Print this Article

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis
This Column is dedicated in memory of:
Rav Chaim Yisroel ben Reb Dov HaLevi Belsky, zt’l
Senior OU Kosher Halachic Consultant from 1987-2016Part 1: The Origin

The Talmud in tractate Menahot (43b) tells us that a person is obligated to recite one hundred Berachot every day. It bases this obligation on the Passuk in Devarim (10:12): “V’Ata Yisrael, mah Hashem Elokecha sho’el me’imach?” – “Now, Israel, what does Hashem Your God ask of you?” The Gemara doesn’t really explain how we derive that law from that verse, but Rashi fills in the gap. He clarifies that the word written “mah” (“what”) is pronounced as if it were written “me’ah” – one hundred. With this understanding, the verse can be interpreted to mean: “Now, Israel, Hashem Your God asks one hundred of you.” From this we see the obligation to recite one hundred Berachot daily.

Tosafot provide additional explanations. Firstly, the verse from which the obligation is derived, Devarim 10:12, has 100 letters in it (the verse is somewhat longer than the phrase excerpted in the previous paragraph…) Additionally, the numerical value of the word “mah” – מה –  in At-BaSh is 100. [At-BaSh is a cipher in which the first letter, Alef, is exchanged with the final letter, Tav. The second letter, Bet, is exchanged with the penultimate letter, Shin, etc. (Alef-Tav-Bet-Shin spells “At-BaSh.”) Thus, in At-BaSh, Mem is exchanged with Yud (numerical value 10) and Hei is exchanged with Tzadi (numerical value 90), so the At-BaSh of the word “mah” – מה – is 100.]

The Tur (Orah Hayim 46) codifies reciting one hundred Berachot a day as Halacha but he clarifies the origin of the practice even further. The verse in Devarim, quoted by Ribbi Meir in the Gemara, is not actually the source of the obligation. Rather, it is an Asmachta – a Biblical verse cited in support of a rabbinic enactment. The Tur relates a story from the Midrash (BeMidbar Rabba 18; Tanhuma, Korah 12) that occurred during the reign of King David.

At one point during David’s reign, there was a plague that was killing one hundred people a day. The Sages investigated for the underlying spiritual cause, and determined that the problem was that the people were lacking in gratitude to God. They therefore instituted that everyone should recite one hundred sincere and heartfelt Berachot each day, which stopped the plague. [The Tur differs from the Midrash as to whether it was King David himself or the Sages of his day that instituted the practice, though that is a fairly insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things.]