Nearly 2,000 years after Creation, the light of Avraham Avinu dawned on the world, and a new era began. Avraham Avinu was the first of the ma’aminim, the ones who believed in Hashem, and he is the one who began to spread the light of emunah in the world.
Chazal (Sotah 10a) describe the way Avraham Avinu taught the people in his generation to believe in Hashem. He built a tent, where he would host passersby and served them food and drink. After they ate their fill, the guests thanked him. But then Avraham would protest: “Did you eat from my food? It is the food of the G-d of the world! Thank and bless the One Who made a statement and created the world!”
We all grew up knowing these words of Chazal, but without realizing the wonderful message that they contain: The great influence of saying a brachah on the soul of a person! Through chinuch to recite brachos – Avraham Avinu was able to disseminate emunas Hashem in the world! Complete gentiles, who had never heard of Hashem, learned to recognize Him and believe in Him through saying a brachah!
Another understanding: As someone who worked all his life to feed passersby, Avraham Avinu was perceived as a pillar of chessed and kindness. That is true, of course, but we have to also take notice that the main chessed of Avraham Avinu, the “rosh hama’aminim,” was that he brought the light of emunah to all those foolish people who grew up believing in idols. When serving food to his guests, and providing their needs at that moment, Avraham Avinu wanted to grant them a real benefit, bringing them to eternal life by teaching them to make a brachah and thank Hashem, and that’s how he planted emunah in Hashem in their hearts.
This is what the passuk refers to (Bereishis 21:33): “Vayita eshel b’Be’er Sheva vayikra sham beShem Hashem Kel Olam” and Reish Lakish explained (Sotah 10b): “Do not read it ‘vayikra’ but rather ‘vayakri’ – the purpose of planting the tree was to issue the call of the Shem Hashem to all the creations, teaching them to bless and thank Hashem.
Perhaps this is the source for the famous statement in the name of tzaddikim that the eating does not cause the brachah, but rather, the brachah causes the eating – the whole purpose of eating is the brachos that we say over the food. Because, as noted, Avraham Ainu dedicated his life to feeding passersby who crossed the threshold into his tent, in an effort to teach them to thank Hashem and bless Him for the food they received.
“The actions of the fathers are a sign for the sons.” We, the descendants of Avraham Avinu, should also issue the call of the Name of Hashem to other people! When we notice a person about to make a brachah, we should ask him to answer amen after his brachos, and by doing so, aside of the actual meriting of the mitzvah of amen, we will cause him to say the brachah properly.
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein, New York
