Why Do We?

…Say Brachos before we eat?

 Great Question! The gemara in Brachos says: “A person should not enjoy this world without remembering that it’s from Hashem, and thanking Him for it.” But why? The seforim say that brachos are our constant reminder of Hashem’s love in this world. When we say a brachah in the middle of the day, we remember that Hashem loves us and gave us this fruit, or this cookie, etc. We don’t need to wait until Shemoneh Esrei to thank Hashem! It should be something we do all the time. What’s interesting is that we don’t only make one big brachah for everything. Everyone knows that “Shehakol” could – if said by mistake – cover everything, because it thanks Hashem for everything. But we make more specific brachos. The more detailed a brachah is, the better it is, and we even make that brachah before other brachos if we have a lot of different types of food options in front of us. Because when we thank Hashem, we should be specific. Imagine you get a birthday present from your Bubby. It’s a huge Lego set with thousands of pieces, with lights and sounds; it’s the best Lego set in the world! Would a simple “Thank you, Bubby” be good enough? No! You need to thank her for the details!

The words “Baruch Attah Hashem” actually mean, “You are the source of blessings, Hashem,” not “Blessed are you, Hashem.” That means that when we say a brachah we should think, “Hashem is here, and He is in charge of every brachah I have in my life.” We also speak DIRECTLY TO HASHEM! We say the word “ATTAH!” Which means “You!” We aren’t speaking about Hashem, we are speaking right TO Hashem. When we say a brachah slowly, we can choose to think about that. We are speaking to Hashem directly, and He is always with us! 

The seforim also say that all food contains a G‑dly spark of holiness. When we say a blessing before eating, and eat with kavana, we actually take the food and make it heilig. So take your time, and think about the brachos you say – they are designed to change your life!