בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה. בקיץ – וְתֵן בְּרָכָה בחורף – וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ. וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, מְבָרֵךְ הַשָּׁנִים – Bless on us, Hashem our God, this year and all its kinds of produce for good (From Passover to December fourth/fifth say: And give a blessing) (From December fourth/fifth to Passover say: Give dew and rain for a blessing) upon the face of the land and satisfy us with Your goodness and bless our year as the good years. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who blesses the years.
Intro
Most people have to work to make ends meet. That’s how it’s always been, from prehistoric hunter-gatherers through the agricultural and industrial revolutions through the modern age. The anxiety and uncertainty of meeting your family’s basic needs run deep to the most elemental and primal parts of the animal brain and soul. It is instinctive to need food, shelter, and clothing; you will die without them.
The American psychologist Abraham Maslow powerfully showed a hierarchical pyramid of human needs, with deficiency needs at the base; when the human physiological need for food, water, clothes, shelter, and heat goes unmet, the stress will drastically limit any higher-order human functionality.
Forget keeping up with this neighbor or that trend; forget materialism for a moment. For most of human history, most people were farmers and lived in touch with the land. They planted, they tended, they harvested, they ate. It was hard work; there was nothing glamorous about it, but there was a direct correlation between their work and material sustenance. Our modern global hypercapitalist economy is organized very differently. We don’t grow our own food, and the simple fact of modern living is that having a roof over your head with utilities paid, your family clothed, food on your plate, kids in school, and a car in the driveway at even the most basic standard, is an expensive and exceptionally stressful proposition.
All living things experience anxiety, one of the most elemental and basic fears. It originates in the subconscious and is rooted in the forces of chaos and uncertainty, the hidden darkness of the unknown. We experience it most acutely in the form of financial anxiety, a pervasive stressor that universally affects almost all people striving to make ends meet. Will you be able to meet your basic needs?
It can feel like a constant weight, overshadowing every aspect of daily life because it does. Studies have shown that poverty measurably diminishes the ability to think, reason, and remember and forces people to make suboptimal short-term choices. One unexpected medical episode or home repair can derail a family’s financial well-being. Losing a job, a client, a deal, the market turning, and the inverse – keeping your job, retaining the client, managing your boss, winning the deal, and keeping tabs on all the moving parts. It is exhausting. And it does not stop.
For good reason, our sages suggested that poverty is arguably the worst of all troubles, going so far as to suggest that if you put all the troubles in the world on a scale and poverty on the other side, poverty would outweigh them all.
Because it doesn’t just live in the realm of thoughts; it manifests physically and emotionally. It can lead to sleepless nights, where thoughts of work and money loop endlessly, preventing rest. The constant tension can cause physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach issues, or chronic fatigue. Emotionally, financial anxiety can lead to feelings of hopelessness, shame, and guilt, especially when one feels they are not providing enough for their family or themselves. The impacts of financial anxiety extend beyond the individual to affect relationships. Constant worry can lead to tensions and conflicts within families or partnerships. Decisions made under stress, like taking on high-interest loans or cutting back on essentials, can have long-term repercussions, trapping individuals in a cycle of financial instability.
How do you ever switch it off?
While there is absolutely a lot of wisdom and practical value in belief in providence, that everyone gets what they’re supposed to when they’re supposed to, the fact of the matter is that financial anxiety is the baseline, the default, and the starting point; it’s most people’s basic reality and primary lived experiences, and it’s incredibly unhelpful to pretend otherwise. It’s universal, and it’s normal. There is nothing wrong with somebody because they are worried about their finances, and there is no moral failing there either. It doesn’t make much sense for people to learn to be content without basic necessities; they are called basic necessities for a reason.
Now, of course, past the point of money in the bank, there is the next step of gnawing fear of all the things that could happen if things go wrong, and that might be a better point to consider the application of wisdom.
It’s undoubtedly true that money can’t buy happiness, but poverty can’t buy anything at all. There can be no doubt whatsoever that not having money can make a person miserable and that money fixes many of the problems that make people unhappy. Having no money is an absolutely hopeless situation, and everyone needs some small foothold in order to build a life. Stability, not being stressed about the roof over your head, and being able to afford surprise expenses and the occasional gift for the people you love are major quality-of-life upgrades that not everyone has. If you’re poor, a little extra money alleviates a whole lot of suffering right away.
But what’s also true is that the mindless accumulation of excess wealth quickly leads to diminishing returns on happiness; past a certain point of living in relative comfort and security, the marginal utility of more money to buy more comfort and security plummets sharply.
But when it comes down to it, life costs money. We live in a world of scarcity; ever since Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the human condition has been defined by having to work and sweat for our daily bread. While we make our money differently from our ancestors, we sweat and work just the same. That’s just how it is; that’s how it’s always been, same as ever.
I made this
Logic is a human construct that the universe can ignore. Beyond that, we can fool ourselves in all manner of ways; our brains are adapted to making sense of things practically, not objectively.
When things go well for us, thinking we deserve it or have done it on our own is one of the easiest traps to fall into, and the Torah frequently warns that it is the road to ruin – וְאָמַרְתָּ בִּלְבָבֶךָ כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת־הַחַיִל הַזֶּה.
When things go well, and life is good, it’s easy to take full credit and think that life is fair and you have gotten what you deserve due to your actions. When things don’t go our way, it’s easy to blame external things that aren’t your fault. In truth, the simple reality is that the universe is a complex place governed by infinitely intricate forces, and there is no room for pride or arrogance when good things happen to you, and it’s not your fault if they don’t, or worse.
The Torah dedicates many prominent laws and sections to this, one of which is the mitzvah of Bikkurim.
In the agricultural world of the Torah, there used to be an annual national thanksgiving ritual – the mitzvah of Bikkurim. Farmers would tie a string to the first fruits that sprouted. Then, after the harvest, the Mishna describes how the entire country would sing and dance together at a massive street festival in Jerusalem to accompany the farmers dedicating those first fruits at the Beis HaMikdash to express their gratitude for the harvest – and almost everyone was a farmer.
On arrival, the farmers would present their baskets to the attending Kohen and recite some affirmations, including a brief recital of Jewish history. They’d recount how Yakov fled from Lavan, that his family descended to Egypt, and that God rescued the Jewish People and gave them the Land of Israel – אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי / וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה / וַיִּתֶּן־לָנוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת. The prayer closes with an instruction to the farmer to rejoice – וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל הַטּוֹב אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ וּלְבֵיתֶךָ אַתָּה וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבֶּךָ.
It’s hard to overstate how central our sages saw the mitzvah of Bikkurim. The Sifri suggests that the merit of Bikkurim is what entitles the people to the Land of Israel; the Midrash Tanchuma says that the merit of Bikkurim fuels the world’s prayers; and the Midrash teaches that the mitzvah of Bikkurim perpetuates nothing less than the entire universe.
But there’s one part that doesn’t quite fit.
The farmer worked his field manually, weeding, plowing, sowing, pruning, watering, and guarding it. When the harvest came, this repaid no less than an entire year’s work and ensured food security for the next year!
The farmer has worried for a year, living with anxiety and uncertainty. After the harvest, those troubles are gone; he can sleep easy now, and it might be the one time a year he can undoubtedly pray from a place of love and security, not fear and worry. So it’s a strange thing for the Torah to instruct the farmer to rejoice – וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל הַטּוֹב אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ וּלְבֵיתֶךָ.
If this is the happiest anyone will be, why does the Torah need to command joy?
Healthy and well-adjusted humans require a sense of satisfaction and self-worth that comes from hard work and self-sufficiency – בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם. Our sages call unearned benefits the bread of shame – נהמא דכיסופא / לחם של בושה. When a child begins to individuate from the parent and insists on doing it “all by myself,” we recognize the child is undergoing a healthy phase of human development. Eternal childishness and helplessness are sicknesses, not blessings. And, after all, self-reliance is the American Dream!
But we can take doing it “all by yourself” too far – וְאָמַרְתָּ בִּלְבָבֶךָ כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת־הַחַיִל הַזֶּה.
So perhaps the challenge for the farmer – and us – isn’t only in celebrating the blessings – וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל הַטּוֹב; it’s that even after taking a bare piece of land and making it fruit all by himself, he has to admit that he didn’t truly do it alone – אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ וּלְבֵיתֶךָ.
Gratitude has a fundamental connection and interaction with humility. It grounds us and orients us by recognizing that what we are and what we have is due to others and, above all, to God, and so the error of self-sufficiency isn’t just that it’s morally wrong – it’s factually incorrect!
As R’ Yitzchak Hutner notes, מודה doesn’t just mean thanksgiving; it also means to confess. When we thank another, we concede that we need the assistance of another, admitting our frail weakness and showing our vulnerability. We acknowledge that another has shared gifts with us, big and small, to help us achieve goodness in our lives. Genuine gratitude strengthens relationships by helping us recognize and appreciate how others have affirmed and supported us. But our ego can inhibit us if we don’t get it in check, telling us we did it alone.
Gratitude affirms that self-sufficiency is an illusion, perhaps God’s greatest gift of all. John Rawls sharply observed that a person could not claim credit for being born with greater natural endowments, such as athleticism or intelligence, as it is purely the result of a natural lottery. As the Rambam explains, our lives are a gift within a gift; by definition, starting points cannot be earned, so gratitude should be our first and overwhelming response to everything. Sure, we may deserve the fruits of what we do with our gifts, but the starting point of having any of those things is the more significant gift by far.
By thanking God loudly and in public, we firmly reject the worldview of self-sufficiency or that we did it ourselves – כֹּחִי וְעֹצֶם יָדִי עָשָׂה לִי אֶת־הַחַיִל הַזֶּה – and perhaps the ritual also helps recalibrate our expectations. You didn’t do it by yourself; you are not God.
It is natural to be pleased with where you are but to want more still. Healthily expressed, we call it ambition, and unhealthily, we call it greed – יש לו מנה רוצה מאתיים. You’re glad you got something, even though it wasn’t quite what you wanted.
But nothing undermines gratitude as much as expectations. There is an inverse relationship between expectations and gratitude; the more expectations you have, the less appreciation you will have, and it’s obvious why. If you get what you expected, you will not be particularly grateful for getting it.
Expectations are insidious because although we can superficially express gratitude, what looks like gratitude might be entitlement cloaked in religiosity and self-righteousness. It’s a blind spot because you think you’re thankful even though you didn’t get what you wanted! But that’s not joy; it’s the definition of resentment.
Getting gratitude right brings out what’s best in humans, encouraging us to appreciate life’s gifts and repay them or pay them forward. But beyond gratitude’s incredible blessings, getting gratitude wrong is catastrophic and is one of the catalysts for all the Torah’s curses and prophecies of doom:
תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָבַדְתָּ אֶת ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְטוּב לֵבָב מֵרֹב כֹּל – … Since you did not serve God with joy and good spirit when you had it all… (28:47)
It’s a sentiment the Jewish People expressed uncomfortably often in the wilderness, complaining about the lack of food and water, the dangers they faced from the Egyptians as they were leaving, the inhabitants of the land they were about to enter, the manna, and the lack of meat and vegetables.
Moshe warns us how his people lacked gratitude in difficult times and warns them of making the same mistake in good times:
הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּח אֶת־ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ לְבִלְתִּי שְׁמֹר מִצְותָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם׃ פֶּן־תֹּאכַל וְשָׂבָעְתָּ וּבָתִּים טֹבִים תִּבְנֶה וְיָשָׁבְתָּ׃ וּבְקָרְךָ וְצֹאנְךָ יִרְבְּיֻן וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב יִרְבֶּה־לָּךְ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־לְךָ יִרְבֶּה׃ וְרָם לְבָבֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ אֶת־ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ הַמּוֹצִיאֲךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים׃ – Take care lest you forget Hashem your God and fail to keep His commandments, His rules, and His laws, which I enjoin upon you today. When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget Hashem your God—who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. (8:11-14)
So perhaps the short history of how the farmers got their land recalibrates our thinking. Our enemies might have slaughtered us, but God has given us our lives and security – אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי. We might have been spared death, but we could have been enslaved or subjugated to any number of enemies, yet God has given us our labor – וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה. And on top of safety and freedom, we have material abundance – וַיִּתֶּן־לָנוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת. With that kind of context, it would be ridiculous to think we somehow had it coming or did it ourselves!
We don’t practice Bikkurim today, and we’re missing out on a vital aspect of Judaism. But we’ve probably all seen the contemporary analog – many businesses frame and hang their first dollar of revenue. It’s sentimental, but it’s a powerful symbol, and just like Bikkurim, it is a ritual that captures the moment you are overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. By dedicating our first sign of success, the first fruit, the first dollar, we protect ourselves from the hubris of entitlement or the narcissism that we did it ourselves. Many mitzvos of firsts echo this theme – including the redemption of firstborn sons and firstborn donkeys.
The Hebrew term for practicing gratitude means “recognizing the good” – הכרת הטוב; gratitude is recognizing the good that is already yours. The things you lack are still present, and in expressing gratitude, no one says you need to ignore what’s missing. But there is no limit to what we don’t have; if that is where we focus, our lives are inevitably filled with endless dissatisfaction.
As R’ Shamshon Raphael Hirsch explains, almost all the mitzvos of the Land of Israel reflect this sentiment in one way or another. By heavily regulating our use of the land, with Shemitta, Yovel, the Omer, Sukka, and the tithes, the Torah guides us that there is only one Landlord, and we are all here to serve – הַכֹּל נָתוּן בְּעֵרָבוֹן, וּמְצוּדָה פְרוּסָה עַל כָּל הַחַיִּים.
Agriculture
This blessing uses agricultural imagery that reflects its ancient origins, but the metaphors carry over to modern times just as well.
We ask the Creator to bless us and our means of production with abundance throughout the year. We seek general blessings in the warmer months or specifically request dew and rain during the colder months; our prayers remain centered on recognizing the Source of everything. This acknowledgment extends beyond mere words; it touches upon the profound understanding that our livelihood, much like our health and intelligence, ultimately lies in the Creator’s hands, not our own.
Especially when things are going well, it’s a lot easier to assume that making a living is within our control, and theoretically, anyone can find a job, work hard, and earn their keep. In a world where capital is allocated and where it is perceived as deserved, you could almost be excused for feeling confident that you have earned whatever money you can make. However, the prayer reminds us that even this apparent self-reliance is an illusion. Just as our efforts do not solely determine our physical and mental well-being, so is our ability to earn a livelihood.
This perspective may seem counterintuitive in today’s world, where self-sufficiency is often championed. Yet, it invites us to reflect on the interconnectedness of our lives with forces beyond our control. We are reminded to approach our work with humility and gratitude, recognizing that our success is not just a product of our hard work but also a blessing.
By understanding this, we can better appreciate the balance between effort and faith. We must do our part by working diligently, effectively, and responsibly, but we also acknowledge that the ultimate outcome is not solely in our hands. This mindset fosters a sense of peace and trust, allowing us to navigate the uncertainties of life with a more grounded and spiritually enriched perspective.
Ninth blessing
This blessing is the ninth blessing in the Amida, and placement is significant, as is its subject matter. The ninth blessing corresponds to the ninth Hebrew letter – ט. It is closed on the bottom and open on top, like a cup or vessel, symbolically reflecting our duty to cultivate a mental and spiritual openness to divine sustenance and support and, more profoundly, reflecting what the nature of our efforts must be to work and invest our efforts into enterprises capable of being vessels that are open to and can sustainably contain and receive divine blessing.
Two of the biggest psychological limitations for most people are vision and commitment. Vision is what you want and how clear it is to you, and commitment is what you are willing to do to make it happen. Sharply defining the terms is half the battle.
It’s no good spending all your waking hours working on a product or service no one wants or a problem nobody has. Useless things are not reliable containers of good fortune; it’s worth considering what kind of efforts might be more effective.
It’s not a sin to need money, to want money, or to have money.
But it might be a sin to love money and a kind of sin to tie human value and identity to money.
From the time Adam was cursed to work at the sweat of his brow, and today, arguably more than ever, humans have had to grapple with hustle culture, the idea that working long hours and sacrificing self-care are required to succeed.
A person is not their money. A person is not their economic productivity at all. For the people who walked under the demonic slogan “Arbeit Macht Frei,” “Work sets you free,” we know full well that there is no glory in self-sacrifice in the form of endless labor.
In our time, hustle culture and grindset, the mindset and mentality of absolute perpetual grind is poison. Hustle culture breeds hard workers, sure, but by the same token, lazy thinkers who don’t have time to prioritize. How many of us would benefit from slowing down to devise an effective strategy?
R’ Tzadok HaKohen observes that the Torah always frames the mitzvah of Shabbos in the context of an obligation to work six days, that is to say, not a seventh. Work is important; it is part of inhabiting the fruitful and productive world the Creator has placed us in. Work is the coequal corollary of rest; there is no rest with no work.
Humans must work, but humans must rest too.
The laws of Shabbos and Shemittah have similar themes; people are more than their economic productivity, mandating a different mode of being—one that steps away from the hustle and grind. This break isn’t just about rest; it’s a profound shift in perspective, allowing for rejuvenation and a reevaluation of priorities.
R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch elucidates that social classes based on wealth and property are fundamentally false. Shemittah acts as an equalizer where no one is rich and no one is poor. By pausing agricultural work and allowing the land to rest, Shemittah removes the distinctions of wealth and poverty, reminding us that our worth is not tied to our economic productivity but to our inherent dignity as human beings.
In modern times, professional service contracts often have non-compete clauses, or “gardening leave,” a period where the individual must step away from the business, an enforced break that perhaps slightly dulls their competitive edge.
Recognizing the intrinsic value of every human being created in God’s image reminds us that our worth is not measured by wealth or productivity but by our very being.
בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה
One of the most striking features of this blessing is that despite the subject being extremely personal, it is phrased in quite general terms. Whereas we have asked the Creator to endow us with intelligence, forgiveness, redemption, healing, and more, this blessing takes an indirect approach; it conspicuously does not ask the Creator to bless us with wealth in the way we have asked for everything up to this point.
We do not ask the Creator to bless us, but rather, to bless upon us, suggesting that the blessing is something we have, not constitutive of who we are, unlike our other requests – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ.
Moreover, this blessing associates the blessing of sustenance and prosperity with the year; we are human, and nothing lasts forever, but this blessing specifically associates itself with transience and the pendulum of time – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת.
You are not your intelligence or your health; you do not generate them. But they are a part of you; they describe you. This blessing seems to suggest that the things we have are even less associated with us; they are just things we need and are more associated with the times. This can be something that people need constant reminding of—our livelihoods, like our health and intelligence, are not entirely within our control, and we must make space to recognize our reliance on divine intervention – לֹא לַחֲכָמִים לֶחֶם וְגַם לֹא לַנְּבֹנִים עֹשֶׁר.
It’s natural to assume that ever since Adam was commanded to work and sweat for his bread, the human condition is to work hard and get paid to earn a living. It seems straightforward enough. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb, and the world is not short of educated people; persistence is a major differentiator, after all.
But this prayer corrects that error. Whatever the inputs, our finances are outcomes we encounter in the universe, something that God bestows upon us; they are not something we generate, and they are not who we are – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ.
One prominent approach to this subject suggests that everything is down to destiny, and everyone always gets what they are supposed to and what they need. In a purely utilitarian sense, it’s hard to do much with that idea because it’s circular, has no predictive power, and doesn’t guide our actions in the external world. If you don’t have enough or die of starvation, oh well, that was what was supposed to happen!
It’s simpler and probably far more accurate to admit humility that we live in an infinitely complex universe, and there is no way to make sense of how the Creator allocates resources, to whom, and in what quantities and when. We cannot do it on our own; that much is clear. We ask for help because we need it.
If you’re comfortable, it’s important to remember that your wealth is not a product of smarts or hard work – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ.
If you’re struggling with financial insecurity, it’s important to remember that struggling is not a reflection of any personal or moral failing and that working smarter or harder is essential but isn’t enough either – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ.
And if you’re just getting by, and everywhere else on the spectrum, remember that because the Creator allocates resources in ways that don’t make sense to us and don’t need to, people are not their money, and people are not their productivity; as the Ramban wrote to his son, no one is better or worse than anyone else because of the state of their finances. There is no room for arrogance or shame; the Creator makes some rich and some poor. That’s just the way it is – ה’ מוֹרִישׁ וּמַעֲשִׁיר.
As the prophet Chaggai points out, all the gold and silver belong to the Creator anyway – לִי הַכֶּסֶף וְלִי הַזָּהָב נְאֻם ה צְבָאוֹת.
From the very first words, this blessing reorients and redirects us. Financial anxiety is real, and people need their basic needs met; however, as much as that’s true, personal finances aren’t part of a healthy-thinking person’s self-image.
הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת
The Alter of Novardok emphasized the value of living in the present and that even the worst present is better than the brightest future, saying that it is better to trade all of your tomorrows for one today rather than all of your todays for one tomorrow.
Although we believe that our courses are set on Rosh HaShana, we also believe that prayer and repentance can change the natural course of events, so we pray every day for the year to be good – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת.
What’s more, the Baal Shem Tov teaches that while amounts or quantities may be determined on Rosh HaShana, every day has its own determination of how much benefit and utility every person will get from that which is already theirs; so we pray to make the most out of what we have been blessed with – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת.
וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה – for all the different people
The focal point of this blessing is deeply rooted in the seasonal agricultural cycle. It speaks to the crops, the dew, and the rain, essential elements for a fruitful harvest. Given the agricultural theme, it might seem logical for the blessing to conclude by praising the Creator as the One Who blessed the crops rather than the One Who blesses the years. The blessing once again redirects the focus from what we might expect the subject of the blessing to be, from the object of sustenance and prosperity to time itself, highlighting a profound insight that the year is more important than the agricultural products it yields.
It’s not one good deal, client, or project that makes it a good year; it’s about whether the Creator blesses the year.
The year is the canvas and all-encompassing framework within which all life and sustenance occur. While the crops are vital, and whatever your family does to make money is essential, they are the products of a successful year. By blessing the year, we acknowledge that the overarching divine provision for time itself is what allows the cycles of nature to flourish.
This perspective is particularly significant when considering the historical context of sustenance and wealth. In the times of our sages, the financial threshold to be considered wealthy or at least not poor was measured by their ability to meet their needs for an entire year, which is perhaps one reason we ask the Creator to bless the year.
Most people today don’t have enough savings to cover a year’s expenses, but the difference between our times and our sages is that in an agrarian world, a bad crop or insufficient means meant starvation, which is, fortunately, a rarity in our time, thanks to social safety nets such as charitable organizations and welfare programs; but we still need a blessed year.
By praying for a blessed year, we seek not just the immediate bounty of crops today but the stability and continuity that allow us to meet our needs throughout the year. It is a recognition that true wealth and security come from a broader divine support that sustains us over time, not just from the instant gratification of today’s harvest and the latest deal and most recent paycheck.
Ultimately, this blessing teaches us to appreciate the bigger picture. While we must work hard and do our part to ensure a good harvest, we also recognize that the success of any single crop depends on the blessing of the entire year. This holistic view helps us understand that our livelihood, health, and well-being are all interconnected within the divine framework of time. By focusing on the year, we acknowledge the Source of all blessings and express our trust in the divine provision that sustains us through all seasons.
וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה – all sorts of places
Everyone thinks they have a golden ticket or the golden goose; by redirecting our attention to the year, this blessing suggests not to put all your eggs in one basket. Whatever your thing is, don’t count on it. If that one doesn’t work out, things can still work out perfectly fine.
The Creator blesses the years, not your golden ticket.
By redirecting our attention beyond direct financial sustenance and agricultural success and towards the year, this blessing emphasizes the deeper need for patience, security, and trust in divine providence. Yes, we need crops, dew, rain. These are the essential elements of the agricultural cycle; we all have to eat, and we all have to make money. But the Creator blesses the years; offering something far more profound than any golden goose – the sense of security and well-being that transcends material wealth.
More than this physical produce or that specific deal or client, we pray for a sense of security and stability throughout the year, not necessarily that we will have enough money or resources at any given moment, but that we will feel like our needs will be met, regardless of circumstances, which is uncorrelated.
One can have immense wealth but still feel insecure, worrying about potential losses or future uncertainties. Conversely, a person with modest means can live securely, knowing that their basic needs are met and trusting in the continuity of divine support. This security allows for a sense of peace and confidence that transcends any immediate physical wealth.
This happens to have been exactly what the less of the daily manna our ancestors ate was supposed to have been. It didn’t provide any security at all, and quite the opposite; they were only allowed to take enough for their families for the day. The quest for our daily bread invites us to live securely within the insecurity.
One of the great lessons of faith is the understanding that everything is going to be okay, even if we don’t quite know how.
Hoarding and worrying about tomorrow indicate meager faith. How many lives have not been saved, how many children’s lives have not improved, and how many institutions have not been built because people were worried about hoarding a little more?
It is not just about the wheat or crops of a single harvest, this deal, or that trade or client or job. The book of Jeremiah tells of how the people neglected the Torah in favor of work, believing they would have nothing to eat if they didn’t work relentlessly. Jeremiah held up the jug of manna to remind them that the Creator does not require much to work with to sustain us – כִּי לֹא עַל־הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם כִּי עַל־כּל־מוֹצָא פִי ה’ יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם
This blessing affirms that there are all kinds of sustenance; if not this one, there are plenty of others out there, too – וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה
What’s more, by praying for all the other kinds of sustenance, we are praying for sustenance well beyond our own, affirming the idea of collective security, recognizing that the well-being of the community and the interdependence of everyone’s produce contribute to individual security. Think about it; what’s the point of a billionaire who forgets his people? Who is more lost than a man who has severed himself from his roots?
We ask the Creator for a blessing this year for all its produce, a holistic blessing that ensures not just the physical success of our crops but the overall security and stability of our lives and communities, a request for the peace of mind that comes from knowing that, come what may, we will be provided for, and that should we be fortunate, we will provide for others – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ ה’ אֱלקינוּ אֶת הַשָּׁנָה הַזּאת וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה.
Our prayer for sustenance is partly personal and partly communal. One bank triggered the great financial crisis in the early 2000s, and one ship blocked the Suez Canal and paralyzed international trade for months; in today’s globalized world, our interconnectedness is more evident than ever. Global supply chains connect us all in a million different ways, with tropical fruit available all year round worldwide and low-cost electrical parts in the palm of your hand from across the planet. But as the COVID-19 pandemic vividly exposed, when borders closed and transportation halted, the disruption of production in one part of the world led to significant shortages and delays globally, triggering a cascade of effects worldwide, underscoring how deeply connected and interdependent our world is.
Just as we ask for individual and communal prosperity, it reminds us that our well-being is crucial to the stability of the broader global community.
וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה – for all the different kinds of produce
This blessing touches upon the intricate balance between individual needs and communal well-being and the different forms that sustenance and prosperity can take.
Our sages tell the story of the death of Martha, daughter of Boethus, one of the richest women in Jerusalem in the period prior to the destruction of the second Beis HaMikdash at the time of the last Siege of Jerusalem. She sent her servant out to buy some fine flour, but it had sold out. He returned empty-handed and repeatedly went out to buy the next lower quality flour, first white flour, then dark flour, then barley flour, only to find it sold out as well. Never imagining his mistress would accept such poor-quality ingredients, he doesn’t take the initiative to buy whatever he can find, and before the day is over, the stores are empty. Finally, the desperate woman goes out herself to see if she can find anything to eat without even putting on her shoes, but she steps in some refuse, and she dies of shock.
This story illustrates the reality of how people become accustomed to certain standards beneath which they cannot imagine living—a concept known as hedonic adaptation. This psychological mechanism sets a relatively fixed point or equilibrium, which is how people get used to things, both good and bad. The reality is that some people can adapt to lesser means, while others find it unimaginable.
The Torah’s obligation to support the poor is to give people enough to meet their needs – דֵּי מַחְסֹרוֹ אֲשֶׁר יֶחְסַר לוֹ. This inherently introduces a subjective element, the arbitrary and artificial levels of comfort and luxury to which we quickly become accustomed. Quite surprisingly, and because of hedonic adaptation, the parameters of this law extend very far, potentially even to the point of creating an obligation to meet the needs of a formerly wealthy person who has lost their wealth.
However, for similar reasons, modern societal norms shape our expectations and lifestyle choices, and they become needs. We live in a different world from our ancestors, with an embarrassment of riches beyond their imagination. Kings and emperors never had heat, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, refrigerators, cars, smartphones, or computers. What we consider normal and acceptable is shaped by our cultural context; standards of living are entirely subjective, and there is nothing wrong with wanting, having, or perhaps even needing those things. You’re not spoiled for owning a smartphone or wrong for enjoying pasta at a restaurant, even though you could make it at home for less.
Our prayer acknowledges the full spectrum and diversity of all people’s needs and psychological thresholds – וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה.
There’s nothing wrong with comfort; comforts are good, and one of the most reliable measures of technological progress in the modern world. But the challenge arises when these comforts become integral to our identity, and as we opened our prayer, prosperity is something the Creator blesses upon us, not who we are – בָּרֵךְ עָלֵינוּ.
Frequently, when people lose their wealth, they unfortunately experience depression, not merely because they lack resources but because their identity is tied to those resources. They may now be like everyone else, but their ego is tied to their former status, and they cannot adjust. We emphasize our request for the Creator to bless us with levels of comfort that will work and be good for us, acknowledging that our subjective standards of what is good can vary – וְאֶת כָּל מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטובָה.
Don’t buy into the hype of getting the latest shiny thing. Upgrade and buy what you need, not what companies want you to think you need.
בקיץ – וְתֵן בְּרָכָה בחורף – וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה – And ( give blessing / give dew and rain for a blessing) upon the face of the earth
Tying into the agricultural theme, we request the elements of dew and rain at the seasonally appropriate times.
Dew and rain are essential for agriculture, but they have different implications. Dew is the moisture that appears daily, consistently providing gentle hydration and always arriving on time without ever causing harm, making it inherently a blessing וְתֵן בְּרָכָה. It represents the consistent, stable, steady, and reliable form of sustenance that never fails to be beneficial.
Rain, on the other hand, is more unpredictable. It can be a blessing or a curse, depending on its timing and quantity. Too much rain can cause flooding, washing away essential topsoil and ruining crops; too little can cause drought, and rain at the wrong time can disrupt the growth cycle and ruin crops, while too little can lead to drought, and rain at the wrong time can be just as damaging as no rain at all. When we pray for rain, pray for rains of blessing, emphasizing the need for rain to come in the right amount and at the right time – וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה.
As with the entire blessing, the metaphor carries into the material world as well. Like with rain, a big financial windfall at the wrong time can be problematic; people who suddenly inherit large sums of money or win the lottery are not well-positioned to manage it properly. Getting a huge yield when your storage is already full means plenty will go to waste. Lots of inbound customer requests, when your calendar and team are fully booked, aren’t going to do anything for you. Investors struggle when they have lots of capital but no good investment opportunities. We need the right amounts at the right time – וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִבְרָכָה.
We don’t want to be flooded; we don’t want our essential topsoil washed away with everything we have planted along with it, so we ask for gentle and light rain on the face of the earth – עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה
The Creator can determine how much rain or prosperity, but the determinations of how or when are totally separate. What makes something a blessing isn’t just what it is; who, where, when, and how matter just as much. We pray for the sustenance we need to take the form of blessing, to appear in the quantity, quality, and timing that meets our needs; perhaps this equally requires cultivating a balanced attitude in our lives, one that is capable of recognizing that we have received what we need when we have needed it. Ultimately, all true blessings are about harmony and timing, where what we receive is always beneficial and supportive of our well-being. Transcending mere acquisitiveness or abundance, this blessing encourages us to seek the right kind of support that helps us thrive both materially and spiritually, recognizing the ultimate Source of sustenance that knows our needs better than we do.
A blessing for all on the face of the earth –
Our sages tell a story of the legendary R’ Chanina Ben Dosa, who embodied humility, sincerity, and truth in his supplications and whose prayers were always answered. One time, he was walking with a candle in the rain, and he prayed that the rain stop because everyone else was happy while he was sad, and the rain ceased. When he got to his destination with the lit candle, he prayed for the rain to resume because everyone else was sad while he was happy, and the rain resumed. He always prayed with genuine sincerity, and in each phase, his sentiment was real, which is the rocket fuel of all prayer – קרוב ה’ לכל קוראיו, לכל אשר יקראוהו באמת.
But his genuine feelings were a function of his approach to his problems; the formula for both prayers is the same – me versus them. With such a zero-sum approach to problem-solving, whatever one side wins is from the other side losing. One of the great powers of prayer is to help define a problem, but what if we formulated it differently?
What if we took a positive-sum approach to problem-solving, where many players can win, and it’s not at other people’s expense? Instead of people buying from my pizza store instead of yours, what if people started buying more pizza across the board, growing the pizza economy? Far too often, we begrudge people’s success as though it’s at our expense, but it doesn’t work like that. Kill the scarcity mindset and cultivate an abundance mentality. There is plenty to go around for everyone; someone else’s prosperity and success don’t make your own any less likely, so be happy when someone else wins because yours is no further away.
The Torah describes Moshe as being the most humble man to walk the earth – וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה עָנָו מְאֹד מִכֹּל הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. In this usage, the face of the earth refers to all humans, and we ask for a blessing that can be broadly shared and raise everybody on the face of the earth – עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.
From this world, not the next – עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.
One of our fundamental beliefs is the belief in reward and punishment – אני מאמין באמונה שלמה שהבורא יתברך שמו גומל טוב לשומרי מצוותיו ומעניש לעוברי מצוותיו.
One reason it is in the category of belief, albeit fundamental, is that there are times when it doesn’t seem that way.
This is a restatement of age-old problem thinkers have engaged with and been troubled by since time immemorial – theodicy, the problem of evil – צַדִּיק וְרַע לוֹ. Why do bad things happen to good people? The question is far too good; it has stood the test of time.
Our sages teach that although we believe in reward and punishment, with some limited exceptions, the reward for observing mitzvos does not manifest in this plane of existence – שְׂכַר מִצְוָה בְּהַאי עָלְמָא לֵיכָּא.
The simple reality is that we don’t know the divine accounting system that counts and evaluates our thoughts and deeds, and we don’t understand how it works, but we believe that somehow it does.
Our sages often use the metaphor of a heavenly treasury awaiting us in the afterlife; every good deed makes a deposit that compounds over time. Before our great ancestor Yakov faced off with his brother Esav after years of separation, he feared that every blessing he had received might diminish his spiritual merit, reflecting this humility and self-awareness – קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים.
In another story about R’ Chanina ben Dosa, our sages tell of a time in his life when his family was overwhelmed by their poverty despite their immense piety. One day, his wife implored R’ Chanina to pray for a portion of the goodness reserved for the righteous in the afterlife. Moved by her desperation, Rabbi Chanina prayed, and their ceiling split open, and a disembodied hand dropped a golden table leg on their floor. That night, they both dreamt that the righteous in Paradise dined at three-legged golden tables; meanwhile, their table had two legs and had fallen over. They realized that the golden leg had been taken from their table in Paradise and agreed to try to send it back. He prayed once more, and the hand returned to take back the golden table leg.
Our sages feared depleting their spiritual bank accounts for temporary, earthly benefits, preferring to preserve their spiritual wealth for the world to come. We want our blessings to come from here rather than squander the precious worlds we’ve built, and in harder times, we should remind ourselves that we’re not depleting what matters – והקרן קיימת לעולם הבא.
We don’t have to understand the divine financial system to understand that we’d prefer to have our blessings come from our own hands, from the good deeds we do, as opposed to miracles or divine intervention. As we pray for blessing, we remind ourselves that we want it to be a product of this world and the fruits of our efforts – עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.
וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ – and satisfy us with Your / it’s goodness
Satisfy us with your goodness… it’s not a request for the Creator to indulge us to our satisfaction, but quite the opposite; some people have it all and are still miserable.
This is a prayer for us to be satisfied with the goodness that comes our way. It’s a prayer to be less needy and high maintenance, to find contentment and satisfaction in life even if the world isn’t handed to us on a silver platter.
Imagine the difference in children’s reactions to a birthday gift: one child might be overjoyed with a simple cake and a toy, while another might throw a tantrum if they don’t get the entire store. Getting everything you want sounds appealing, but that’s not how the world works; much better to be like the child who finds satisfaction joy in small blessings – וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ.
Our sages tell of our matriarch Sarah’s bread, which stayed fresh all week and had the miraculous property of being blessed in people’s stomachs, ensuring they were satisfied with less.
Our ancestor Yakov faced off with his brother Esau and defused years of strain and tension by saying that he had enough – יֶשׁ־לִי־כֹל.
One of the Torah’s great blessings is the feeling of satisfaction in good times – וַאֲכַלְתֶּם לַחְמְכֶם לָשֹׂבַע.
There are times when things come easy and others when we need more than we have, and we must learn to be content with less. It’s not about settling for less; it’s human nature to strive and persist; it’s about making do and getting by when the circumstances require. But that being said, it is possible for people to need less, even if they don’t always want less.
That mental adaptation holds true for all things. There’s a baseline amount we need to feel content, and that amount can be less, and we can still feel good – וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ.
We might wonder why God wouldn’t just give us more – just open the fountains, Ferraris, and yachts for everybody. But the true blessing lies in being content with enough rather than always wanting more.
There is the miracle of receiving more, but there is also the miracle of doing more with less – וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ.
This difference between having enough and having more shapes our sense of fulfillment and gratitude. This calls for a state of mind where we can appreciate and be satisfied with the goodness we receive, fostering a sense of peace and contentment in our lives – וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ.
R’ Shimon Schwab notes that in modern times, there is enough food and resources in the world to go around; we have a distribution issue. Without experiencing God’s goodness, people are never satisfied, and nothing is ever enough. As our sages note, the era before Mashiach will be plagued by greed, where there will be such abundance that producers will waste their product rather than sell it cheaply.
We pray for the feeling of having enough, for the feeling of physical and spiritual satisfaction that will eliminate human greed – וְשבְּעֵנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ / מִטּוּבֶךָ.
וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות –
The prophets promise a future with good years that make up for the bad years – וְשִׁלַּמְתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־הַשָּׁנִים. As R’ Shimon Schwab rhetorically asks, how many bad years have our people experienced…?
Still, all too often, people have selective memories and fondly remember the good old days, the way we were, the things used to be. Quite apart from our unreliable memories doing some heavy lifting, how many times have we ever really noticed when we’re in them?
Another aspect of blessing then is not just in the receiving but in the experiencing, and we close this blessing with a request to recognize the good times now, as they unfold in real-time prospectively today, realizing we are blessing now, rather than waiting til later and only experiencing the blessings in hindsight – וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות.
Let us truly feel like we can count this year as one of the good ones, appreciating the present and feeling blessed today – וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות.
Our ambitious and acquisitive nature seems to be to always want more. But as true as that is, more isn’t the same for everyone. A poor man is often only ever a few coins short of what he needs, but when a king or billionaire is unable to obtain something, it must be truly out of reach.
The more we have, the more we tend to want. If we need one bite to be satisfied today, we’ll need one bite tomorrow; if we have five bites today, we’ll expect five bites tomorrow. Part of the fulfillment of this blessing isn’t something external the Creator sends to you but something internal you can ask for help cultivating. This prayer probably doesn’t have the power to give people riches, but thinking about it might give you something some of the richest can only ever dream of – enough.
Count your blessings; raising our awareness of the blessings that are already ours is a sure way to happiness and gratitude, and there can be no question that every day you wake up and the sun is shining, you have already been blessed – וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות.
What’s more, appreciating good times in hindsight can also be a blessing. Even in moments of hardship, the seeds of future blessings might already be germinating beneath the surface. Even during tough times, blessings are still in play, even if they’re not immediately visible – הַזֹּרְעִים בְּדִמְעָה בְּרִנָּה יִקְצֹרוּ.
Even in the final moments of the year, just before Rosh Hashana, we will say these words, not for the few minutes that are left, but to bless the entire year in hindsight, that it sits in our memory with positive associations and memories, that it be a year that set many good things in motion that later came to fruition – וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּובות.
We ask to experience our good years now, not just recognize them later. We seek a blessing for satisfaction, to feel fulfilled with less, and to have a residual sense of blessing that reduces our neediness. This means living in the moment with gratitude, acknowledging the good in our lives as it unfolds, and being content with what we have.
Wholeness does not arrive from outside of us; it emerges from within us. No longer viewing ourselves as deficient through the eyes of lack, we can now view ourselves as latently whole through the eyes of enoughness.
Fill your bowl to the brim, and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife, and it will blunt. Chase after money and security, and your heart will never unclench. Care about people’s approval, and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back; it is the only path to serenity.
As our Sages guided us, who is wealthy? One who celebrates and takes joy in what he has – אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ.
As much as this is a prayer for wealth, prosperity, and sustenance, it is equally a blessing about our attitude, mindfulness, and contentment. The Creator can shower us with blessings, but our experience of them has a lot to do with the thoughts we have in this prayer.
True wealth is not measured by money in the bank; it is the heart that makes a person rich.