Consuming Miracles
When a person walks in the streets, or even when he sits with a sefer, there are people around him who say and do all sorts of things—some of them contrary to the emunah in these miracles all around us. The entire concept of Birchos HaNehenin—the berachos that we make before and after we eat—is built upon the yesod of appreciating the miracles in the food we eat.
We tell this person: You want to eat? Wonderful. You like it better with salt? Take salt. You like one type of food over the other? With pleasure. Eat to your heart’s delight. You’re not yet on the level of withdrawing from the ta’avos of food... but one thing, make a berachah like a mentch. That’s all. A moment before you eat, and a moment after you eat.
There is a tremendous avodah in Birchos HaNehenin—if a person takes it seriously, and if he fulfills the basic halachah. He takes his food in his right hand, he stops everything he is doing, and he begins to bentch. And what does he say? He says the truth: “The food that I am holding here arrived here through miracle after miracle... a string of great and wondrous miracles.”
It is no different from a person who holds the matzah on the Seder night and thinks with great emotion, “I am now about to take in the holy matzah... with all the holy Sheimos of Hashem....” Similarly, a person who says a berachah should ideally feel the same emotion. These miracles are a reality! You can’t argue with reality!
The Power of Birchos HaNehenin
Were a person to feel these miracles and be amazed by them—he wouldn’t become so materialistic through his eating. All one needs is to reflect upon the incredible miracles that transpired to bring this food to your plate. Indeed, there would be some people who, if they could properly grasp these miracles, they would say to themselves: I’m afraid to even consume this incredible miracle! I want to preserve it so I can tell my children about this great miracle! Thank You, Hashem, for this great miracle!”
Says the Ribbono shel Olam: Yes, you may eat it! But recognizing the great miracles therein means that you won’t be dragged down into gashmiyus by consuming this food. Moreover, we know that in all food that we eat, there are spiritual properties that animate and give life to the neshamah. And the sefarim hakedoshim ask, how indeed can it be that something material such as food should be able to give spiritual sustenance to the neshamah? They explain that everything is comprised of a fusion of parts of gashmiyus and parts of ruchniyus. The material aspects sustain the body, while the spiritual aspects sustain the soul.
And so, do we really need great sefarim with tiny letters to inform us that there are spiritual properties in our food?! The chiddush is to the contrary! How is it possible for us to touch and feel such miraculous things? This—that we’re able to consume such great miracles—in and of itself is a great miracle!
Meditating on Miracles
And so, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has given us an avodah: take two minutes in the day and meditate upon this. Begin with, for example, the first berachah in bentching. Birchas HaMazon is a d’Oraisa, while the berachah rishonah that we make before eating is a d’rabbanan. On the other hand, the blessing we make before eating has the ability to transform our entire attitude to eating. Be that as it may, this is a most opportune moment for a person to meditate and reflect upon the miracles in our food.
When a person wants to sincerely work on this avodah, he must decide which times he will dedicate to it. Otherwise, he will forget about his resolutions very quickly. He must decide at which berachah he will meditate. The same applies to the awesome berachah of Asher Yatzar. A person must say, “I may not be on the level of having proper kavanah and reflection when reciting all one hundred daily berachos, but I will begin with Asher Yatzar.”
The power of one small resolution is immense, and it directly opens the door to more and greater resolutions. מצוה. גוררת מצוה the next level is dependent on the first. When a person goes up one level, he can proceed from there to the level above it. When a person works on his berachos, he isn’t merely working on the inyan of berachos—he is working on recognizing the hidden miracles and working to be awed and amazed by these wondrous things.
One must understand that the Ribbono shel Olam wants him to change his outlook on the world. We are commanded to view the world through a different lens! Where were we commanded to do so?! First, it is included in the mitzvah of emunah, to believe that the miraculous Hand of Hashem is behind everything. Furthermore, so many of the berachos are based on a paradigm shift—such as the berachah of Mattir Assurim, Zokeif Kefufim, Pokei’ach Ivrim, and so forth. These berachos demand that we not take these blessings for granted, and that we view them as miracles.
When a person is commanded to view everything through the lens of Hashgachah Pratis, this means that he is commanded to remember that in everything he sees, there is so much more to the picture. It’s not as contracted and materialistic as it seems from the outside; there are miracles and kindnesses beneath and beyond the surface of everything we see.
