkafic outlook can be applied to more than just bentching:

R’ Orlofsky once revealed during a speech that he gave in Baltimore during the Aseres Yimei Teshuva (in a shul named “BJSZ”), that after the market crash of 2008, he asked his Rebee, the world famous mekubal R’ Moshe Shapiro, why Hashem took away the parnassah of so many yidden. R’ Moshe Shapiro answered “I can’t tell you why, but I can point something out. Most people, after they lost their fortunes in an instant, recognized that this was clearly was from Hashem and turned their eyes to Him with the sincere question of ‘why me???’. But, for the many years prior when things were going well, did any of us feel that sincere recognition that our parnassah is directly from Hashem and ever ask ‘why me???’ when we were being given tremendous wealth? If we train ourselves to do so, and to ask “why me???” when Hashem restores our parnassah, thus reconginzing that we don’t deserve it and it was all from Hashem, it will be a tremendous accomplishment and segulah for continued parnassah.

***- One simple but effective method to doing so, is to start by putting extra focus into saying the first paragraph of bentching with kavanah. After spending a few weeks or months to master this, continue doing so into the second paragraph, and so on and so forth.