At the conclusion of Sefer Bemidbar (the Book of Numbers), the children of Israel stood on the threshold of entering the land that God had promised them:

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: “Charge the children of Israel, and you shall say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan according to its borders.’” (Numbers 34:1–2)

A midrash dating from the sixth or seventh century raises an intriguing, though admittedly anachronistic, religious question in the characteristic style of the Sages:

Let our master instruct us: Before Israel entered the land, how did they recite Birkat Hamazon?

Projecting the later practice of grace after meals back into Israel’s wilderness years, the midrash offers a religiously meaningful account of the prayer’s development:

Thus have our masters taught: Before they entered the land, they recited only a single blessing, ha-zan et ha-kol — “Who sustains all.” When they entered the land, they ordained the blessing al ha-aretz........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)