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Saying thank you is very important, not only amongst ourselves, but also to G-d. In Judaism, there are many prayers and blessings to say thank you to G-d.
One category is the blessings we say when fulfilling a Mitzvah, for instance the blessing for washing our hands, the blessing for the Tefillin, for the Tallit, for lighting the candles, for shaking the Lulav etc.
What does it mean to bless G-d for the Mitzvah? G-d commanded us to do something, so we need to do it. Why the need to say a blessing and express gratitude?
To understand this, we need first to understand the significance and value of a Mitzvah. When we do a Mitzvah, it is not only about a commandment from G-d and our fulfilling it. The very action of the Mitzvah connects us to Him. It is for this opportunity, for us finite humans to connect to the infinite G-d, that we thank Him.
This gratitude is double, a general one and a particular one. There is the general gratitude, because G-d gave us the Mitzvot that connect us to Him, i.e. G-d’s general wish we should connect to Him. There is also a particular gratitude because G-d gave us this specific Mitzvah to connect with Him, and we thank Him for this particular opportunity.
These two aspects of gratitude exist in each of the blessings for the Mitzvot which we recite. Let us take the example of the blessing for washing our hands: …asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetsivanu – who sanctified us with His commandments, in general, vetsivanu al netilat yadayim, and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.
To conclude, there is something very interesting about the blessings. Usually, they are recited before the action of the Mitzvah, for instance, before putting the Tefillin or the Tallit, or before lighting the candles of Shabbat and the Holidays… But there are some that are recited after, for instance, the blessing for washing our hands.
Shabbat Shalom,
Arie from the Yeshiva
