Bircat Hamazon, or Grace After Meals, is so familiar to some people that it is easy to overlook how extraordinary it is. We finish eating, reach for a bencher, and recite words composed across centuries of Jewish history. But the four blessings which make up “benching” do more than just thank God for food. Together, they tell the story of the Jewish people—and teach us how to recognize goodness even when life is painfully incomplete.

The Talmud in the tractate of Brachot 48b explains the historical origin of each blessing in Bircat Hamazon.

The first blessing, Hazan et hakol—“God Who sustains everyone”—was instituted by Moshe when the manna descended in the desert. Each morning, the Jewish people opened their tents and discovered that God had provided precisely what they needed for that day.

The second blessing, Al ha’aretz v’al hamazon—“for the Land and for the food”—was instituted by Yehoshua when the Jewish people entered Israel. They were no longer merely receiving bread from Heaven. They had entered a land in which they could plant, harvest and build a national future.

The third blessing, Boneh Yerushalayim—“Who rebuilds Jerusalem”—was........

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