The Gemara (Nazir 66B) says that providing sustenance for a person is as hard as splitting the Yam Suf. The Maharsha writes that this is why Hashem commands us to make brachos on food. He explains that there are damaging forces that try to stop our food from coming to us, and the brachos we recite work in our favor, against the destructive forces, and allow us to receive our sustenance.
For this reason, the Gemara compares brachos and answering Amen to soldiers who are waging war. The brachos wage war on our behalf against the damaging forces which try to stop us from receiving our parnassah.
Ruach Hakodesh Through Brachos:
Sefer Shaar Hayichudim states that the Arizal zy”a told his student, Rav Chaim Vital zy”a, that the main way one can merit receiving ruach hakodesh is through brachos. When one recites brachos properly, he annuls the power of the impure “klipos” that attach themselves to the food he eats, thereby enabling him to benefit spiritually from the food.
The Greatest of all Mitzvos:
Sefer Mitzvos Zemaniyos (written by the Rishon, Rav Yisroel ben Yosef Hayisroeli) writes: “Know my son that the greatest of all mitzvos, and the strongest of all avodos, is brachos. Anyone who believes is obligated to bless Hashem for everything He creates in this world with each thing’s individual bracha in each one’s proper time.”
Birchas Hamazon is the Main Bracha:
The Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv Ha’avodah 18) writes that the main bracha is Birchas Hamazon, as with this bracha we thank Hashem for all the sustenance He provides for us. He quotes the Gemara (Pesachim 118A) that says that providing sustenance for a person is more difficult than bringing the redemption and says that it is, therefore, logical that since thanking Him for this is so important, it certainly must be done with devotion and purity.
Forgetting the Eating, Remembering the Bracha:
It is related that the Chasam Sofer’s attendant would bring him breakfast and a cup of coffee every day after Shacharis. The attendant once thought to himself: The Rov doesn’t know whether he ate or not, so why should I bother serving him? I’ll eat his food and if he asks me about it, I’ll tell him that he ate already.
And that’s exactly what he did. He ate the food, leaving just a few crumbs on the plate, and put it down in front of the Chasam Sofer along with the cup of coffee. A while later, when he next went to check on the Rov, the Chasam Sofer asked him, “What happened with today’s breakfast?”
The shamash replied, “The Rov ate it. Perhaps you don’t remember, but you did eat.”
The Chasam Sofer answered, “It is true that I don’t remember if I ate or not but I do remember if I made a bracha or not, and I certainly remember that this morning I did not make a bracha before or after eating.”
Similarly, Rav Shalom Schwadron zt”l related that there was a tzadik in Yerushalaim named Rav Yaakov Zellinger who once came to the Rov of the city, Rav Shmuel Salant zt”l, and asked, “I did not recite Birchas Hamazon after supper last night. What should I do?”
Rav Shmuel told him, “You certainly are makpid to recite Hamotzi on a whole roll. Go check your table and you will that there’s still a whole roll there. If there is, you will know that you did not eat last night.”
Rav Yaakov went home and found that, indeed, there was a roll still sitting there. He now realized that the reason he hadn’t bentched was because he hadn’t eaten anything.
Someone later asked Rav Shmuel how he knew that Rav Yaakov hadn’t eaten and he replied, “I know that Rav Yaakov sometimes forgets to eat but he would never forget to say Birchas Hamazon.”
One Birchas Hamazon With Kavanah Can Change a Person:
Sefer Emes M’Kotzk (Ois 68) relates that the Kotzker Rebbe zy”a would say that making one Birchas Hamazon according to halacha can transform a person into a yarei Shomayim. The proof of this is that (as the Gemara relates in Sotah 10A), Avrohom Avinu would invite travelers into his home, provide them with food, and then ask them to recite Birchas Hamazon and, in this way, he changed them into new people.
Birchas Hamazon is More Powerful Than Tefillah:
Sefer Taamei Haminhagim (page 174) relates that the Magid of Mezheritzh zy”a was even more careful to concentrate on every word of Birchas Hamazon than he was with tefillah because tefillah is d’rabbanan, whereas Birchas Hamazon is a d’ohraysa.
A Segulah for a Long Life:
Rav Chaim Palagi zy”a (Sefer Kol Hachaim, Siman 80) writes that saying Birchas Hamazon out loud is a segulah for a long life. This is seen from the pasuk in Tehillim (119:149): “Hear my voice according to Your kindness; Haahem, according to Your rule sustain me.” This can translated to mean that if one’s voice is used to recite Birchas Hamazon according to Hashem’s rule, which is to say it out loud, he will be “sustained”, meaning that he will live a long life.
Annulling Divine Anger:
The Be’er Heitiv (Orech Chaim 195:21) writes that the reason the letter “ende fei” is not found in Birchas Hamazon is because this letter symbolizes “charon af”, Divine anger, and if one recites Birchas Hamazon properly, he will not experience any Divine anger and he will live a prosperous, honorable life.
