Land Transforms Curse Into Blessing

בפסוק וברכת את ה"א על הארץ הטובה כו'

On the pasuk, "And you shall bless Hashem your G-d for the good land" (Devarim 8:10) and so forth.

The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk that commands us to bless Hashem for the good land after eating.

אחז"ל מרע"ה תיקן ברכת הזן כשירד המן וכשנכנסו לארץ תיקן יהושע ברכת על הארץ והמזון וברכה זו חביבה ביותר ע"ש

Chazal said that Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the berachah of "Hazan" (Who feeds) when the mann descended, and when Bnei Yisrael entered the land Yehoshua instituted the berachah of "al ha'aretz v'al hamazon" (for the land and for the sustenance), and this berachah is especially beloved; see there.

He cites Chazal that the first berachah of Bircas HaMazon was instituted by Moshe Rabbeinu in the wilderness with the mann, while the berachah thanking Hashem for the land was added by Yehoshua upon entering Eretz Yisrael, and this latter berachah is uniquely cherished.

והענין הוא מה שעיקר ברכת המזון תלוי' בארץ

The matter is this: the essence of Bircas HaMazon depends upon the land.

He explains that the very core of thanking Hashem for our food is bound up with the land.

דכ' ארורה האדמה ולכן אין ארור מדבק בברוך וא"א לברך עד שיצא המזון מכלל ארור לברוך ובכניסת בנ"י לא"י הוציאו הארץ מכלל ארור

For it is written, "Cursed is the ground" (Bereishis 3:17), and therefore the cursed cannot cleave to the blessed, and one cannot recite a berachah until the food has departed from the category of cursed into the category of blessed; and when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, they brought the land out from the category of cursed.

Because the ground was cursed after Adam's sin, food itself carried that curse, and a berachah cannot be said over something cursed; only when Bnei Yisrael entered the land did they lift it out of that curse, making berachah possible.

ולכן כ' מביאך אל ארץ טובה כו' אשר לא במסכנות תאכל בה לחם שעד עתה הי' הארץ במוסכניתא עד שביררו בנ"י טוב מרע היפוך ממ"ש בעצבון תאכלנה

Therefore it is written, "He is bringing you to a good land... where not in poverty shall you eat bread within it" (Devarim 8:7-9), for until now the land had been in a state of impoverishment, until Bnei Yisrael sifted out the good from the bad—the opposite of what is written, "In toil shall you eat of it" (Bereishis 3:17).

The promise that you will not eat bread "in poverty" means that until then the land was in a diminished, impoverished state, reversing the curse of eating bread through painful toil, once Bnei Yisrael separated the good from the bad within it.

ומקודם הי' א"י תחת כנען הארור וכשנעשית נחלה לב"י נתבררה ואז יכול לחול ברכת ה'

Beforehand Eretz Yisrael was under Canaan the accursed, and when it became an inheritance for Bnei Yisrael it was clarified, and then the berachah of Hashem could rest upon it.

While the land was held by Canaan it remained under the curse, but once it became the inheritance of Bnei Yisrael it was refined, allowing Hashem's berachah to settle on it.

ולכן מקודם לא הי' מצות בהמ"ז רק על המן שהוא לחם מן השמים ואח"כ נתקן ונברר גם לחם מן הארץ

Therefore beforehand the mitzvah of Bircas HaMazon applied only to the mann, which is bread from the heavens, and afterward bread from the earth too was rectified and clarified.

This is why at first the obligation to bench applied only to the mann, the heavenly bread, and only later, after the land was rectified, did earthly bread also become fit for a berachah.

ובאמת הברכה נמסר לבנ"י וצריכין לשמור הברכה שלא יתערב בה סט"א כדאיתא שבהמ"ז צריך שמירה מסט"א ובכח ברית ותורה וא"י נתברר הברכה

And in truth the berachah was handed over to Bnei Yisrael, and they must guard the berachah so that the sitra achra not become mingled within it, as is brought that Bircas HaMazon requires guarding from the sitra achra, and through the power of bris and Torah and Eretz Yisrael the berachah is clarified.

Hashem entrusted the berachah to Bnei Yisrael, who must protect it from the sitra achra mixing in; through the merits of bris milah, Torah, and Eretz Yisrael the berachah stays pure.

גם לא במסכנות כפשוטו כדאיתא בספרים כי באכילה יש סכנה לנפש שלא יתדבק בגשמיות יותר מדאי לכן שעת אכילה שעת קרבא

Also "not in poverty" according to its plain meaning, as is brought in the seforim, for in eating there is a danger to the neshamah, that one not become attached to physicality more than is fitting; therefore the time of eating is a time of battle.

On a simpler level, "not in poverty" hints that eating carries spiritual danger of becoming overly attached to the physical, so the moment of eating is like going into battle.

אבל א"י לא במסכנות תאכל

But in Eretz Yisrael, "not in poverty shall you eat."

But in the holiness of Eretz Yisrael that danger is removed, so one eats there "not in poverty."

ומ"מ גם עתה מברכין על הארץ דאיתא דבר שהי' בכלל ויצא מן הכלל ללמד על כלל כולו יצא

Nevertheless, even now we recite a berachah for the land, for it is brought that a thing which was included in a general rule and then went out of the general rule to teach a lesson did not go out to teach about itself alone, but went out to teach about the entire general rule.

Even outside the land we still bless Hashem for the land, based on the rule that when a detail is singled out of a general category, the lesson it teaches applies back to the whole category.

לכן א"י שיצא מכלל ארור לברוך הי' הכנה לברר המזון אפי' בח"ל

Therefore Eretz Yisrael, which went out from the category of cursed into the category of blessed, was a preparation to clarify the sustenance even in chutz la'aretz.

Thus the refinement of Eretz Yisrael from curse to blessing became the means by which even food in chutz la'aretz can be elevated and sanctified.

כמ"ש חז"ל ה"א דורש אותה ובשבילה דורש כל הארצות:

As Chazal said, "Hashem your G-d seeks it out" (Devarim 11:12), and for its sake He seeks out all the lands.

He concludes with Chazal that Hashem seeks out Eretz Yisrael, and through it He seeks out and sustains all the other lands as well.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Bircas HaMazon centers on Eretz Yisrael. After Adam's sin the ground was cursed, and a berachah cannot rest upon something cursed; therefore food first had to be lifted from the category of "cursed" into "blessed." Bnei Yisrael accomplished this by entering Eretz Yisrael and sifting good from bad, which is why at first only the heavenly mann could be benched upon, and only afterward did earthly bread become fit for a berachah. This berachah was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, who must guard it from the sitra achra through the power of bris, Torah, and the land, since the moment of eating is itself a spiritual battle—a danger removed within the holiness of the land. Finally, because Eretz Yisrael was singled out from curse to blessing, it became the means to elevate sustenance even in chutz la'aretz, for Hashem seeks out the land and through it sustains all the lands.