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What is the meaning and translation of the words 'Baruch Ata Hashem... Shehakol Nihyah Bidvaro', (Blessed are you G-D..) which a child has to say and understand before drinking water? Baruch - Blessed. This means that he or she, this small Jewish child blesses Hashem! And every word is completely true. This means that this very small child has the power to bless the uncomparable great creator of the world!!! Another translation of 'Baruch' means "To extend, or, bring down". This means, that this child brings down G-Dliness into this world through the Bracha that he or she says.
The second word in the Bracha is '
Ata
' - 'You'. This Jewish child says to Hashem YOU as one who is facing him, and the child is talking to G-D face to face (for if this was not so, the text of the Bracha should be 'HU' meaning 'He'). Then the child says "Hashem" and we teach him that the 'ATA' refers to the one who is called 'Havaya' (the most Holy Name), whose meaning is "Haya Hoveh V'Yihiyeh - past present and future". That Hashem was, is and will alwayes be. Not like everything else that the child sees which is only temporary. Then there is the second meaning of 'Havaya', as in the word 'M'Haveh'- He brings into being. That Hashem is the one who creates the existence of everything. Afterwards the child is taught to say Elokeinu , as it is explained in the Shulchan Aruch, that 'Elokeinu' means 'Kocheinu - Our strength'. This means that not only is Hashem the Creator of everything, but that he is also the strength and the life of everything - the child, his parents and everything else around him, that every sort of existence and strength that the child finds within himself and around him, is in reality the strength of Hashem.
The child is later taught to say
Melech Haolam
- King of the Universe. It is not sufficient to know and understand that Hashem is the creator and power behind everything in this world - for one can still, G-D forbid, fool himself into thinking that after creating and giving everything the necessary strengths, He, G-D forbid, forsook the world, and it is presently going on its own. Only after this "general introduction" of these six words is the child taught the conclusion of the Bracha, in conjunction with the food/drink he/she is about to take into his/her mouth. Shehakol Nihyah Bidvaro , that everything, even this small amount of water which he is about to drink was created through the words of Hashem.
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