100 Blessings a Day: King David's Shield

100 Blessings a Day — The Shield of King David for the Jewish People

The Midrash «Bamidbar Rabbah» (18:17) states: «Every day, 100 people were dying in Israel, and no one could understand the reason for these deaths until King David investigated the matter and grasped what was happening through Ruach HaKodesh. When he instituted the recitation of 100 blessings every day, the deaths ceased. This is hinted at in the verse: “The statement of David, the son of Yishai, the statement of the man raised on high (הוקם על)”. (II Samuel 23:1) The gematria of the word על is equal to 100. Furthermore, the Torah states: “And now, Israel, what does the L-rd your G-d ask of you? Only to fear the L-rd your G-d, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, and to serve the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Devarim 10:12) And the Sages (Menachot 43b) teach: “It is stated in Devarim (10:12): ‘And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d require of you? Only to fear Hashem your G-d.’ On this basis, Chazal teach: do not read “what” — מה (mah), but rather read מאה — “100” (me'ah). This hints that in order to attain the level of “Yirat Shamayim” — fear of Heaven — one must recite 100 blessings a day. These 100 blessings helped subdue the Sitra Achra — the side of Death. As is known, the Sitra Achra (the realm of impurity) contains 400 forces, as follows from the hidden meaning of the verse: “And Esau came, and with him were four hundred men.” (Bereishit 33:1) The number 400 is the gematria of the word רעעין (“envious,” “possessing an evil eye”). 400 is also the numerical value of the letter ת in the word מות — and it joined with מו when Chavah ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge; this too began with the eyes, as it is written (Bereishit 3:6): “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was desirable to the eyes.” 100 blessings nullify death, because they contain 100 mentions of the Name of the Almighty, each of which consists of four letters, for a total of 400 letters. Therefore, 100 blessings nullify the deaths of 100 people, each person's body being formed from four primordial elements (400 in total).   A Mother and 100 Blessings The Hebrew word for “faithful” is נאמנ — it consists of the word אמ (mother) and two letters “nun” = 100. This hints that it is specifically a mother who instills in her children a love for reciting 100 blessings. Shemot (38:27) states: “100 sockets, made from 100 talents of silver, one talent per socket.” Ba'al HaTurim explains: “Accordingly, they instituted the recitation of 100 blessings a day.” But what is the connection between the sockets of the Mishkan and blessings? “The word אדנים ‘Adanim’ hints at the word אדון — ‘Master.’ With every blessing we recite, we proclaim G-d to be the Master of the universe. Just as the 100 sockets formed the foundation of the Mishkan, so too the 100 daily blessings are the foundation of the Jewish home (the miniature Temple) that each of us builds.” (Chiddushei HaRim)   100 Blessings Against Illness Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh teaches that the vessels created through the 100 blessings which, according to King David, serve as a spiritual shield against illness, correspond to 100 straightened vessels. The gematria of the word כלים “vessels” is also equal to 100. The shield of blessings contained in the phrase “100 blessings every day” is so powerful that this can be seen from the equality of its gematria with the numerical value of the phrase וישם לך שלום — “and He shall grant you peace” — the most important and concluding phrase of Birkat Kohanim.    100 Blessings a Day Tradition teaches that King David also instituted that every Jew should recite at least 100 blessings during the day. This applies to men and to boys who have reached approximately five years of age. According to most Sages, the day is reckoned from sunset to sunset. However, some maintain that the day is reckoned from waking until the following morning. Therefore, someone who did not manage to recite 100 blessings from evening to evening may count blessings recited during the following night.   How to Reach 100 Blessings a Day On weekdays, it is fairly easy to “reach” 100 blessings. Here is an example (nusach Ashkenaz): 1–5 — 5 blessings during the recitation of Shema in Maariv; 6–24 — 19 blessings during the recitation of the Amidah in Maariv; 25 — המפיל — during the recitation of Shema before going to sleep; 26 — על נטילת ידים — “Netilat Yadayim” upon waking; 27 — אשר יצר — “Asher Yatzar”; 28 — The blessing on the tallit (or tzitzit); 29–30 — 2 blessings on tefillin; 31–33 — 3 blessings for Torah study; 34 — אלהי נשמה; 35–49 — 15 morning blessings — “Birkot HaShachar”; 50 — מקדש אש שמך ברבים; 51 — ברוך שאמר — “Baruch She'amar”; 52 — ישתבח — “Yishtabach”; 53–55 — 3 blessings during the recitation of Shema in Shacharit; 56–74 — 19 blessings during the recitation of the Amidah in Shacharit; 75–93 — 19 blessings during the recitation of the Amidah in Mincha; 94–95 — על נטילת ידים twice a day during meals with bread; 96–97 — המוציא twice a day during meals with bread; 98–105 — 4 blessings in Birkat Hamazon twice a day;   On Shabbat and Yom Tov , each Amidah contains 7 blessings instead of 19. That is, we “lose” (19–7) × 3 = 36 blessings. We also do not recite the 2 blessings on tefillin, nor do we recite המלך בכבודו in Maariv. Thus, 105–39 = 66 blessings remain. However, unlike on weekdays, we recite 7 additional blessings in the Musaf Amidah, as well as 3 blessings during Kiddush (two in the evening and one during the day). The total is 76. On Shabbat, we add 6 blessings during the third meal (המוציא, על נטילת ידים and 4 blessings in Birkat Hamazon). The total is 82 blessings on Shabbat. On Yom Tov there is no third meal, but we recite 2 blessings during the recitation of Hallel. The total is 78 blessings on Yom Tov.    How Can We Make Up the Blessings Missing from the Total of 100?  — During the day, we recite אשר יצר — “Asher Yatzar” — several times. — During the day, we eat baked foods, fruit, and the like, and drink water; each time, we add two blessings — one before and one after eating. — As is known, answering “amen” to a blessing recited during communal prayer counts as reciting that blessing. Thus, we can add 27 blessings from the Torah reading and Haftarah: 7 aliyot with 2 blessings each, 2 for Maftir, and 5 for the Haftarah in Shacharit, plus 3 aliyot with 2 blessings each in Mincha. In the same way, we can add 21 blessings during the Chazan's repetition of the Amidah in Maariv, Shacharit, and Musaf (3 × 7 = 21). On public fast days, we “lose” at least 12 blessings connected with meals. The missing blessings can be made up by answering “amen” to the Torah reading: 3 aliyot with two blessings each in Shacharit, another 3 aliyot with two blessings each in Mincha, and 4 blessings for the Haftarah in Mincha — a total of 16 additional blessings. (Based on an article by Rabbi Aharon-Shneer Berenstein)