Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat Davud open a window into what really happens when we bentch.

Drawing from the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, the Chofetz Chaim, and Rabbeinu Bachya, we discover that Birkat HaMazon is not just gratitude after a meal. It is an eis ratzon, a moment when gates open in Shamayim.

When a mitzvah d’Oraita is fulfilled with presence and kavana, something shifts. A person is no longer standing in the same place. And once the gates are open, the question becomes: do we walk through them?

We explore why Chazal placed the Harachaman tefillos specifically after bentching, how true satiation comes from blessing rather than food, and how a Jew is invited to pour their deepest bakashos into the words of Birkat HaMazon.

This is a shiur about trust, dependence on Hashem, and learning to recognize when Heaven is quietly saying: now is the moment.

May we learn to slow down, to stay present, and to walk fully through the gates that open before us.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

Chapters

00:00 Niggun of the Baal Shem Tov
01:50 The Completeness of Torah: תורת השם תמימה
04:01 Blood Donation Example and Bentching Kavana
06:27 Ikar, Tefillah, and Dependence on Hashem
11:27 Harachaman After Birkat HaMazon
13:14 Minhag of Stopping at Yachasreinu
14:41 Benching Opens Gates to Heaven
36:48 Metzius and Davening Climax
38:24 Rabbi Chaya on Mitzvah Timing
40:46 Benching Series and Shabbos Focus

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David step into a quiet but radical idea: food doesn’t truly satiate a Jew — blessing does.

Beginning with niggun and moving into the inner meaning of Birchas HaMazon, we learn from Reb Shlomo of Karlin that “vesavata” doesn’t come from eating alone, but from uverachta. The real fullness is not physical; it’s spiritual.

Through Chazal, Chassidus, and a powerful story carried through generations, this shiur reframes benching as the heart of Jewish life — our past, our survival, and our future. When blessing is said slowly, with presence and kavana, it becomes a source of sustenance, dignity, and quiet strength that no circumstance can take away.

This is a preparation for Shabbos, and for living with inner satiation all week long.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

Chapters

00:00 Opening Niggun
02:15 Shabbos as the Source of All Holiness
05:10 Birchas HaMazon as the Story of Am Yisrael
09:30 Why Benching Requires More Kavana Than Tefillah
14:05 Mitzvos With “Mazal” — and One Without
18:40 The Real Meaning of “Ve’Achalta Ve’Savata”
22:55 Reb Shlomo of Karlin on True Satiation
27:10 A Story of Survival Through Birchas HaMazon
34:20 What Sustains a Jew Through Everything
38:45 Bringing This Consciousness Into Shabbos

There’s a certain kind of dream that leaves you with a pounding heart… and then you wake up, and the room is quiet, and you realize: it wasn’t real. And in that quiet, in that calm, there’s a taste of what Dovid HaMelech calls “היינו כחולמים”.

In this week’s Hachana L’Shabbos, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David open up a life-changing lens from the Beis Avraham of Slonim and Rav Biederman: the ultimate Redemption won’t only be that things get better moving forward. Part of the redemption is that we’ll be able to look back and see that even the darkest chapters were never random. Not “hakol tov (It's All Good).” Sometimes it’s not. But hakol letovah (It's All For The Good). And there’s a world of emunah inside that one small shift.

We speak honestly about pain, and still we learn the avodah of holding on: to keep doing mitzvos, to keep praying, to keep singing… until the day comes when the heart can finally exhale and say: I thought it was the end… and it was part of the plan.

May this Shabbos bring us that calm, the calm that follows waking up, and may it open the door to simcha shel mitzvah, even inside the mess.
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com
Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

CHAPTERS

00:00 Opening Niggunim
06:40 Comment on the Niggun MakSim
26:02 The Nuance of “Hakol Tov” vs “Hakol Letovah”
27:16 Rav Biederman’s Message on Meaningful Suffering
28:34 Everyday Labor as a Path to Shabbat Honor
35:51 Finding Joy Despite Pain: The Reason God Blesses Us
41:32 Choosing Halachic Paths: Haloch Yeilech vs Bo Yavo Berina