Why We Bless Before We Eat
There is a biblical commandment to bless G-d after we eat food, as the Torah states “And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:10). Yet, the rabbis introduced blessings to say before we eat food. As the Mishanh in tractate Berachot describes the specific blessing for each category of food:
How does one recite a blessing over fruits? Over different fruits that grow on a tree one recites: Who creates fruit of the tree, with the exception of wine. Over wine one recites: Who creates fruit of the vine. Over fruits that grow from the earth, one recites: Who creates fruit of the ground, with the exception of bread, as over bread one recites: Who brings forth bread from the earth. Over herbs and leafy vegetables one recites: Who creates fruit of the ground. (Talmud Berachot 35a)
The Talmud seeks to understand the premise for reciting a blessing before eating food. After some attempts to derive it from a Biblical verse, the Talmud concedes that the source is based on a logical argument:
The fundamental obligation to recite a blessing over food is founded on reason: One is forbidden to derive benefit from this world without a blessing.
But why not?
The Talmud further explains that the entire world belongs to G-d:
Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who derives benefit from this world without a blessing, it is as if he enjoyed objects consecrated to the heavens, as it is stated: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s, the world and all those who live in it” (Psalms 24:1)...Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: Anyone who derives benefit from this world without a blessing, it is as if he stole from God and the community of Israel.
Yet, this explanation requires further clarification. Yes, the blessing acknowledges that the world belongs to G-d, but how does that give a person the right to “steal” and partake of G-d’s bounty? The blessing does not seem to be a request for permission to enjoy that which belongs to G-d.
One Answer is alluded to in this week’s portion. The Torah relates the laws of Terumah, the gift of produce given to the priest. The Torah describes how the Terumah must be eaten in a state of ritual purity, and it must be eaten exclusively by the poreists: “No non-Kohen may eat holy things; a kohen's resident and his hired servant may not eat holy things”.
Yet there is an exception. A servant, who was purchased by a Kohen, may partake of the Terumah:
And if a Kohen acquires a person, an acquisition through his money, he may eat of it, and those born in his house they may eat of his food. (Leviticus 22:11)
The world and all of its bounty belongs to G-d, we have no right to seize his property. Yet, when we bless, we acknowledge that he is “our G-d, king of the universe”; if He is our king and we are his servants whom he has acquired, then, like the servant allowed to consume the holy Terumah, we may benefit from the blessings and bounty of the world, considering that we are doing so as part of our Divine service. Our interaction with the world is infused with spiritual purpose and intention, transforming the material substance into energy to fuel holiness, goodness and kindness.
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Hisvaduyos 5771 3:347