Bentshing is intended to correct Man’s tendency to move further away from G-d after he has satisfied himself

“You will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless Hashem your G-d….” (Devarim 8:10)

The gemara in Berachos discusses Bircas Hamazon. According to the above pasuk, therein lies the chiyuv d’Oraisa, the obligation according to Torah, to bentsh after we eat. If we’re obligated to bless Hashem when we’re sated, asks the gemara, all the more so shouldn’t we bless Him before eating, while we are still hungry?

 The gemara concludes, however, that the only brachah that we can firmly consider obligatory by Torah (i.e., not rabbinic) law is the bentshing after a meal of food. (Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, based on the Meshech Chochmah)

Pesach 2020. We were in the first few months of the Covid pandemic. We scrubbed down groceries to disinfect them before bringing them into the house. Worry and fear was pervasive. The unknown was so scary. And we faced an egg shortage. Underneath that fear of survival was a very pragmatic nagging detail that every balabusta knows.  It’s simply not possible to make Pesach without eggs.

Yet we managed. We made it through the pandemic, albeit with scars. And we made it through Pesach without cakes and pareve ice cream and learned we can do with less.

Bentshing is intended to correct Man’s tendency to move further away from G-d after he has satisfied himself, rather than move closer. Man becomes self-assured, confident in his own powers, even haughty, once his needs are filled. As the Torah says (Devarim 8:12-14): “Lest you eat and be sated… and forget Hashem your G-d.”

Two years later, there was a baby formula shortage. This was more serious, and images of parents racing across the city to secure food for their children was haunting.

Since then we’ve gotten used to appliance shortages, microchip shortages, and gas shortages, among others, as production of essential items have been affected across the globe.

A few months ago there was a milk shortage in Eretz Yisrael. People snatched up shelf-stable milk (which my kids wouldn’t touch), or got used to eating their cornflakes dry.

My grandfather was born in Russia where there was no food. My grandmother grew up in pre-state Palestine where poverty was a way of life.

But I? How is it that I’m living in the 21st century and this past Pesach there was no chicken to be had?

While that shortage has since sorted out, now it’s just cutlets that are missing from the shelf. My kids are die-hard schnitzel fans and won’t touch chicken on the bone, so we’re back to cornflakes, but thank goodness we now have milk.

Bentshing brings us back to reality. It reminds us that it is “He Who gave you strength to make wealth.” (Devarim 8:18) This reasoning applies only when a person is physically sated — not when he is hungry and in need! Thus the Torah’s obligation to thank Hashem is after he is satiated, to remember where his bounty came from.

I suppose you can get used to anything. But my friend Shiri just told me that, horrifyingly enough, the pharmacies across the country are encountering shortages of several essential medicines. For months, she’s been traipsing the country in search of a lone bottle or two to get her child through the month. And when she finds it, she says she feels like she discovered gold.  “It’s like living in the days of the mahn,” she quips. “Right now I have what I need. What will happen tomorrow, I have to trust in Hashem.”

Her words echo in my mind, as today is Wednesday, schnitzel night in my household. I have one package of cutlets left in my freezer, which I’ll gratefully use. And next week? Who knows. Right now, my kids have supper.

Eat, drink, and remember… while you can get used to anything, we should never get used to having everything. Because then we’re promoting a shortage of faith.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 907)