Excerpted from: “Make Your Berachos Meaningful: A Deeper Understanding of the Opening Words of All Our Berachos” by Rabbi Mechel Handler. Artscroll Mesorah Publications Ltd. 2022. English. Hardcover. 366 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1422630297.
(Courtesy of Artscroll) Many of us have been saying brachos since childhood, and, unfortunately, some are still saying them with the perspective of a 5-year-old. How can we begin to say brachos properly, with full intention, like mature adults? Moreover, how can we reap the enormous benefits that Hashem has promised those who say brachos with sincere feeling?
From the days of David HaMelech and onward, Jews have discovered the power of saying 100 brachos with kavanah daily. Divided into 100 daily readings, “Make Your Berachos Meaningful,” written by Rabbi Mechel Handler, includes detailed commentary on the words of the brachos, practical techniques to help enhance concentration, a unique section about the power of giving and getting blessings from others, and, of course, stories that help incorporate these vital teachings into our lives.
Want to enjoy the “blessings of saying blessings” in both your physical and spiritual life? Want to “Make Your Berachos Meaningful”? From the very first daily reading, you’ll find your brachos (and even your life) growing better, richer and, yes, much more meaningful.
The following are some choice excerpts from this inspiring new book.
***From a Siddur
A practice that should be implanted in a person from childhood, so that over time it will become a habit, is to read brachos from a siddur, slowly, word by word. The Pele Yoetz notes that it is worthwhile to resolve to say all brachos from a sefer or with one’s eyes closed so as not to be distracted, because doing so helps the person avoid saying the Name of Hashem in vain, without thought. It is reported that the Chofetz Chaim would recite the bracha of Asher Yatzar while looking into a siddur and pointing at each word as he said it.
Rav Shmuel Wosner would always carry a copy of the frequently recited brachos in his pocket, so that he could recite his brachos from a written text.
Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach related that Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, the rav of Vilna, had an encyclopedic memory and never forgot anything. He was responsible for overseeing the various gemach loan societies in Vilna, and all transactions were carefully recorded in the community ledger. Once, during a move to a different house, the ledger was lost, which caused
Rav Chaim Ozer’s family considerable anguish. When Rav Chaim Ozer saw how distraught they were he rewrote from memory all the names of the people with outstanding loans, how much each loan was, when the loan was taken, and when it was supposed to be repaid. Later, they found the missing ledger and it matched exactly the ledger that Rav Chaim Ozer had written from memory. Yet Rav Chaim Ozer recited Birkas Hamazon only from a siddur, never by heart!
The Manchester rosh yeshiva, Rav Yehudah Zev Segal, was careful to recite every bracha from a brachos chart that he kept with him at all times. He adhered to this practice throughout his life, even in his final years. When he wanted to say Asher Yatzar in the middle of the night, he would turn on the light in order to read the bracha. On Shabbos, if the light was off, he would go down a full flight of stairs in the middle of the night just to maintain his practice of saying all brachos from a written text. Similarly, when the Chazon Ish recited the bracha of Asher Yatzar, he would take his siddur, turn to the wall, and recite each word slowly, carefully and loudly, in a sweet voice and with much emotion.
***Clear Enunciation, Pleasant Tone and Serious Kavana
Rav Yaakov Emden writes that when a person says the word “baruch” he unlocks the breicha ha’elyona, the upper reservoir, where all the riches that flow to all the worlds are stored.
Regarding Hashem’s instruction to Noach (Bereishis 7:1), “Bo atah vechol beis’cha el hateivah, Come to the Ark (teivah), you and all your household,” the Baal Shem Tov comments that with a teivah, a word, of Torah and tefillah, one can be saved from every trouble and difficulty. The Degel Machaneh Ephraim adds (Parshas Noach, p. 5b) that the pasuk states regarding the teivah, “Tzohar ta’aseh lateivah, A window shall you make for the Ark,” implying that the words of Torah and tefillah that a person says must be bright, clear and illuminated (as tzohar also means light).
Rav Elyah Lopian, the mashgiach in Kfar Chassidim and author of the mussar classic Lev Eliyahu, once saw a group of yeshiva students on a very hot day waiting at a water fountain to refresh themselves with a cold drink. As each boy reached the fountain, he put his mouth under the spout, mumbled a quick bracha and took a drink. The mashgiach explained that this is not the proper way. He took a cup, filled it at the fountain, and went to a bench and sat down, contemplating his next action. He then recited the bracha with the proper kavana and drank the water.
A grandson of Rav Lopian related that he was once staying at a hotel and he noticed a Jew who seemed to be spiritually disconnected. After dinner, however, this man became a different person. He recited Birkas Hamazon with fervor and feeling, just like a holy person. When Rav
Lopian’s grandson began a conversation with him and mentioned how awed he was by the man’s Birkas Hamazon, the man told him that he was once together with the tzaddik Rav Elyah Lopian, and after he heard Rav Lopian reciting Birkas Hamazon, his own bentching could never be recited any other way.
Careless pronunciation of the words of a bracha is a common mistake. The Sefer HaGan notes that some people hurriedly pronounce the Name of Hashem as “Ad-noi,” which means nothing and does not express Hashem’s sovereignty. One must be careful to stress the cholam sound—the “o” or “oi” sound after the “d”—so that the word sounds like “Ado-noi” or “Adoi-noi.” The Noda BiYehudah adds that “A-donoi” must be pronounced with the stress on the last syllable (noi). One must pronounce the nun of A-donoi with a kametz sound and make sure to enunciate the yud at the end of the word and not omit it (Ado-no).
If Hashem’s Name is not said properly, the bracha is not considered a bracha. Answering amen to such a bracha is also in vain, and is considered an amen yesomah, an “orphaned amen.”
This amazing story from the time of the Rishonim, told by the Ohr Zarua, illustrates the great reward for brachos that are recited properly:
I knew an elderly Jew from Worms, R’ Bunim, who served as the town gravedigger. I heard on good authority that one time he came to shul early, and saw a person sitting in front of the building with a crown (shtreimel) of grasses on his head. The sight frightened R’ Bunim, since he thought it was a demon. After looking at him, he recognized the person, and asked, “Aren’t you So-and-So who just died, and I was the one who buried you?”
“Yes,” the man answered.
R’ Bunim asked, “How are you doing in the other world?”
The man answered, “Very, very well.”
R’ Bunim then asked him, “What merits do you have? I remember you as a simple man.”
He answered, “It is all in the merit of my saying brachos in a pleasant voice in shul. In this zechus alone, they brought me into Gan Eden and accorded me great honor. And here is a sign that it is truly I who am speaking to you: You can see that the sleeve of my garment is torn; you tore it while you were putting the shrouds on my body.”
R’ Bunim asked him, “And what is that thing that you are wearing on your head?”
He answered, “These are perfumed grasses from Gan Eden that I placed on my head to block out the bad smell of this world.”
The Ohr Zarua concludes, “I have recorded this story so that the God-fearing should see and take it to heart, and make sure to recite the brachos and sing the praises of Hashem in a pleasant voice and with kavana, and thereby merit Gan Eden.”
***A Yerushalmi father of nine was entangled in a complicated lawsuit and was facing a false charge that could have resulted in a lengthy jail sentence. On the day that the judges were to render their verdict, the man approached Rav Yisrael Yaakov Fisher, head of the Eidah HaChareidis, for a bracha and an eitza. The gadol opened his desk drawer, took out a candy, and handed it to the man. “Keep the candy in your pocket,” he instructed, “and when the judges enter the courtroom, be oblivious to all that is going on. Take out the candy and put all your effort into reciting the bracha of Shehakol Nehiyeh Bidvaro with all the kavanos that you know. And when you reach the end of the bracha, remember that everything, including the court decision, is determined bidvaro, by the word of Hashem.”
Rav Fisher blessed the man that in the merit of his emunah, Hashem would grant him a favorable outcome.
When the judges entered the courtroom, the man closed his eyes and made the bracha with all the kavanos he could muster. Meanwhile, the prosecutor was asking for a 12-year sentence and the man’s lawyer wanted to settle for three or four years; a lighter sentence than that was out of the question. In the midst of the proceedings, the chief justice turned to his two fellow judges and, after a brief discussion, declared that they were taking a recess to deliberate. The defendant kept thinking that everything is determined by the word of Hashem: Shehakol Nehiyeh Bidvaro. Twenty minutes passed, then 30 minutes, and after nearly an hour, the judges returned and stated that they had discovered a contradiction in the testimony of the principal witness, and the case was dismissed.
When the man returned to Rav Fisher to inform him of the miraculous outcome, the rav told him, “See how powerful one bracha is! If you work on saying all your brachos with more kavana, you could turn over worlds.”
