ואכלת ושבעת וברכת את ה' אלקיך על הארץ הטבה אשר נתן לך וגו' (ח-י)
To the untrained eye, Birchas Hamazon can certainly fall under the category of a habitual mitzvah, one whose significance can easily be missed. Birchas Hamazon, in some cases recited up to three times daily, serves as a constant reminder to Jews the world over that our hearts and minds should always be directed to the Land of Israel. As R’ Yaakov Emden zt”l writes in the introduction to his siddur, “Do not intend to settle down outside of the Land of Israel, G-d forbid. That was our ancestor’s sin, despising the desirable land, which caused us eternal weeping. And this sin has stood against us throughout our bitter exile. Not just one enemy has risen up against us, but peace and tranquility have eluded us in every generation. We have been persecuted; we have toiled but found no rest; we have been forgotten like the dead, all because we have completely forgotten about living in the Land of Israel.” With this small but constant reminder, and through the return of the Jewish nation to the Land of Israel, surely a great redemption will come to our people.
A prominent Yid relates an amazing story in the name of a principal of a renowned cheder in Jerusalem, in whose neighborhood lived an elderly Jew. What was very extraordinary about this Jew was the way he would recite Birchas Hamazon; he would do so with unbelievable kavanah (concentration) and hislahavus (enthusiasm) word by word.
The principal asked this elderly Jew to please tell him what was the background behind the manner in which he bentched and why he did it in the inspiring way that he did. The elderly Jew quickly responded, “I will tell you. You see, I was 12 years old in a cheder in Poland, when the renowned Gaon, R’ Meir Shapiro of Lublin zt”l, came to speak to us children about the importance of Bentching - Birchas Hamazon. I will never forget how he quoted the words of the Be’er Heitev (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 185:1) who writes that the letter (in the Hebrew Alef Beis) known as the Peh Sofis (ף) is the only one not found in the entire Birchas Hamazon because whoever will recite this special prayer with true and intense concentration will be spared from "אף" and "קצף" - Hashem’s anger (both words end with a peh sofis), and he will be blessed with bountiful parnassah his whole life. R’Meir Shapiro spoke gently and kindly and urged all of us children to undertake to always say Birchas Hamazon with kavana, and blessed us that we will be spared from tzaros our whole lives and that we will have Parnassa B’revach (bountiful sustenance).”
The elderly man was silent for a few moments, deep in thought before he once again continued to speak. “Many years passed and one day I found himself at the gates of Auschwitz, behind a long line of people who were being directed by the Nazis, yemach shemam, to the right or to the left. I was sure that my time on this world had expired and I would be sentenced to death immediately. Suddenly, I remembered the lesson I had learned from R’ Meir Shapiro as a young child. I remembered what he had said about being saved and right then and there, in those frightening moments, I prayed from the bottom of my heart: ‘Ribono Shel Olam! I have a promise from the Be’er Heitev that whoever will bentch Birchas Hamazon with kavanah will not have any troubles. Here in Auschwitz I beg you Hashem - spare me from pain and suffering!’”
There was silence again. “While I was davening I was sent to the right. My life was spared at that moment. We were told that we would have to tell the Nazis what type of skill we had so that we could be given appropriate work. Being a Yeshiva Bochur I did not know what to say and I again davened to Hashem: ‘Ribono Shel Olam! I have a promise for parnassa; I must have what to eat in Auschwitz! I don’t have a profession to tell the Nazis, please help me!’
“Suddenly I once again saw the open hand of Hashem in the misery of Auschwitz. The Jew behind me whispered in my ear: ‘Tell him that you are a cook and that I am your assistant.’ I did as he said and found myself placed in the kitchen - as a cook, no less, in Auschwitz. While so many others were dying of hunger, I was in the kitchen with loads of food!”
With that, the elderly Jew finished his story. He saw how the promise of the Be’er Heiteiv was fulfilled during the horrendous years of WWII; should he not bentch Birchas Hamazon with all his strength and kavanah?