Birkas Hamazon Repeating Thanks

After enumerating all of the spiritual and physical benefits that Hashem confers upon us “always, every day, and every hour,” the paragraph of Ve’al Hakol summarizes them once more, quoting the pasuk that Birkas Hamazon is based on: v’achalta, v’savata, u’veirachta. The repeated rendition of thanks at the beginning and end of the bracha is specifically mentioned in the Gemara (Brachos 49a). Having received a gift from on high, we must say thank you even before we have benefited from it and without knowing its nature, for whatever Hashem does is for the best.

Adapted from World of Prayer by Rabbi Elie Munk