The Heart of Every Shabbos Table
The Gemara in Shabbos (117b) teaches that every Yid is obligated to eat three meals on Shabbos, a mitzvah Chazal derive from the three times the word “today” appears in the Torah’s account of the manna. Each meal has its own time and its own kedushah. After each meal, we bench, and on Shabbos we add R’tzei V’Hachalitzeinu inside Birkat Hamazon, asking Hashem to accept our rest and let the holiness of Shabbos remain with us.
R’tzei V’Hachalitzeinu: The Full Prayer
[rmbh_prayer_tabs]The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 188:5-6) rules that if you forgot R’tzei and realized it after finishing Boneh Yerushalayim but before beginning HaTov VeHaMeitiv, there is a short makeup bracha to say there. If you already began the fourth bracha, you return to the beginning of benching for the first two Shabbos meals. At Shalosh Seudos, however, the halachah is more lenient — the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 188:8) rules that the third Shabbos meal follows the same rule as Rosh Chodesh, so one does not return to the start of benching; ask your rav for practical guidance. That is how seriously Chazal took mentioning Shabbos in Birkat Hamazon.
What These Words Mean for You
R’tzei v’hachalitzeinu “Find favor and strengthen us”
The very first words set the tone of the entire insertion. R’tzei means “be pleased” or “find favor.” We are not only thanking Hashem for the food. We are asking Him to look with favor on the way we kept Shabbos. When you say these words after a Shabbos meal, you are asking that the peace and kedushah of Shabbos rest on your table, your family, and your home.
Lishbos boi v’lonuach boi b’ahavah “To rest on it and to be at ease on it, with love”
Two words for rest: lishbos and lonuach. Lishbos means to stop, to cease from melacha. Lonuach goes deeper. It is the inner rest, the settling of the neshamah. And both of them are wrapped in one word: b’ahavah, with love. Shabbos rest is not something forced on us. It is a gift given with love. The Gemara (Shabbos 10b) says Hashem told Moshe: “I have a good gift in My treasure-house, and Shabbos is its name.” When you say these words, you are receiving that gift.
Shelo s’hei tzoroh v’yogoin va’anochoh “That there be no trouble, grief, or sorrow”
Three words for pain: tzoroh (trouble), yogoin (grief), anochoh (sighing). We ask Hashem to keep all three away from our day of rest. There is something very honest about this line. Even on Shabbos, a person can carry heaviness. Worry about health, about children, about parnassah. This bracha does not pretend the worry does not exist. It asks Hashem to lift it, at least for this one holy day. That is a tefillah worth saying slowly.
Ba’al hay’shuois uVa’al hanechomois “Master of salvations and Master of consolations”
The R’tzei closes by calling Hashem the Ba’al of two things: yeshuos (salvations) and nechamos (consolations). He saves us, and He comforts us. Not one without the other. Sometimes Hashem delivers us from the trouble entirely. Sometimes He gives us the strength to bear it. Both are acts of mercy. When you finish this bracha and return to the benching, you carry with you the knowledge that Hashem is in charge of both the rescue and the comfort.
How to Say This Bracha
R’tzei V’Hachalitzeinu is said every time you bench on Shabbos, at all three Shabbos meals. The first meal is Friday night, after the seudah that follows Kiddush. The second is Shabbos day, after the morning seudah. The third is Shalosh Seudos, eaten in the late afternoon as Shabbos begins to draw to a close.
Each meal has its own feel. Friday night is warm, full of light and song. The daytime meal carries the settled joy of Shabbos itself. And Shalosh Seudos, eaten late in the day, has a quieter, more inward tone as Shabbos begins to draw toward its close. Many communities sing slow, deep zemiros at the third meal, songs that reach into a quiet place in the heart.
When you reach the R’tzei in benching, pause. Do not rush through it. Let the words settle. You are asking Hashem to accept the way you kept Shabbos, with all your effort and all your shortcomings. Set your kavanah: “Hashem, this Shabbos meal was for You. Please find favor in it. Keep my family from sorrow and let us taste the comfort of the world to come.”
Tefillah and tzedakah have always stood side by side in Jewish life. On Shabbos itself, however, the act of giving tzedakah is not done in the regular way. Rather, you can give before or after Shabbos in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, and then bench on Shabbos with that mitzvah in mind. Many people also have the custom to say “Elokah d’Meir aneini” as a personal tefillah. That phrase is not part of Birkat Hamazon itself, but a separate plea for Hashem’s help in the zechus of Rabbi Meir.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a-b) tells the story of Rabbi Meir rescuing his sister-in-law from Roman captivity. In that story, Rabbi Meir gives the prison guard the phrase “Elokah d’Meir aneini” and demonstrates that he will be saved through it; later the guard uses it when his own life is in danger. When people give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus, they are asking Hashem to hear their tefillah in the merit of a great tzaddik and the mitzvah of tzedakah.
When you give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir, you are not davening to him. You are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined zechus of this great tzaddik and your own act of chesed. You are saying: just as Rabbi Meir’s cry was answered, so may mine be answered.
Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities was founded in 1799 and supports talmidei chachamim and families in need in Eretz Yisrael. The scholars in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. When you give tzedakah for the poor of Eretz Yisrael in Rabbi Meir’s zechus and then sit down to your Shabbos seudah, you bring the kedushah of chesed right to your table.
Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness
[rmbh_faq]A Brachah for Your Shabbos
That tells me something about you. You care about Shabbos. You want it to mean something real in your home.
May Hashem find favor in your Shabbos table. May each meal bring light into your home, from the candles of Friday night through the quiet of Shalosh Seudos. May there be no sorrow, no trouble, no sighing on your day of rest. And may the kedushah of Shabbos stay with you long after the last meal is finished, carrying you through the week ahead with menuchas hanefesh.
You can submit a prayer request to the scholars at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias at no cost. They will daven for you and your family by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your kindness will rise together with your prayer.
