The Blessing “Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro” for Protection from All Troubles

A Blessing for Protection from Troubles — “Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro”

The Mishnah (Berakhot 40a) states: “He may recite the blessing ‘Shehakol’ over any food and will be yotzei (have fulfilled his obligation), thereby fulfilling the mitzvah of reciting a blessing over food.” The Lechovitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitz, explains these words as follows: “When a person says, regarding all the suffering that has entered his life, ‘Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro’—that everything occurs by the word of the Almighty—he will be yotzei; through faith, he will emerge from all his tzarot (troubles).” The Slonim Rebbe, author of Netivot Shalom, related that once, when he was a child during the First World War, the Germans burst into their home and ordered everyone to stand facing the wall. They intended to shoot them all. Reb Moshe Berzovsky, the father of the Netivot Shalom, asked them to bring him a glass of water (as his final request) so that he could say Shehakol. He recited the blessing with great kavanah. At that very moment, Russian soldiers arrived. The Germans immediately went out to fight, and the Berzovsky family was saved. The children asked their father whether a miracle had truly occurred. Their father replied: “It was not a miracle. I received a tradition that when trouble descends upon a person and he says ‘Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro’ (everything occurs by the word of the Almighty), he will be saved.” This is the power of emunah. Faith transforms the most difficult situations, and all troubles are removed. (From “The Well of Torah,” Rabbi Elimelech Biderman)   “Borei Nefashot” — a segula for prosperity according to the Ohr HaChaim Borei Nefashot – a segula for prosperity according to the Or HaChaim Seder Seudat Amenim Seder Seudat Amenim Answering Amen to “Borei Nefashot” — a segula for having children Amen to “Borei Nefashot” — a segula for having children