A hallmark of the Jewish experience is the myriad of berachos (blessings) intertwined into the fabric of daily living. From the moment we wake up (Al netilas yadayim) until the moment we fall asleep (Hamapil), we recite berachah after berachah on every imaginable aspect of our lives — before and after eating, throughout davening, even after going to the bathroom. Every milestone of life is accompanied by a unique berachah as well: from the birth of a child, followed by bris milah and pidyon ha’ben, and subsequently to mark marriage and even death. Life’s milestones are marked and elevated through berachos.
Historical Transition
Although we likely take it for granted that berachos are a pillar of our daily lives, they have not always existed as they do now. Until the Second Temple era, there was no standard set of berachos or prayer. The only berachos that are d’Oraisa (commanded in the Torah) are Birkas HaMazon (the blessing after bread) and [possibly] Birkas HaTorah (the blessing on Torah). All other berachos and their official texts were instituted by the Anshei K’nesses HaGedolah (the Men of the Great Assembly) in the Second Temple era.
This begs the obvious question: What changed? What prompted the Anshei K’nesses HaGedolah to introduce such a major change in Jewish daily life? Before we can understand the shift that necessitated this monumental change, we must first explore the nature of berachos in general. The common translation of a berachah’s opening — “Baruch atah Hashem” — is “Blessed are You, Hashem.” What does this mean? Can Hashem, the infinite and perfect G-d, benefit from our blessings? More generally, what is the nature and purpose of a berachah?
Blessings and Curses
When Bilaam is hired by Balak to curse the Jewish people, he attempts to do so but unwittingly proclaims elaborate blessings instead. On the surface level, it is clear that berachos reflect a positive force, while curses signify the opposite. However, there are layers of depth beneath the surface. Let us delve deeper into the true nature of berachos and klalos in order to understand their profound spiritual nature.
Berachah: From Oneness to Twoness
The prerequisite for any discussion of berachos is understanding how Hashem relates to the physical world. Hashem is infinite — beyond physicality, unconfined by time or space. He is not within this world, nor is He a being; the world and being itself are within Him. Hashem is absolute oneness without any components, finitude, or multiplicity. The physical world, in contrast, is finite, existing in a realm of time, space, and multiplicity.
How, then, does Hashem connect to this physical world? How can that which is transcendent and infinite connect to, and manifest within, our finite, particular world? The answer is through berachah, the flow of abundance and multiplicity (tosefes v’ribui) that stems from Hashem’s transcendent oneness. Berachah represents the transition from infinite oneness to particular twoness — the process by which Hashem’s divine energy (shefa) flows into this world.
The Essence of a Word
In Hebrew, the word for something is not merely an arbitrary reference or description but a revelation of its very essence. In other languages, words are simply agreed-upon conventions that refer to a certain object or concept. These conventions are accepted as a practical means to enable communication. In Hebrew, though, each word is an objective reflection of the entity’s very nature and essence. This is why the Hebrew word for “word” and “thing” are the same — davar. A word is essentially that which it describes.
This phenomenon reflects a deep concept: Speech is the mechanism for taking that which is infinite, beyond words, and giving it concrete form and expression. When we communicate through speech, we take our abstract and infinite thoughts and encase them within finite words in order to give them tangible expression in this world.
This same process is the mechanism that Hashem used to create the world. He took that which is infinite and condensed it into a finite expression of that spiritual and ethereal essence. This is why the Torah describes Hashem’s creative process as a form of speech; Hashem “spoke” existence into being. Hashem brought the world into existence through the letters of the aleph-beis; thus, by analyzing Hebrew words and the letters that comprise them, one can infer the thing’s very essence and nature.
Aleph vs. Beis
The Maharal describes the letter beis as the letter of twoness — multiplicity and physicality — the characteristics of our physical world. Aleph, on the other hand, is the letter of oneness — transcendence and spirituality — reflecting Hashem and the spiritual dimension. Aleph is the very first letter in the aleph-beis and has the numerical value of one. It is a silent letter, reflecting its spiritual, transcendent nature. It also reflects spiritual elevation, as expressed in many words that have the word aleph (aleph, lamed, peh) as their root. “Le’aleph” means to teach, elevate, or lift to a higher spiritual dimension; “aluph” refers to the highest-ranking military position; and “eleph” is the highest number in the Hebrew decimal system.
The very physical makeup of the letter aleph reflects its elevated spiritual level. The Ramchal points out that the letter aleph is comprised of three smaller letters: two yuds and a vav. The total numerical value of these three letters is twenty-six, the same as Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, the name of Hashem — again, that which is transcendent and complete oneness.
Berachah: The Word of Twoness
The oneness of aleph can be held in direct contrast to the twoness of beis. There is an enigmatic Midrash that states that the letter beis was chosen from all twenty-two letters of the aleph-beis to begin the Torah (Bereishis). The Midrash clarifies Hashem’s decision by explaining that the letter beis stands for the word berachah. Many commentators struggled to understand this explanation. After all, the letter beis is the first letter of many negative words as well. Why is its connection to berachah the only one considered?
The Maharal explains this Midrash in a profound and beautiful fashion. Beis doesn’t “stand” for the word berachah; it is the letter of berachah. Beis is the letter of twoness and multiplicity; berachah is the word of twoness and multiplicity. Beis, reish, and chaf, the shoresh of the word berachah, are each letters of multiplicity: Beis has the numerical value of two, chaf is twenty, and reish is two hundred. These are all the letters of twoness, and berachah is the paradigmatic concept of twoness as well. Berachah is the mechanism of expressing Hashem’s oneness into the world, expanding into twoness through tosefes v’ribui.
This is why the Torah begins with the letter beis. Torah is a physical array of finite words, all of which are a loyal reflection and emanation of Hashem’s wisdom and absolute oneness. Furthermore, the Torah begins by describing Hashem’s creation of the physical world, a process most appropriately embodied by the letter beis — the letter of twoness that stems from oneness.
The letter beis reflects the process of Hashem’s oneness becoming expressed into our physical world. This is in contrast to the Aseres HaDibros, which begin with an aleph. While the episode of creation epitomizes the finite expression of multiplicity that stems from oneness, Matan Torah was the exact opposite; the giving of the Torah was the elevation from twoness to oneness, an unparalleled experience of truth, oneness, and the spiritual. It was an experience of Hashem Himself and therefore begins with the letter of oneness and transcendence — aleph.
Receiving Berachah
The Ramchal explains at length that Hashem created this world for the sole purpose of giving us berachah. The Ramchal translates berachah as goodness, shefa (spiritual energy), and light. In other words, berachah is Hashem’s expression into, and revelation in, this world. Receiving berachah means receiving Hashem’s goodness and expression in this world.
At this point, we need to make an important distinction. There is a fundamental difference between twoness that is connected to oneness and spirituality — which we will refer to as berachah — and twoness that is purely physical and disconnected from spirituality. Detached and disconnected twoness is lifeless, purposeless, and dead. Twoness that is connected to oneness is a physicality infused with vibrancy, always expanding beyond its apparent limits and borders. Such physicality is constantly expanding, as it is connected to a higher source. This is a physicality rooted in berachah, fully connected to its spiritual root.
Making Berachos
When we recite berachos and say “Baruch atah Hashem,” we are not blessing Hashem. Hashem, infinite and perfect, does not need our blessings. Rather, there are two simultaneous intentions that we must have when making a berachah. The first, as Rabbeinu Bachya explains, is to acknowledge Hashem as the source of all blessing, abundance, and goodness in the world (Rabbeinu Bachya, Kad HaKemach, Berachah). This is a meditation of hakaras ha’tov (recognition of the good) and a practice of sourcing all multiplicity and berachah back to its source. In essence, when we make a berachah, we are recognizing Hashem as the source of all berachah.
Our second intention, as the Rashba, Vilna Gaon, and Nefesh HaChaim explain, is asking Hashem to continue to abundantly manifest into this world and into my personal life.
The first step is recognition and connecting back to Hashem — our Source. The second step is an exercise of will; we attempt to bring Hashem into this world and ask that He manifest abundantly — both into the world in general and into our individual lives. In our next article, we will delve deeper into this fascinating topic and try to understand the concept of berachos and klalos on an even deeper level.
Our Mission of Berachah
Our mission is to use the physical world as a medium through which we connect to Hashem. We don’t only ask for berachah; we create it by actively seeing Hashem’s presence flow into every aspect of our lives. May we be inspired to live lives full of berachah, sourcing every dimension of our lives back to Hashem, and living a life of oneness within this world of twoness.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an international speaker, bestselling author, business coach, the CEO of SMA, and a TED Talk Speaker. His bestselling book, The Journey to Your Ultimate Self, serves as an inspiring gateway into deeper Torah thought. After receiving his BA from Yeshiva University and Semicha from Yeshiva University's RIETS, Rabbi Reichman received a Masters degree from the University of Chicago. As part of his Masters Degree at the University of Chicago, Rabbi Reichman received an Ivy Plus Scholarship to Harvard where he spent a year studying as an Ivy Scholar. Additionally, he received a Masters degree in Educational Psychology from Azrieli Graduate School and a Masters degree in Jewish Thought from Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School. As a business and leadership coach, Rabbi Reichman provides a unique 1-on-1 coaching program where he helps high-achievers, coaches, and business owners achieve their financial and personal goals. To learn more or to get in contact with Rabbi Reichman, visit his website: www.ShmuelReichman.com.
