Parshas Lech Lecha 5786: The Beracha to Give Berachos

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Parshas Lech Lecha 

לעילוי נשמת האדא בת מרדכי 

 

The Beracha to Give Berachos

 

Parshas Lech Lecha opens with Hashem commanding Avraham to leave his past behind and embark on a new journey to Eretz Yisroel. Alongside this commandment, Hashem gave berachos to Avraham promising: “ואעשך לגוי  גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה”. Rashi (Beraishis 12:2) explains that the first set of these berachos were promising Avraham a future with children, wealth, and making his name great. Pretty straightforward, direct and incredible berachos to receive.  

 

The last beracha is more intriguing. Rashi explains that by promising Avraham “vehyeih beracha”, Hashem was indicating that Avraham himself will be a blessing, telling him: “The berachos are now in your hand. Until now they were in My [Hashem’s] hand.... but from now on you could bless whomever you wish.” What does this mean that Avraham himself was given the ability to give berachos? If it means that he would now have the ability to daven for others, that can’t be because tefillah was already built in as an integral part of creation. Even Adam Ha’rishon needed to turn to tefillah to effectuate rain to come (Rashi Beraishis 2:5, Gemara Chullin 60b), so certainly the power to be mispallel (pray) was something Avraham already had “access” to and engaged in daily as we do to this day. 

 

However, on the other hand, it also cannot be that Hashem was giving Avraham permission to simply “wish others well” as a means of exchanging pleasantries with others, for why would Avraham need to receive this as a beracha? What would be so significant in this “ability”?  

 

To understand this power of beracha, we first need to clarify what a beracha actually is. 

 

The Gemara (Pesachim 104b) states that the formulation of the berachos we recite as a general rule start and end with “Baruch”; the gemara then gives specific examples of exceptions to this rule. Tosfos there points out that beyond the exceptions that the gemara provides, there seem to be other berachos that also don’t follow this model – for example, tefilas ha’derech, which does not open with a beracha. Tosfos asks: Why doesn’t it follow the same formula and start with “Baruch”?  

Tosfos answers that tefilas ha’derech is a tefillah, not a beracha.   

 

What exactly is this distinction? What is the fundamental difference between beracha, tefillah, and shevach (praise) such that tefilas ha’derech, which is a tefillah, falls under a different taxonomy than that of a beracha? 

 

The Nefesh Hachaim (Shaar 2, Perek 2) writes that a beracha is not merely an expression of offering praise or good wishes. Rather, a true beracha is an expression of "tosefes v’ribuy” (increase and expansion). The power of beracha is to draw from the Source and channel it in a deliberate way. When a person gives a beracha, they are creating a bridge to connect the source of beracha to the person or thing they are giving the beracha to.  

 

What an incredible concept! Beracha seems to be its own distinct and very unique category. It isn't purely a tefillah, as a tefillah to Hashem effectively requests Hashem to create a reality. For example, when we daven for rain, parnassah, teshuva, or anything else, we are essentially humbly recognizing Hashem as the creator and controller of the world, and asking Hashem to provide for us. A beracha is also not merely a “shevach” of simply acknowledging Hashem with praise. Beracha seems to be somewhere in between; it points to something already existing (like  shevach) but directs it into a reality (like tefillah).  

With this distinction in mind, we could perhaps understand this truly special beracha. Hashem gave Avraham the very ability to be able to utilize the power of beracha to tap into potential energy that already exists in the form of overflowing goodness from Hashem, and to direct that to others. In this way, Avraham was not only a recipient of beracha but became a conduit of it from the source itself.  

Chazal (Berachos 7a, Megillah 15a) teach, “אל תהי ברכת הדיוט קלה בעיניך” (“Do not take the beracha of an ordinary person lightly”). As descendants of Avraham, each of us has the ability - and therefore the responsibility - to channel beracha into the world.  

May Hashem help us learn from the maasei avos and their foundational emunah, so we not only live up to ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה as an inherited privilege as a nation, but also as an individually earned merit by bringing kiddush Hashem into the world and be an ohr la’goyim and ohr la’yehudim. In this zechus may Hashem indeed shower us and all of k’lal Yisroel with an abundance of shefa and beracha, and more!