Q:
We say the bracha שעשה לי כל צרכי when we thank Him for the shoes. But the words mean “that He made for me all of my needs”. Why do we say that if we’re thanking for shoes?
A:
I must explain something. In most countries up till recently, everybody went barefoot. Even in the times of Tanach, they went barefoot – when they came home, they used to wash their feet from the road. Because shoes are expensive to make.
When I was in Lithuania I saw that the gentiles, when they went to town, they carried their shoes on their back. They walked barefoot the whole way and when they entered the town, then they put on their shoes. They didn’t want to wear out the shoes. The entire journey was barefoot and when they came to the town, they put on their shoes. Because shoes were considered only for showoffs. If you’re a well-dressed gentleman, you wear shoes; but ordinarily they went barefoot. Most of the countries were barefoot.
So we say שעשה לי כל צרכי – even the shoes!
Now, today in America, who thinks about that? But we have to rethink our ideas and think about how good it is to have shoes too. If you had to walk in the street barefoot, you could do it. You could walk barefoot in the street. But still, it’s certainly not as comfortable. Certainly it’s a big difference. And therefore we say כל צרכי – even shoes I have! Thank Hashem for your shoes!
And while you’re saying that, don’t say it just in general. Think, on the bottom of the shoes, there’s a heavy leather sole or a heavy rubber sole. On the top, there’s a soft leather. Inside there’s a lining. There’s a tongue in the shoe. There are holes for the shoelaces. And the shoelaces have iron tips, hard tips. All kinds of luxuries are included in a shoe.
TAPE #E-52 (February 1996)
