I relate to the second set of requests as being for the nation’s physical well-being as individuals. This follows the prerequisite three requests, for our spiritual well-being. First we need to know how to use our resources, and only then can our resources be of benefit to us. The difference between helping and enabling.

These “as individual” berakhos end with Birkhas haShanim:

בָּרֵךְ עָלֵֽינוּ ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ אֶת־הַשָּׁנָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־כָּל־מִינֵי תְבוּאָתָהּ לְטוֹבָה, וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לִ[בְרָכָה] עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וְשַׂבְּ֒עֵֽנוּ מִטּוּבָהּ וּבָרֵךְ שְׁנָתֵֽנוּ כַּשָּׁנִים הַטּוֹבוֹת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ מְבָרֵךְ הַשָּׁנִים:

Bless for us, Hashem our G-d, this year and all the varieties of its produce for good; and bestow [dew and rain for a] berakhah upon the face of the earth; satisfy us from its bounty and bless our year, like the good years. Blessed are You, Hashem, the One Who blesses the years.

It has an interesting structure. The thesis appears to be about prosperity in an agrarian setting. But why does it begin and end talking about time — “Bless this year … and bless our year like the good years. Blessed are You, Hashem, the One who Blesses the years”?

When it comes to physical success, we only care about the end state. A million dollars is a million dollars whether earned or won in a lottery – same buying power. Similarly, if the money were earned honestly or through deceit. it is also just as valuable.

But spiritually? There is a reason why we have no problem imagining the stereotypical lottery winner is capable of losing their money nearly as quickly as they won it.

This is also inherent in Ben Zoma’s definition of wealth. The question and answer are fairly well known (Avos 4:1), but his prooftext less so:

אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר? הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ.
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, “יְגִ֣יעַ כַּ֭פֶּיךָ כִּ֣י תֹאכֵ֑ל אַ֝שְׁרֶ֗יךָ וְט֣וֹב לָֽךְ׃”
אַשְׁרֶיךָ, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. וְטוֹב לָךְ, לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא.

Who is wealthy? Someone who rejoices in his lot.

As it says, “When you eat from the labor of your hands, you will be happy and it will be good for you.” (Tehillim 128:2)

“You shall be happy” in this world, “and you shall prosper” in the World to Come.

Ben Zoma’s idea of “chelqo — his lot” is not what a person has in some moment of time. The fact that it is “יְגִ֣יעַ כַּ֭פֶּיךָ — the labor of your hands” is an integral part of it. The process matters. It is where spirituality comes in. And why Ben Zoma explains the verse as speaking of good in both this world and the next.

This berakhah too. It’s not “merely” about wealth. Winning the money in a lottery or through shady business dealings wouldn’t be a fulfillment of the berakhah. It is a berakhah that we earn that wealth. And in a way that displays honesty and integrity and provides a service to others. So that we have the wealth in the here-and-now and the growth that will get us greater happiness in the World to Come.

In less of a vein of “Tefillah Meanings” and a bit of philosophizing, I cannot help but share an idea from Rav Shimon Shkop’s introduction to Shaarei Yosher that I discuss in Widen Your Tent (Mosaica, 2019), sec. 7. Rav Shimon starts by analyzing an enigmatic teaching in the gemara (Nedarim 38a):

… [Commenting] on the verse ‘Carve out for yourself.’ [It explains the words “for yourself”] – Moses only became wealthy through the extra pieces [of sapphire he chipped off the stones to make] the Tablets. This is a startling idea — [is it possible that] Hashem couldn’t find any way to make Moshe wealthy except through the extras of the Tablets?

Pretty startling, no? We’re talking about The Luchos, the Aseres haDibberos, and that’s what Hashem chooses as the vehicle for granting Moses wealth???

Rav Shimon explains that the Luchos here symbolize the surface upon which we write our own Torah – our souls. Carving away the extra sapphire? This represents our need to remove the excesses in our Middos, to prepare that surface.

Rav Shimon adds:

For this reason, HaQadosh Barukh Hu showed Moshe as a sign to all who accept the Torah that He would prepare their income for them through the making of the Luchos; any “extras that are carved away” will provide them with income.

He too says that while going to work may in principle be redundant, the point of going to work for those who do is as a gym for developing our Middos. Making money is merely a side effect.

In other words, we aren’t supposed to be looking for business solutions that aid the other because win-win solutions make the most money. Rather, Hashem set up commerce such that win-win solutions make the most money so that we are motivated to find ways to provide services or goods to others

But back to the Tefillah Meaning, so we don’t lose the point because of this add-on: Birkhas haShanim is about asking for success in our efforts to make money. That we succeed not only in obtaining what we need, but moreso spiritually succeed in how we obtain it. As Ben Zoma says: