As Heard from Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L

“And You shall bless Hashem.” (8:10)

The word U’Berachta (you shall bless) is from Barech, derived from Berech (a knee). It literally means not “bless” but “to bend the knees” in humility of deep gratitude. When one receives a gift from a Donor to Whom he is unable to repay, all that he can do is to demonstrate his humble gratitude (”bending the knee”) to his Benefactor. We cannot “bless Him,” but we can express our endless gratitude toward Him.

This principle of expressing our gratitude to our Benefactor is a cause of the greatest excellence in ourselves. “Sing, you righteous ones, to Hashem; for the upright, praise is befitting.” (Tehillim 33:1) This means: for those who desire to be upright, it is for their benefit to praise Hashem. Those persons that develop the genuine attitude of appreciating Hashems countless forms of kindliness will thereby gain a love of the Benefactor. And as they continue to sing to Him and to express His praise, they come closer to Him and thereby gain excellence of mind and character.

To attain the state of true love of Hashem is the highest Perfection. “He that sings (to Hashem) in this life is rewarded that he shall sing in the World to Come.” (Sanhedrin 91B) “The righteous sit with crowns on their heads and enjoy the splendor of the Shechina.” (Berachot 17A) “These crowns are the understanding of Hashem that they gained in this life.” (RMBM)

“Him you should serve.” (10:20)

Him alone you should serve. In all that one does, even in eating and sleeping, he should intend thereby to serve Hashem. But “serve” means more; even when doing nothing, he should consider himself as an Eved. This is based on a fundamental principle, as follows.

To be an Eved means to be humbled before Hashem. Why? Because of absolute gratitude for all that Hashem did for him, and which he is totally unable to repay. Because Hashem has showered us with a multitude of benefits, and because we can do nothing for Him in return, we are therefore totally humbled before Him as servants that are owned by their master. Thus to “serve” Hashem means to feel that we are servants that are Hashem’s property, for He has created us and has maintained us with such a multitude of benefits that we can repay only by the profoundest humility to Him. This humility is called Avodah (Service).

Quoted from “Fortunate Nation” by Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L

Shabbat Shalom

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