הלכה אויף ישעיהו 29:13

Before reciting a berachah you must be sure which berachah you are required to recite, so that when you mention Hashem's Name which is the principle part of the berachah, you will know how to conclude the berachah. It is forbidden to do anything else while reciting a berachah. Do not recite the berachah hurriedly but think of the meaning of the words. The Sefer Chassidim states: "When you wash your hands or recite the berachah on fruit or on the performance of a mitzvah,—berachos which everybody knows— you should direct your attention to recite them in the Name of your Creator Whose goodness is bountiful, Who granted you the fruit or bread for your pleasure, or commanded you to perform the mitzvah. You should not recite the berachah automatically, out of habit, spouting words from your mouth without thinking of their meaning. On account of such practice Hashem's anger was kindled, and He sent us word through the prophet, Isaiah, saying: "Because this people approaches [Me] [only] with their mouths and honor Me [only] with their lips and their heart is distant from Me and their reverence for Me is merely perfunctory."¹Isaiah 29:13. The Holy One Blessed is He said to Isaiah, See how the deeds of My children are merely external and they adhere to them [only] as a person adheres to and practices a custom of his forbearers; they enter My house and pray to Me the designated prayers merely as a custom of their fathers but not with their whole hearts. They wash their hands, and recite the berachah over the washing and then break bread and recite the hamotzi, they drink and recite the berachah out of habit. When they recite the berachos they have no real intention of praising Me. Therefore, His anger was fierce and He swore by His great Name to destroy the wisdom of their Sages who know Him and still praise Him perfunctorily, without sincerity as it is written thereafter: "Therefore I shall do yet more … and the wisdom of their Sages will be lost."²Isaiah 29:14. Therefore our Sages warned us regarding this and said: "Fulfill [your] obligations for the sake of the Creator etc."³Nedarim 62A. This concludes his [Sefer Chassidim's] remarks. It is proper to accustom yourself to recite the berachos aloud because the voice arouses concentration.

(Kaf) “When vileness is exalted (kerum) among the sons of men” (Ps. 12:9). And the rabbis expounded [about this verse] (Berakhot 6b), “These are matters in the heights of (berumo) the world, which people treat with contempt [– and that is prayer].” And [it is written] in Isaiah 29: 13-14, “Because that people has approached [Me] with its mouth, and honored Me with its lips, but has kept its heart far from Me […]. Hence, I shall further baffle that people with bafflement upon bafflement; and the wisdom of its wise shall fail.” And it appears to me [that this can be understood as follows]: Behold [it is written in] Ps. 78:36-37, “Yet they seduced Him with their mouth, were untrue to Him with their tongue. Their hearts were inconstant toward Him; they were untrue to His covenant.” Ostensibly, that which it said, “were untrue to Him with their tongue,” is difficult – as the essence of untruth is in his heart, whereas seduction is with his mouth and with his tongue. However they said (Berakhot 33b):
A certain [prayer leader] descended [before the ark] in the presence of Rabbi Chanina. He [extended his prayer and] said, “God, the great, mighty, awesome, etc.” [Rabbi Chanina said], “Had Moshe not said them […] and had the members of the Great Assembly not come and incorporated them into the prayer, we would not say [any words of praise for God at all]. And you went on and recited all of these? It is comparable to a king who possessed many thousands of golden dinars, yet they were praising him for [a hundred] silver dinars. That would be a disgrace for him.”
And the Guide writes (Guide for the Perplexed 1:59):
They did not say, “It is comparable to a king who possessed many thousands of golden dinars, yet they were praising him for a hundred golden dinars.” For this would imply that God's perfections were more perfect than those ascribed to man [but] still of the same kind; but this is not the case, as has been proved. Rather the wisdom of this metaphor is that they praise him with silver – to show that these attributes that are perfections as regards ourselves, are not such as regards [God], may He be blessed. In reference to Him they would all be defects – and as this metaphor elucidates and says – “would it not be a disgrace to Him?” [To here are his words].
And Rambam has already elucidated there that one should not ascribe to the Creator, may He be blessed, any homage or praise from the virtues of the wise or the strong, whereas He is distant from comparison – as He is elevated ‘above any blessing and homage.’ See there in Chapter 59. And if so, the main homage [for God] in the heart of the discerning is that he distance anything that he says with his mouth from his heart (mind). And he should understand that it is perforce that [we] speak in the language of man. But in his heart, the ‘silence is homage.’ And behold, it was already [written] in Duties of the Heart, in the Section on the Reckoning of the Soul, Chapter 3,⁹⁵8:3. and these [are his words], “And they compared this further to a servant whose master came to his house and he commanded his wife and children to honor [the master] and do everything for him. But [the servant] went away and got involved in mirth and laughter, and stopped himself from honoring [the master] himself, etc. And his master became enraged with him and did not accept his honor and his service and returned everything in his face.” To here [are his words]. And we will add a little [to the] metaphor – that his wife and his household did not know and did not understand the nature of the king and his glory, as they had still never seen a ruler in their days. And [so] they did not honor him fittingly, but rather as [would befit] one of the ministers. Then the rage of the king rose against his servant. But [the servant’s] wife and household were not blamed – as given their lack of awareness, what could they do? Not so the servant, the one that was aware. So too is the matter of prayer, when “they seduce Him with their mouths.” Since there is no limit to the glory of the Creator, may He be blessed, in the mouth and the tongue – as He is not of its nature and category at all, since He is elevated and distinct and removed from what can be said by the mouth – it is only something of homage and praise that is perforce fashioned to fit the ear of the speaker and the one giving homage. But ‘if their hearts are inconstant towards themselves’ – the explanation of which is that they do not have the intention in their hearts that all of what they are saying is only by way of illustration – then “they seduced Him with their mouth, were untrue to Him with their tongue.” As none of the homage and praises correspond to Him, may He be blessed, in any fashion. And this is the understanding of “Because that people has approached [Me] with its mouth, and honored Me with its lips, but has kept its heart far from Me” – meaning, that they did not have intention for that which we mentioned. “Hence, I shall further, etc. and the wisdom of its wise shall fail.” [This is] according to that which is stated in Job 28:12, “But where (meayin, which can also be understood as, from not) can wisdom be found” – the explanation of which is that the essential wisdom is in negation, such that we negate virtues [that could be] attributed to Him.⁹⁶See Guide for the Perplexed 1:55-60, in which Rambam develops what is known as the via negativa, which is a philosophical construct in which there are no accurate ways that man can describe God. Rather the only thing man can accurately do is negate the existence of any attributes that may be ascribed to God. But then “the wisdom of its wise shall fail.” However the ‘man of faith’ will guard [it] in his heart – he will be wise and say, “It is the ‘kindness of God’ to us that we [can] praise Him according to our level.”

All your actions should be for the sake of heaven.¹Aboth 2:17. Let a man not eat nor sleep with the intention of being healthy and fattened in order to engage in matters of this world and to pursue wealth. He should rather say, “I will sleep and I will eat in order that I may be able to stand in fear of my Creator and engage in His Law and commandments.” ²J. T. Sanhedrin 8:7. And when he washes his hands and blesses, or if he recites a blessing over fruit, or a blessing involving any other deed, which is fluent in the mouths of all (a common prayer), let him direct his heart to bless in the name of his Creator who does wonderful kindnesses with him and gives him the fruits and bread to enjoy and enjoins upon him the commandments. Let him not act as one who does something because of habit and recites (blessings) without the heart’s meditation. For this reason God’s anger is kindled in His people and He sent us His servant Isaiah and said, “For as much as this people draw near, and with their mouth and with their eyes do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me and their fear of Me is a commandment of men learned by rote” (Isa. 29:13). The Holy one, blessed be He, said to Isaiah, “Isaiah, see the works of My children, and know that it is all for appearances sake only. They hold fast to Me as a person who holds fast and follows the usage handed down to him from his father. They come into My house and pray in accord with the fixed prayers like the customs of their fathers but without a whole heart. They cleanse their hands and recite the blessing for the washing of the hands, they break bread and recite the blessing over the bread, they drink and bless (only) because the matter is fluent in their mouths, but at the time that they bless, their thoughts are not to bless Me.”³Rosh ha-Shanah 28b. It is for this reason that His wrath is kindled in Him and He swears by His great name to destroy the wisdom of His wise men who know Him and bless Him (only) out of custom but without devotion, as it is written thereafter, “Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the prudence of their prudent men shall be hid” (Isa. 29:14).⁴Midrash Rabbah, ed. Soncino, Exodus, III, 108. Therefore our sages warned concerning this matter and said “And do things for the sake of their Doer (God).⁵Nedarim 62a. For everything which the Holy One, blessed be He, created, He created for His glory.⁶Yoma 38a. Do not make of them a wreath with which to adorn yourself,⁷Nedarim 62a. to boast of them when you perform the commandments before people. We will not reach the will of our Creator, because (as in the event mentioned) we labor to find favor in the eyes of men. The reward which we anticipate we lose, there will be none. He who performs secretly, merits greater reward, his deeds are ultimately revealed and he is exalted. ⁸Moed Katan 16b. (The verse) “The end of the matter, all having been heard” (Eccl. 12:13) the Targum⁹In varying cases the Targum (lit translation) deals with all or parts of the Bible. It is paraphrastic in nature, bordering between translation and explanation. Jonathan translates, “Everything that is done in this world will be made known in the future to all people.”¹⁰The deeds will be revealed to all souls in heaven. It is reported of a certain man that he died prematurely. Long after twelve months he appeared in a dream to one of his relatives. His relative asked him, “How are you faring in the world where you are?” He said to him, “I am punished each day because I was not circumspect in reciting the blessing over the bread, the blessings for fruit and the “Grace” with wholehearted devotion, and they say to me, ‛You intended only for your own profit.’” He asked him, “Is it not true that there is judgement for the wicked only for twelve months,¹¹Kiddushin 31b. and now more than twelve months are past and they are still punishing you?” He said to him, “They do not punish me as severly as during the first twelve months.”¹²Shulhan Arukh, “Yoreh Deah,” 240:10, Taz, note 13.