Dvar Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

The Torah states: “And you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Almighty, your G-d, for the good land which He gave you. Guard yourself lest you forget the Lord, your G-d, and do not observe His commandments and His laws and His statutes which I command you this day” (Deut 8:10,11).

What lesson for life are we to learn from the juxtaposition of these two verses?

In the blessings we make after eating a meal, in addition to thanking the Almighty for the land of Israel, the Sages have included thanking Him for the Covenant with Him and for the Torah which He gave us. This ensures that we focus on a higher level rather just the food and materialism – which would cause us to forget the Almighty.

Therefore, this is the lesson we learn from the juxtaposition of these two verses: If you will eat and are satisfied and bless the Almighty for just the land itself – then (verse 11) you must be on guard not to forget the Almighty and His commandments (Chasam Sofer; Toras Moshe).