This month I am continuing my discussion about food blessings, focusing now on the blessings recited after the meal. Once again, I am quoting extensively from the Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, by Rabbi Isaac Klein, available online at www.learn.jtsa.edu.

This summer I visited children from the synagogue at Camp Tamarack. I discovered that the children do two things at lunch--they complain about the food and they sing the birkat hamazon loudly. Isn't it something that the children are grateful to God even if they don't particularly enjoy the food. What does this teach us about our obligation to thank God for the meals that we enjoy even more, in our homes and elsewhere? All the more so should we conclude our meals with sincere words of blessing.

There are three versions of a "post meal" blessing. For a meal which includes bread, and therefore begins with hamotzi, one should say the commonly known birkat hamazon, which consists of four different blessings (I will discuss their meaning below). For a breadless meal, but one which includes wine, baked goods, or one of the fruits of Israel (olives, dates, grapes, figs or pomegranates), there is a shorter blessing. When concluding any other meal or snack, there is a still shorter blessing. These last two can be found in most complete siddurim and "benchen" booklets.

The first berakhah of birkat hamazon thanks God for providing food for all people, which is the meaning of its closing words, hazan et hakol. This seems like an obvious thing to do, since we have just eaten. But there is more to birkat hamazon than just being thankful for food. The second berakhah not only mentions food, but also expresses gratitude for the Land of Israel, the Torah and Mitzvot, and our Covenant with God. In reciting both the first and second berakhot, we are grateful for the universal gift of food, and the particular gifts to the Jewish people.

The birkat hamazon proceeds to express the Messianic hope that Jerusalem will be rebuilt. The fourth and final blessing declares that God is tov u'meitiv, the epitome of goodness.

Birkat Hamazon therefore recalls four important milestones in Jewish history--the granting of manna to Moses and the Israelites in the desert, the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, the building of Jerusalem under David and Solomon, and the compassion God showed to the slain of Betar under Bar Kochba.

Each time we complete a meal, it is fitting that we reflect on our gratitude, not only for the food, but also for the totality of Jewish history. The birkat hamazon is actually a mini-service of its own, and in just a few minutes time one is able to express the themes which are a part of every Jewish prayer service.