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HaTov v’HaMeitiv: Acknowledging the Good

    Our rabbis have taught us that a Jew must live his entire life constantly acknowledging the good that his Creator continuously does for him. Recognizing the difficulty of this task, the Anshei Kenesset HaGedolah provided us with many tools which they received prophetically, designed to help us accomplish this lofty goal. One of the most powerful tools that they made available to us is the practice of saying “brachot” or “blessings”. That is, by means of the recitation of a bracha we are able to recognize and acknowledge that the food or mitzvah or wonder of nature before us is nothing less than a gift from God and, as such, is something for which we are sincerely grateful and thankful. All of the brachot on our foods are classified as birchot hanhenin, meaning brachot which are recited before receiving a specific pleasure from this world. There is one bracha in this category, however, that does not fit this mold. This is the bracha of “hatov v’hameitiv” which loosely translates as, “The One who is good and who does good”.   Let’s take a closer look at this bracha and try to see why it would be different from all the rest.

    One of the primary times we use this bracha is when wine is consumed at a meal. A note on the mechanics of how the bracha on wine at a meal works is in order at this point. In general, when a person eats bread at a meal, the bracha of hamotzi which is recited on the bread is all inclusive, covering all food and beverage consumed during that meal. The most prominent exception to this rule is wine. When a person drinks wine during a meal, it always gets its own bracha due to its importance as a beverage that mesamchei lev, “gladdens the heart”. While that bracha of hagafen will suffice for all the wine consumed at the meal, the Gemara tells us that when a person changes wines, switching to a different variety than the one with which he began, then, at that point, an additional bracha of hatov v’hameitiv is made. This, as the translation implies, is to heighten our awareness of all the good that Hashem does for us. Our rabbis recognized that having the opportunity to enjoy various types of wine at one meal is the perfect time to praise Hashem and acknowledge the veritable bounty of “good” that He constantly bestows upon us.

    There is much discussion amongst the Rishonim as to why the bracha of hatov v’hameitiv is only made on wine and not on any other food, such as bread. Perhaps the most basic answer is that of Tosafot, who notes that wine has two advantages over bread. First, it is similar to bread in that it is filling and, therefore, it can halachicly be considered a meal in and of itself for kiddush. Secondly, wine has the quality of being mesamchei lev, of gladdening man’s heart.

    The Rosh gives an additional reason as to why wine is so special. He explains that it is the only food upon which shira, song, is recited. This refers to the fact that the only sacrifices for which the Leviem in the Beit Hamikdash sang were the ones where wine was poured on the mizbeach. Rabbi Akiva Eiger, on the other hand, takes a rather novel approach to the issue of wine and the bracha of hatov v’hameitiv. He contends that this bracha was instituted not so much to thank Hashem, but rather to provide a safeguard against the practice of drinking to excess. He explains that the text of hatov v’hameitiv is taken directly from the fourth bracha of birchat hamazon.

    The origin of this bracha in birchat hamazon is relevant. Approximately sixty years after the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash, the Bar Kochva rebellion took place. Ultimately, the Romans quashed it and massacred the last of the Jewish forces by the thousands in the city of Beitar. As an added insult, the Romans did not allow the bodies of the fallen Jews to be buried for seven years. When they finally relented, it was discovered that the bodies had miraculously been preserved and had not decomposed at all. To commemorate this miracle, the sages in Yavneh instituted the fourth bracha of birchat hamazon, praising Hashem for showing this kindness to those slain in Beitar. Rabbi Akiva Eiger, therefore, sees the bracha of hatov v’hameitiv which we say when we’re drinking wine in abundance, as a somewhat somber reminder of Beitar and as such, a way to discourage overindulgence.

    If nothing else, what we see is that the bracha of hatov v’hameitiv has a very rich history and is endowed with deep meaning and significance. No matter how we view the origins of the bracha or its particular association with the consumption of wine, its enduring value is its ability to arouse our awareness and focus us on the fact that everything we have in this world is a gift from our Creator. In a future installment we’ll discuss some of the applicable halachot surrounding this bracha.