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On a Torah level, there is a mitzva for a person who eats bread and feels satiated to bless and thank God. This is particularly important, as once people are full, they tend to forget they were ever hungry. They become arrogant and lose sight of their values. The Torah prescribes Birkat Ha-mazon as the antidote: “When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Take care lest you forget the Lord your God and fail to keep His commandments, His rules, and His laws… When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses to live in, your herds and flocks have multiplied and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget the Lord your God – Who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 8:10-14).
Birkat Ha-mazon was originally composed of three blessings. The first blessing thanks God for food, while the second and third thank God for the Land of Israel and its sacred heart – Jerusalem. Why is the majority of Birkat Ha-mazon connected to the Land of Israel? Because the Jews' primary purpose is to deal with earthly life and the challenges of earning a living. Doing so should lead them to have more faith in God, to develop the world, to enjoy the good in their lives, and to thank God for it. This is exactly why He created the Holy Land. It is there divine ideals can be expressed. From there, faith, ethics, and values spread to the rest of the world.
After the Second Temple was destroyed, people lost hope in the rebuilding of the Land and Jerusalem, and saw no reason to continue blessing God for the Land. In response, the Sages added a fourth blessing to strengthen people’s faith that everything was for the best, and help them understand that the destruction of the Temple, the exile, and the accompanying suffering were meant to improve us, in anticipation of the rebuilding of the Land, Jerusalem, and the Temple.
On Shabbat and holidays, we insert special paragraphs into Birkat Ha-mazon. On these days, eating is imbued with additional holiness, and we express this when we thank God for the food.
After completing the four blessings of Birkat Ha-mazon, it is customary to make numerous requests that begin with “The Merciful One” (Ha-raĥaman). Additionally, there is an insertion guests can add, blessing their hosts.
