“Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”
“Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
It is customary in many families to pray before meals, and to bless the food. One phrase frequently used is “bless this food to our bodies.” Jewish people are a little surprised by this kind of prayer. They assume the food is good because God made it and gave it to us as a gift. The prayers above are prayers of thanksgiving and honor to God who gave us the good gifts of food and wine.
When Christ fed the five thousand, it says He blessed.
“Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes” (Matthew 14:19).
Reading that before learning about life in Israel, I thought Christ just blessed the food. Now I'm inclined to believe He blessed God, who gave the food, as is the Hebraic custom.
hmm, neat. I think I'll try this.
ReplyDeleteThe Jews also have a blessing after meals to thank God for what they received-- it is a longer one than the blessing before meals.
ReplyDeletePerhaps that could be a good custom to adopt for Thanksgiving dinners--short blessing before (when everyone is really hungry) and a more extended one after everyone is full. I'm sure the children and teens would especially like that!