ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלקיך על הארץ הטובה אשר נתן לך וגו' (ח-י)
MASHAL: Prior to his passing, R’ Moshe Ivyer zt”l assembled members of his community and attempted to inspire them concerning the significance of Birchas Hamazon. “I assure you,” he told them, “that whoever recites Birchas Hamazon from a written text, his house will not sustain the damages of fire.” This was stated during a time in history when every blaze carried the potential to burn down an entire city.
Everyone in the community heeded the Rav’s advice, except for one man who simply refused to bentch from a written text. It was not convenient, he said. The Jewish community was spared the effects of a conflagration as a result of their adherence to R’ Moshe’s admonition.
One night, a fire broke out in a non-Jewish home right near the home of the non-complying Jew. The wife woke her husband in a panic. Their home was in the line of the fire. What were they to do? Suddenly, the wife told her husband, “Quickly, run to the cemetery and pray at the grave of R’ Moshe Ivyer. Ask mechillah, forgiveness, for disregarding his warning and ask him to intercede on our behalf.”
The man might have been obstinate, but he was not a total fool. He ran to the cemetery and begged forgiveness for his insolence. He promised to never again separate himself from the community and always bentch from a written text.
The man returned home to find that all the gentile homes belonging to gentiles were gone, while his home was standing, unscathed, because the fire had been put out - at his door-step.
were burnt down, while his home was standing, unscathed, because the fire had been put out - at his door-step.
NIMSHAL: Some may think that Birchas Hamazon is a chore. Some will not wash and eat bread so as not to have to bentch. In truth, though, these special blessings are not what we do for Hashem, but rather, what He does for us. Sefer Seder Hayom writes that when we bentch with concentration on each word, and say it “inside” (from a written text), it causes a person and his entire family who learns and follows suit, to be blessed. "המברך יתברך" - the blesser is blessed.
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