This post suggests a Grace After Meals mediation for gratitude, intention, and blessing, based on two separate verses from Jewish liturgy. The first is a Hebrew verse from the last paragraph of the Edot Hamizrach Grace After Meals recited by Jews of Sephardic, Middle Eastern, and Oriental descent. The second is the Ben Ish Chai’s one-line Aramaic Grace After Meals. The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Hayim, 1835-1909), was a leading Sephardic rabbi and Kabbalist who lived in Baghdad. He ruled that in extreme cases when someone is very short on time or does not know how to read Hebrew, this one line blessing based on a verse in the Talmud (Brachot 40b) can be recited instead of the lengthy Grace After Meals. The Hebrew/Aramaic, English, and transliterated verses were submitted to Ritualwell.org, a project of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College that provides a platform for creating new Jewish practices. One could just to recite these verses before, after, or instead of the traditional Grace After Meals.
Grace After Meals Meditation Based on Traditional Sources
מָה שֶׁאָכַלְנוּ יִהְיֶה לַשֹּׂבַע וּמַה שֶׁשָּׁתִינוּ יִהְיֶה לִרְפוּאָה וּמַה שֶׁהוֹתַרְנוּ יִהְיֶה לִבְרָכָה
בְּרִיך רַחֲמָנָא מַלְכָּא דְעַלְמָא מָרֵיהּ דְהַאי פִּיתָּא
Mah she-akhalnu yihiyeh l’sova, u-mah she-shatinu yihiyeh lir’fuah, u-mah she-hotarnu yihiyeh liv’rakhah
B’rikh rakhamana, malka de’almamarey d’hai pita
That which we ate, may it satiate us; And that which we drank, may it give us good health; And that which is left over, may we see it as a blessing;
Blessed are You, Source of Mercy, for You are the master of this bread.