The Depth of the Fourth Blessing and the Secret of the Rectification of Souls

Lesson No. 122 | Monday, Parashas Vayigash, the eve of the 1st of Teves, the 7th candle of Chanukah 5758.

Rabbi Berland shlit"a

A great privilege falls to the lot of those who go out day and night to bring people back in teshuvah (repentance) and draw those who are far closer to His service, may He be blessed. Whoever has mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) for this merits that all the angels of the Divine Chariot accompany him and carry him on eagles' wings in every single city. In this holy work, and especially when approaching people to raise funds to support the Yeshiva, wisdom and patience are required. "If you meet a very wealthy person, you must know how to wait patiently for a month or two and not sign him up immediately." Sometimes you just talk and wait, and they will want to give on their own. Haste can cause a loss, but patience brings blessing. Of course, in all these paths, one must be very careful about guarding one's eyes, so that, Heaven forbid, it does not become a mitzvah fulfilled through a transgression.

The Secret of Burying the Dead and the Martyrs of Beitar

Mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) is required not only during a person's lifetime but also in caring for the dead. Today, the funeral of a very great tzaddik took place, and whoever merited to participate in it merited a tremendous thing. There is a special and rare privilege in engaging in the burial of the dead, and particularly in burying the bones of the deceased that were exhumed from their graves or who did not merit burial at all. People who have mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice), even to the point of risking arrest, to gather bones in the dead of night and bring them to a Jewish burial—merit an unparalleled privilege.

To understand the magnitude of this virtue, we must reflect on the enactment of the Sages regarding Birchas HaMazon (Grace After Meals). Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the blessing of "Hazan" (Who nourishes), Yehoshua bin Nun instituted the blessing for the Land, and David and Shlomo instituted the blessing of "Boneh Yerushalayim" (Who builds Jerusalem). Behold, after the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kochba revolt, the Sages added a fourth blessing—the blessing of "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (Who is good and does good).

"The entire fourth blessing, HaTov VeHaMeitiv, is in memory of the martyrs of Beitar. For seven years, the slain lay there, billions of victims, and the Romans, may their names be erased, used them as fences for their vineyards. And for the fact that they finally merited to bury them, they instituted a special blessing."

"Whoever merits to recite Birchas HaMazon (Grace After Meals) is doing a very great thing; he says the fourth blessing in memory of the martyrs who were finally buried." The Sages established a blessing that has endured for almost two thousand years, solely for the immense merit of bringing the dead to burial.

The Resting of the Soul According to Likutey Halachos

Reb Noson of Breslov explains in Likutey Halachos (Laws of Birchas HaMazon 2) the spiritual depth of burying the dead. When the deceased is separated from the grave and not allowed to be buried, the soul cannot come to its rest. "The soul cannot come to rest until the body is buried."

It is a terrible agony for the deceased when their body is left rolling about in disgrace, as happened to the martyrs of Beitar for seven years, and as happened in our generations when millions of Jews were burned in Auschwitz. Reb Noson explains that the nefesh (lower soul) is always connected to the body. Only through proper burial can the nefesh connect in Heaven with the ruach and neshamah (higher soul levels) and reach its true resting place. Therefore, whoever engages in gathering bones and burying them performs a tremendous chesed (kindness) with the souls and allows them to achieve their tikkun (rectification).

The Rectification of Souls Through Eating

Reb Noson continues and connects the secret of burial to the secret of eating and Birchas HaMazon (Grace After Meals). When a person eats, he is actually elevating reincarnated souls. It is possible that the food we eat contains the souls of our ancestors and relatives from previous generations.

Therefore, one must recite the blessing with great intention in order to return those souls to their root. "When saying 'HaTov VeHaMeitiv,' one should have the intention that through this eating, all the souls will receive their tikkun (rectification)." The act of eating in holiness accomplishes an effect similar to burying the dead—it brings the soul to its rest and its root.

When a chicken is slaughtered, the soul reincarnated within it cries out and begs the shochet (ritual slaughterer) to have mercy on it and slaughter it with proper intention, so that it will not have to return again in another reincarnation. Prayer and blessing with intention completely rectify the soul. We merit to be connected to the True Tzaddik, through whom all souls, from Adam the First until the end of all generations, are now coming to their complete tikkun (rectification).

Lesson No. 122