וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה ה’ אֱלֹק֛יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָ֠ה אֶת־ה’ אֱלֹק֛יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכׇל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־ה’ אֱלֹק֛יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃
“And now, Israel, what does Hashem request of you, except to fear Him, walk in His ways, and to love and serve Him with your heart and soul” (Devarim 10:12).
On this verse, Rebbi Meir commented that the third word in the verse, mah, what, should be read me’ah, 100, indicating that “A person is obligated to recite 100 blessings each day” (see BT Menachot 43b). Modifying the text by one letter, alef, from mah to me’ah significantly transforms the verse to, “Now, Israel, 100 blessings are what Hashem your God asks of you.” Interestingly, Rabbainu Bachya notes that the addition of the letter alef, increases the number of letters to 100 from 99, a subtle hint to the halachic mandate to recite 100 blessings each day.
The origin of this ruling dates to Dovid Hamelach who sought to risk mitigate the sudden demise of 100 Jews each day by inquiring and learning, via ruach hakodesh, that to bring an end to the plague it would be necessary to institute the recital of 100 blessings each day (see Medrash Tanchuma, Parshat Korach, 12). As the verse states, u’neum hagever hukam Al, And the words of a man were accepted on High” (II Shmuel, 23:1)—another subtle hint, this time to Dovid Hamelach, who miraculously stopped the plague that had engulfed the Jewish nation with the halachic establishment of 100 daily blessings. Coincidently, the word al, עָל, comprising the letters ayin (numerical equivalent of 70) and lamed (30), equal 100.
The Abrabanel explains, Tefila b’lo kavana k’guf b’lo neshama, prayer absent proper intent is equivalent to a body lacking a soul. Dovetailing this thought, Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik was known to say, ain kedusha b’lo hachana, there can be no holiness without preparation. Hence, prayer/blessings require proper intent, and cannot be merely said absent thought, depth and sincerity. Prayer is more than words.
Several years ago, I heard an interesting shiur from Rav Mansour who reinforced the above sentiment from the Abarbanel and explained that there are three letters that often get swallowed when saying, for example, the bracha of Hamotzi: specifically, mem, alef and hei, which spell me’ah, 100. We begin with Baruchata – (alef; should be Baruch ata; Melacholam – (heh; should be melach ha’olam); and, lechemin – (mem; should be lechem min (ha’aretz). On a slightly lighter note, not being careful when reciting Hamotzi, may result in having to recite another blessing on all the words we recently swallowed.
Rav Mansour continues that reciting 100 blessings each day has the potential to remove sickness. As the verse states, v’haysir Hashem mimcha מִמְּךָ kol choli, and Hashem will take away from you all sickness (Devarim, 7:15). The word mimcha (mem, mem and chaf, (40+40+20) equals 100. Meaning, if one desires Hashem to remove sickness, then it must come from mimcha, your recitation of 100 daily blessings.
At the end of the day, reciting 100 blessings each day is not easy (see Mishnah Berurah, 46:14 for a complete list of the 100 blessings, and Remah, Ohr Hachaim 47:6 on the topic of Birchat HaTorah). There are many mitzvos, such as tzitzis, talis, tefillin, etc., that are not applicable to women, and which thereby creates a disadvantage. How then can women bridge the divide and still benefit from the recital of 100 blessings? The fascinating “secret-sauce,” explains the Da’as Zikainim M’Balai Tosfos (ibid on the above verse, Devarim 10:12), is to have kavana, proper intent, when saying the words of Modim in Shemoneh Esrei, which contain the letters mem, vav, daled, yud and mem, which equal 100, the (short-cut) equivalent to reciting all 100 blessings.
Mordechai Plotsker runs a popular 10-minute nightly shiur on the Parsha with a keen interest on the invigorating teachings of the Berdichever Rav, the Kedushas Levi. To learn more about the nightly shiur including dial-in information, visit www.shiurenjoyment.com. Mordechai resides in Hillside, New Jersey, with his wife and children and can be reached by email at [email protected].
