Brachot And Klalot: Bounty And Boundaries

Chanukah was approaching, and the first-grade teacher wanted to give his class a fun assignment. He asked his students to draw a picture of something they were thankful for, and at the end, they would hang them all together in a collage. Most of the students drew Chanukah-related images, but Yaakov drew a different kind of picture. Yaakov was a different kind of boy. He came from a disadvantaged family, he struggled in school, and he had trouble making friends. As the other children played, Yaakov was likely to stay back and stand by his teacher’s side.

His picture was an outline of a hand. Just an empty hand, nothing else.

Yaakov’s abstract image captured the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed that it was Yaakov’s own hand. Another suggested that it was a police officer’s hand, because the police protect and care for people. Others guessed it was the hand of Hashem, because Hashem takes care of us and gives us everything. And on the discussion went.

When the children had gone on to other assignments, the teacher paused at Yaakov’s desk, bent down, and asked, “Whose hand was it?”

The little boy looked away and whispered, “It’s yours.”

He recalled the times he had taken his hand and walked with him here or there. How often he had said, “Take my hand, Yaakov, we’ll go outside.” Or, “Let me show you how to hold your pencil.” or, “Let’s do this together.” Yaakov was most thankful for his teacher’s hand.

Brushing aside a tear, he went on with the class, touched by Yaakov’s gratitude.

 

Life is Filled with Brachot

A hallmark of the Jewish experience is the myriad of Brachot (blessings) intertwined into the fabric of daily living. From the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep, we recite bracha after bracha, on every imaginable aspect of our lives. Before and after eating, throughout davening, even after going to the bathroom. Every milestone of life is accompanied by a unique bracha as well: from the birth of a child, followed by bris milah and pidyon haben, and subsequently to mark marriage and even death. Life’s milestones are marked and elevated through Brachot.

 

Blessings and Curses

In Parsha Balak, Bilaam is hired by Balak to curse the Jewish People. He attempts to do so, but unwittingly proclaims elaborate blessings instead. On the surface level, it is clear that Brachot reflect a positive force, while curses signify the opposite. However, there are layers of depth beneath the surface. Let us delve deeper into the true nature of Brachot and klalot in order to understand their profound spiritual nature.

 

Bracha: From Oneness to Twoness

The prerequisite for any discussion of Brachot is understanding of how Hashem relates to the physical world. Hashem is infinite- beyond physicality, unconfined by time or space. He is not within this world, nor is He a being; the world, and being itself, are within Him. Hashem is absolute oneness, without any components, finitude, or multiplicity. The physical world, in contrast, is finite, existing in a realm of time, space, and multiplicity.

How, then, does Hashem connect to this physical world? How can that which is transcendent and infinite connect to, and manifest within, our finite, particular world? The answer is through bracha- the flow of abundance and multiplicity that stems from Hashem’s transcendent oneness. Bracha represents the transition from infinite oneness to particular twoness- the process by which Hashem’s divine energy flows into this world.

 

Bracha: The Word of Twoness

There is an enigmatic Midrash which states that the letter Beis was chosen from all twenty-two letters of the aleph beit to begin the Torah (Bereishit). The midrash clarifies Hashem’s decision by explaining that the letter Beis stands for the word bracha. Many commentators, especially the Ibn Ezra, struggle to understand this explanation. After all, the letter beit is the first letter of many negative words as well. Why is its connection to bracha the only one considered?

The Maharal (Tiferes Yisrael 34) explains this Midrash in a profound and beautiful fashion. Beis doesn’t “stand” for the word bracha, it is the letter of bracha. Beis is the letter of twoness and multiplicity; bracha is the word of twoness and multiplicity. Beis, reish, and chaf, the shoresh (root) of the word bracha, are each letters of multiplicity. Beis has the numerical value of 2, chaf is 20, and reish is 200. These are all the letters of twoness, and bracha is the paradigmatic concept of twoness as well. Bracha is the mechanism of expressing Hashem’s oneness into the world.

This is why the Torah begins with the letter beit. Torah is a physical array of finite words, all of which are a loyal reflection and emanation of Hashem’s wisdom and absolute oneness. Furthermore, the Torah begins by describing Hashem’s creation of the physical world, a process most appropriately embodied by the letter beit- the letter of twoness that stems from oneness.

The letter beit reflects the process of Hashem’s oneness becoming expressed into our physical world. This is in contrast to the Aseret Hadibrot, which begin with an aleph. While the episode of creation epitomizes the finite expression of multiplicity that stems from oneness, Matan Torah was the exact opposite; the giving of the Torah was the elevation and ascension from twoness to oneness, an unparalleled experience of truth, oneness, and the transcendent spiritual dimension of reality. It was an experience of Hashem Himself, and therefore begins with the letter of oneness and transcendence- aleph.

 

Receiving Bracha

The Ramchal explains at length that Hashem created this world for the sole purpose of giving us bracha. The Ramchal translates bracha as goodness, shefah (spiritual energy), and light. In other words, bracha is Hashem’s expression into, and revelation in, this world. Receiving bracha means receiving Hashem’s goodness and expression in this world.

At this point, we need to make an important distinction. There is a fundamental difference between twoness that is connected to oneness and spirituality- which we will refer to as bracha- and twoness that is purely physical and disconnected from spirituality. Detached and disconnected twoness is lifeless, purposeless, and dead. Twoness that is connected to oneness is a physicality infused with vibrancy, always expanding beyond its apparent limits and borders. Such physicality is constantly expanding, as it is connected to a higher source. This is a physicality rooted in bracha, fully connected to its spiritual root.

 

Making Brachot

When we recite Brachot and say “Baruch atah Hashem,” we are not blessing Hashem. Hashem, infinite and perfect, does not need our blessings. Rather, there are two simultaneous intentions that we must have when making a bracha. The first, as Rabeinu Bachyah explains is to acknowledge Hashem as the source of all blessing, abundance, and goodness in the world. This is a meditation of hakarat ha’tov (recognition of the good) and a practice of sourcing all multiplicity and bracha back to its source. In essence, when we make a bracha we are recognizing Hashem as the source of all bracha.

Our second intention, as the Rashba, Vilna Gaon, and Nefesh HaChaim explain, is asking Hashem to continue to abundantly manifest into this world, and into my personal life.

The first step is recognition and connecting back to Hashem - our Source. The second step is an exercise of will; we attempt to bring Hashem into this world and ask that He manifest abundantly - both into the world in general, and into our individual lives.

 

Klalot: Curses of Limitation

Klalot (curses) are the exact opposite of bracha. If bracha is the overflowing and boundless expression of goodness into this world, klalah represents the limitation and constriction of Hashem’s flow into this world, replacing abundance with boundaries and restriction. A curse is the attempt to limit Hashem’s manifestation and presence in this world.

It is important to note that while the concept of klalah is often perceived as inherently negative, this does not have to be the case. Bracha represents outflow and endless abundance while klalah represents a limitation of that abundance. If used correctly, the middah (characteristic) of klalah can actually be constructive. When the use of limitations are implemented only in order to help make the bracha useful and real, the klalah itself ends up becoming part of the bracha. For instance, too much rain results in flooding. A limitation on rain, resulting in a proper amount of water, is a necessary and productive form of limitation. The problem is when klalah is used for the purpose of destroying bracha and preventing any bracha from manifesting.

 

Bilaam: From Klalah to Bracha

We can now understand Bilham’s attempt to curse the Jewish People in an entirely new light. Bilaam attempted to curse Klal Yisrael, to cut off their spiritual connection with Hashem. In response, Hashem did more than just negate Bilham’s curses, He turned these very curses into Brachot, strengthening the connection between Hashem and Klal Yisrael and reinforcing the channel of bracha that flows from Hashem into this world.

 

Living a Life of Bracha

Our mission is to use the physical world as a medium through which we connect to Hashem. We no longer see reality with a clear lens. But that gives us a unique opportunity- to create light within the darkness, to use our free will to choose to see Hashem. We don’t only ask for bracha, we create it by actively seeing Hashem’s presence flow into every aspect of our lives. May we be inspired to live lives full of bracha, sourcing every dimension of our lives back to Hashem, and living a life of oneness within this world of twoness.

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Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an author, educator, speaker, and coach who has lectured internationally on topics of Torah, psychology, and leadership. He is the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy, the transformative online self-development course that is based on the principles of high-performance psychology and Torah. After obtaining his Bachelors degree from Yeshiva University, he studied at RIETS, received a Masters degree in Jewish Education (Azrieli), and a Masters degree in Jewish Thought (Revel). He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago and has also spent a year studying at Harvard as an Ivy Plus Exchange Scholar, completing graduate coursework there as part of his PhD. To find more inspirational lectures, videos, and articles from Rabbi Reichman, or to learn more about Self-Mastery Academy, visit his website: www.ShmuelReichman.com