Nothing Lacking?
By: Rabbi Mark Dratch of The Rabbinical Council of America
A few days ago, I went for a walk, just to get out of the house, and noticed that the trees in my neighborhood are blooming. How crazy that the earth is still acting like things are normal. My wife and I recalled the blessing we say when one sees blossoming fruit trees for the first time during the month of Nissan: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא חִסַּר בְּעוֹלָמוֹ כְּלוּם וּבָרָא בוֹ בְּרִיּוֹת טוֹבוֹת וְאִילָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת לֵהָנוֹת בָּהֶם בְּנֵי אָדָם. Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Who has made nothing lacking in His world, and created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees to give mankind pleasure.
We actually say that NOTHING is LACKING! Really? The world, especially now, is so broken. And don't we say in the blessing of borei nefashot “בורא נפשות רבות וחסרונן?!” How can we thank G-d for both the lack and that we have it all?
Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm has an amazing explanation—he calls this blessing of the spring, permission to create a “holy fiction.” For just a moment, almost like we are squinting and tilting our heads to the side, in that one moment in time, when we witness the amazing miracle of rebirth in the trees, our breath is taken away, and in that one moment- we create the “holy fiction” that everything really is perfect. The bracha gives us permission to see the Holy and good even amidst the imperfections of the world, and certainly in the very imperfect time in which we find ourselves today. •
A few days ago, I went for a walk, just to get out of the house, and noticed that the trees in my neighborhood are blooming. How crazy that the earth is still acting like things are normal. My wife and I recalled the blessing we say when one sees blossoming fruit trees for the first time during the month of Nissan: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא חִסַּר בְּעוֹלָמוֹ כְּלוּם וּבָרָא בוֹ בְּרִיּוֹת טוֹבוֹת וְאִילָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת לֵהָנוֹת בָּהֶם בְּנֵי אָדָם. Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Who has made nothing lacking in His world, and created in it goodly creatures and goodly trees to give mankind pleasure.
We actually say that NOTHING is LACKING! Really? The world, especially now, is so broken. And don't we say in the blessing of borei nefashot “בורא נפשות רבות וחסרונן?!” How can we thank G-d for both the lack and that we have it all?
Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm has an amazing explanation—he calls this blessing of the spring, permission to create a “holy fiction.” For just a moment, almost like we are squinting and tilting our heads to the side, in that one moment in time, when we witness the amazing miracle of rebirth in the trees, our breath is taken away, and in that one moment- we create the “holy fiction” that everything really is perfect. The bracha gives us permission to see the Holy and good even amidst the imperfections of the world, and certainly in the very imperfect time in which we find ourselves today. •
