ברכת המזון -- הרחמן

THE ALL MERCIFUL- HARACHAMAN

-  Zale Mednick and Jeff Mikelberg

               

It is quite interesting that throughout this short passage from Birkat Hamazon, HaShem is repeatedly referred to as the All-merciful One.  It is especially appropriate that we recite this section of Birkat Hamazon on Passover, because HaShem truly was merciful when He took the Jewish people out of Egypt and freed them from slavery, with His strong, powerful hand.  Some of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt were under the impression that HaShem had abandoned them, as they had been slaves for so long.  However, any doubts in HaShem were discarded when He showed the descendants of Avraham that He had always been watching down on them.  HaShem stunned all when He was able to free them from bondage in a compassionate, sympathetic manner. 

                In Jewish tradition, HaShem is seen first as a merciful and compassionate figure, and is only afterward thought of as stern, disciplinary, and forceful.  Regardless of how it may appear in certain instances in the Torah, it is only when human beings abuse the privilege of free will that HaShem is forced to become somewhat harsh and severe.  There have been countless times in the Torah when HaShem has shown His sympathetic nature and was lenient with the Jewish people when He could have easily become irritated and angry.  For example, HaShem showed mercy when Avraham pleaded with Him to search for people whose lives He could spare before the attack on Sedom and Amorah.  HaShem only found a handful of people who did not deserve to die, but nevertheless, He ensured that they would not be killed (Bereishit, chapter eighteen). When Sarah sent Hagar, Avraham’s second wife, out into the desert with Yishmael, HaShem had mercy on her and her son by paying special attention to them, and He provided them with water and other necessary things needed for survival (Bereishit, chapter twenty-one). 

                There is one line in particular among these short verses that it is especially significant in relation to Passover:  May the All-merciful break the oppressor’s yoke from our neck and lead us proudly to our land.”  It is quite ironic that we are asking for HaShem to redeem us and bring us back to the Land of Israel, when this is the exact miracle that HaShem performed when freeing the Jews from the land of Egypt thousands of years ago.  The Jewish people still have hope in HaShem and are confident that He is always watching down on them, even though He has not been as apparent these days as He has been in the past.  Jews are very hopeful that those in the Diaspora will return to the Land of Israel, as they did thousands of years ago, when the hand of HaShem powerfully led them.    

                One question that often arises when examining the Birkat Hamazon is why sections such as this one, which do not directly relate to HaShem providing food, are included in the prayer.  However, although it is true that commenting on HaShem’s mercy is not clearly connected to our appreciation for the food which HaShem has given us, it is extremely important to comment on HaShem’s graceful nature whenever acknowledging Him because without this quality, our lives would be filled with much more pain and suffering. 

                Miguel de Cervantes Saavadra put it best when he said, “Among the attributes of G-d, although they are equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.”