Summary - Baruch HaMakom introduces the Midrash of the four children with four statements of praise, each of which begins with the word, Baruch. What is the significance of these four statements? Chida connects them with the four children, teaching that we give thanks and praise for all our children, even if they do not turn out quite the way we expect. The number four is also significant: it is connected with the four types of learning (Pardes), four Sefirot, and the four worlds in Kabbalistic thought. Chida associates these “blessings” with the Torah study in the following Midrash, and analyzes the issue of reciting a blessing for Torah study in the morning, the blessings for being called to the Torah, and the four blessings for the study of the four children we are about to conduct. Praised is the One who is present everywhere. Blessed is the One. Blessed is the One who gave the Torah to the people of Israel. Blessed is the One. About four types of children the Torah speaks: one is wise; one is wicked; one is simple; and one does not know how to ask. There are four rabbinic blessings; four times the sages said “baruch.” The Rishonim explained that they are connected to four types of children as it is said “One is obligated to recite a blessing for the bad that befalls him just as he recites a blessing for the good.”¹³⁴ 9:3 BT Brachot 54a Just as a person who merits having a wise child gives thanks and praises God, so too if one has a simple child “who lives without blame and does what is right,” (Psalm 15:2) one should give thanks for the merit that is his. Even if one’s child follows a wicked path¹³⁵ and causes pain wherever he turns, so that the parent calls him wicked, the parent is still obligated to recite a blessing. The parent says, Baruch dayan emet, “Blessed is the true judge,” for his actions and behaviors and the sins of his mother may have caused this child to fall into this portion. If the child is lacking in intellect because he is a simpleton so that he doesn't know how to ask, the parent must still recite a blessing. On account of this, the Maggid organizes these four recitations of the word baruch for the four children. According to its plain-sense meaning, this statement means:

footnotes: ¹³⁴ See Mishnah Berachot ¹³⁵ See BT Berachot 17b “In our open places”; that we should not have a child or student who overcooks his food in public, i.e., who sins in public and causes others to sin, as in the well-known case of Jesus the Nazarene.

Blessed is the Omnipresent. (HaMakom) God is “The place of the world.” Before creation God looked into the Torah and with it, God created the world as the sages explained regarding the verse, “I was with Him as a artisan (oman).” (Pr. 8:30) Blessed is He who made Torah known as worldly knowledge (Yedia B’alma) to Adam, Chanokh, Methusaleh, Noach, Shem, the Patriarchs, the founders of the twelve tribes and their offspring, and the great ones of the generation in Egypt. Blessed is the One who gave the Torah to the people of Israel with great and awesome pronouncement (at Mount Sinai.) Blessed is He. For even though we underwent many exiles and destructions, in His mercy God enlightened His children with the light of this Torah. Though we do not understand this knowledge fully and we guard only a small bit of it, as the Holy Zohar states, we turn to God with praise that He did not abandon us or allow Israel to forget the essentials of Torah, God forbid! According to the way of truth,¹³⁶. the four blessings refer to Chochmah, Binah, Tiferet and Malchut. The sages, of blessed memory, said that we received the Torah in the year 2448 (ב' אלפים תמ"ח). This year hints at Israel’s love (חבת"ם) - made of the same letters. It is also the first letters of חכמה בינה תפארת מלכות. There is an allusion to this in the four blessings for studying Torah: The three blessings that are recited in the morning ( על דברי תורה. והערב נא. אשר בחר בנו) and the blessing that is recited before the reading of the Torah is the fourth. The fourfold use of Baruch also refers to the four worlds אבי"ע, and their allusions.¹³⁷ They also allude to BIble (Mikra), Mishnah, Talmud, and the mysteries of Torah, as well as P’shat, Remez, Drash and Sod (Pardes) and all their details, generalizations, their names and their permutations.

footnotes: ¹³⁶ An expression used to refer to the mystical interpretation of Torah ¹³⁷ An acronym for the four levels of creation: Asiyah, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Atzilah.

In his commentary, the Rashbatz¹³⁸ writes that since we interpret Torah verses as part of the children’s answers, it is necessary to recite a blessing for Torah study before interpreting them. This can be explained with a statement in Devarim Rabbah. “When a person rises to read Torah how should he bless? The Sages taught: one recites a blessing before and after it… Another explanation: The Holy One said, “If you are engaged in Torah, then I will bless you,” as is stated, “In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come and bless you.” (Ex. 20:21) Another explanation: The Sages said, “The Holy One said, ‘If you bless the Torah, You do so for yourself,’” As is stated, “For through me your days will increase, and years be added to your life.” (Pro. 9:11) “If you think maybe I gave the Torah to you as a detriment, (know) I only gave it for your benefit, for even the angels desired it.” The opening statement is, “A person who rises to read Torah how should he bless?” Yet if one prays in a synagogue does he not know the proper order of blessings? Further, why does one say one opens and closes with a blessing when one is asking how one should bless? It would appear that it is asking about the proper language of the blessings and not how many blessings one should recite. Finally the Midrash states, “I gave the Torah to you for your detriment.” How could one say, God forbid, that Torah is a detriment? I have heard the following explanation from Rabbi Yitzchak HaKohen,¹³⁹ fund, he was elected rabbi of Smyrna, where he remained forty years. At an advanced age he returned to Jerusalem, where he was appointed to a rabbinate. author of Batei Kehunah. He explains that the Rashba said in a responsa quotes Joseph Karo’s Beit Yosef, Orech Chaim 47: “When we recite a blessing for the study of Torah each morning, why don’t we recite a blessing afterwards?” The reason is that Torah study is a Mitzvah and one does not recite a blessing after a commandment found in the Torah. One recites a blessing after the reading of the Torah in the synagogue because it is a decree of Moses and Ezra. In the case of decrees, one may recite a blessing before and afterwards just one does in the case of Hallel and reading of the Megillah. “How does he bless,” is not a question about the order of blessings since there is no doubt about this. These are common matters known in every synagogue and even to children. Rather, it is asking about a matter of wisdom. Since a person rises and recites blessings for Torah study in the morning, what is the nature of the blessing one recites when one is called to the Torah in synagogue since he has already recited three blessings earlier in the day. The blessing before and after the reading of the Torah would appear to be a berachah l’vatalah, an unnecessary blessing. The early morning blessings should have already fulfilled one's obligation to recite a blessing for all types of Torah study, day or night. The question, “A person who goes up to read from the Torah how should he bless,” implies how should one recite a blessing after he has already done so earlier in the day? The sages offered an excellent answer: the sages taught that when one opens and concludes the reading of the Torah with a blessing, one does not do so for the commandment of studying Torah since he has already met this obligation. He now rises to read the Torah based on the decrees of Moses and Ezra. If the purpose of this blessing was for the commandment of learning Torah he should not say a blessing afterwards. We do not say a blessing for a Torah commandment after it has been performed so it must be a blessing for the decree of reading Torah publically. That is why we do so afterwards. As a result, it is not an unnecessary blessing. And if you think that we do not worry about vain or unnecessary blessings and there is no prohibition, it also serves no purpose as was said in the other statements: The blessed Holy One said, “If you are attached to the blessing of Torah, then I will bless you,” as is stated, “In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you.” (Ex. 20:21) In the same fashion that you came of your own will in a matter that was not an obligation and recited a blessing, so you will be blessed, as it states, “For through me your days will increase, And years be added to your life.” (Pro. 9:11)

footnotes: ¹³⁸ Simeon ben Zemah Duran (1361–1444‎) was a Rabbinical authority, student of philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and especially of medicine, which he practised for a number of years at Palma de Majorca. A major 15th century posek, his published decisions in matters of halacha have been widely quoted in halachic literature for hundreds of years. (Wikipedia) ¹³⁹ Isaac ben Judah Rapoport HaKohen was an 18th-century rabbi who lived in Ottoman Empire; born and died at Jerusalem, a pupil of rabbi Hezekiah da Silva. After a journey to Europe on behalf of the halukka

There are still questions to resolve about the Torah blessings**!** Maimonides writes in the laws of berachot that one does not recite a blessing for Mayim Achronim¹⁴⁰) Mishnah Torah Brachot 6:2. There is a mitzvah to wash one's hand after a bread meal before Birkat HaMazon. This mitzvah is called Mayim Achronim. The rabbis loosely derived it to a pasuk “VeHayiteem Kedoshim'' - we should be holy. Additionally, Mayim Achronim was instituted in order to prevent Sodomite salt from getting into one’s eyes, which could potentially blind oneself. (Halachapedia) since this act is only performed because of danger. The sages have said, “The blessed Holy One said, ‘I have created an evil inclination and I have created Torah as an antidote for it….”¹⁴¹ 30b Since Torah negates the evil inclination why do we have to say a blessing when reading Torah? If Torah is meant to negate the evil inclination, why do we need to say a blessing at all; isn’t it similar to Mayim Achronim; since it comes to stop the danger, a blessing is not required. It is for this reason that the Midrash suggests, “Maybe I gave the Torah to you for your detriment (l’ra’atechem).” That is, “I gave you the Torah l’ra’atechem, for the purpose of helping you negate the evil inclination, and we do not recite a blessing on something that comes to negate evil.” To this we respond, “I only gave it to you for your good; that is, even though Torah negates the evil inclination, it is for your own good, to develop good qualities and characteristics as well as rewards in this world and in the world to come. Know that the Torah was not given solely for the sake of negating the evil inclination for even the angels desired it and angels do not have an evil inclination. When we see that the angels desired the Torah we certainly know that many good things and purposes come from it and it is for this that we recite a blessing.

footnotes: ¹⁴⁰ See Maimonides, (Rambam ¹⁴¹ BT Kiddushin

According to the plain meaning of the passage (from the Midrash). The statements, “If you are engaged in the study of Torah, then I will bless you,” and, “If you bless the Torah, You do so for yourself,” are not meant to imply that one studies Torah to gain a blessing for oneself. That is why the Maggid ordered the four blessings. Blessed is the Omnipresent implies that one should not say that the purpose of these blessings is for the benefit of the one who recites them. That is why each is followed by Baruch hu, Blessed is He. These statements are meant to reveal that, God forbid, the blessings are not for the one who wishes a blessing for himself but rather for one who intends the blessing solely for the sake of God (l’shem shamayim). One then says Blessed is the One who gave the Torah to His people Israel; and then he makes it clear that it is not for himself by again saying, Blessed is He. Baruch Hu appears after Baruch hamakom and “Baruch sh’natan…” This is also how the Rishonim explained the verse, “Not to us, O Adonai, not to us, but to Your name bring glory” (Ps. 115:1) This is a response to the statement, “One who prays for his fellow, his prayers are answered first.” Therefore, when it says “Not for us,” one might think that he is the type of person who prays for his fellow so that he will receive a blessing first. Therefore, Scripture doubles the expression “Not for us,” and adds “But for Your name, give glory,” to show that he is not praying for himself or his friends' benefit (but for the sake of God) This is similar to what we have explained.

It is possible that the comments (regarding the angels who desired Torah) alludes to the angels who wished to take possession of the Torah based on the principle of dina devar mitzrah, the law of one whose field borders on one’s field.¹⁴² 108a and Baba Kamma 114a. If a person wishes to sell his field, he must first offer it to his neighbor who owns the bordering field. In our case the Torah should have been offered to the angels first but since God did not sell it but offered it as a gift God was not obligated to offer it to the angels first. The Holy One gave the Torah to us as a gift so that there would be no obligation on God’s part to offer it to the angels first, as the commentators have explained. “Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He'' is similar to our expression, Baruch hu u’varuch shemo, “Blessed is He and blessed is God’s name.” Afterwards we recite the blessing. “Blessed is the one who gave (natan) the Torah to His people Israel,” implies that God gave Torah to us as a gift (matanah) so that the law of neighboring land did not apply. The angels wanted the Torah and so God gave it to Israel first. All of this implies that certainly there are great goods in the Torah besides the antidote for the evil inclination. That is why the angels desired it. The angels do not have an evil inclination and yet they wanted it for its other benefits. That is why the obligation falls on us to recite a blessing. It is not like Mayim Achronim for which there is no other purpose except to keep us far from danger. The Torah has many other wondrous benefits.

footnotes: ¹⁴² See Baba Metzia