Rabbinic Blessings after Eating a Meal

Communal meals were important for the rabbis, as for other Jewish and non-Jewish groups in the Greco-Roman world. The rabbis prescribed a series of blessings to be recited jointly after a meal when at least three people were present. The recitation was to be formally initiated by one member of the group inviting the others to join with him in praising God. Early rabbinic legal texts articulate the proper ways of reciting these blessings, the proper order and content of the blessings, and, in a few cases, some verbal phrases to be used. However, the full texts of these blessings appear only later. Geniza prayer-book manuscripts provide early versions, following the rite of the land of Israel.