The Babylonian Talmud on Blessings after a Meal

46a–b

R. Yoḥanan said in the name of R. Simeon bar Yoḥai: The host breaks bread and a guest recites [grace after meals]. The host breaks [bread] so that he will break [bread] generously; and the guest recites [grace after meals] so that he may bless the host. What is [the formula of the blessing with which the guest] blesses [his host]? “May it be Your will that the master of the house shall not suffer shame in this world, nor humiliation in the world to come.” Rabbi added to it elements [pertaining to material success]: “And may he be very successful with all his possessions, and may his possessions and our possessions be successful and near the city, and may Satan control neither his deeds nor our deeds, and may no thought of sin, iniquity, or transgression stand before him or before us from now and for evermore.” [ . . . ]

All blessings, [one] begins [to recite] them with “Blessed,” and concludes [reciting] them with “Blessed,” except for blessings over fruit, blessings over mitzvot, a blessing that is juxtaposed to another [blessing], and the final blessing after the Shema‘. There are among these [blessings] those that [one who recites it] begins [to recite it] with “Blessed” but does not conclude reciting it with “Blessed”; and there are among these [blessings] that [one who recites it] concludes [reciting it] with “Blessed,” but does not begin [reciting it] with “Blessed.” [ . . . ]

What do they say in the house of the mourner? “Blessed . . . who is good and does good.” R. Akiva says, “Blessed . . . the true Judge.” “Who is good and does good,” yes, [it is recited in the house of the mourner]; “the true Judge,” no, [it is not recited]? Rather, say, “Who is good and does good,” [is recited] as well.

Mar Zutra happened [to come] to R. Assi’s home [when an] incident of [mourning] befell [R. Ashi. Mar Zutra] began a combined blessing and recited, “Who is good and does good, God of truth, the true Judge, who judges with righteousness, takes away with justice, and is the ruler of His world to do in it as He wills, as all His ways are just, that all is His and we are His people and His servants, and in everything we are obligated to thank Him and bless Him, who repairs the breaches in Israel, He will repair this breach in Israel for life.” [ . . . ]

47a

The sages taught: One should not respond [with] an abbreviated amen, [in which the first syllable is not properly enunciated,] and a truncated amen, [in which the second syllable is not properly enunciated,] and an orphaned amen, [in which the respondent is unaware of the blessing to which he is responding. Similarly,] one should not [quickly and indifferently] discharge a blessing from his mouth. Ben Azzai says: Anyone who recites an orphaned amen, his children will be orphaned; [one who recites an] abbreviated [amen,] his days will be abbreviated [and incomplete; one who recites] a truncated [amen,] his days will be truncated. One who extends his amen, they will extend his days and years for him. [ . . . ]

48b–49a

The sages taught [that] the order of Grace after Meals is as follows: The first blessing is the blessing of “Who feeds”; the second is the blessing of the land; the third is “Who builds Jerusalem”; and the fourth is “Who is good and does good.” On the Sabbath one begins [the third blessing] with consolation and ends with consolation and mentions the sanctity of the day [with mention of the Sabbath] in the middle. R. Eliezer says: If one wishes to recite [the supplement for the sanctity of the Sabbath in] the blessing of consolation, he recites it [there]; in the blessing of the land, he recites it [there]; in the blessing instituted by the sages at Yavneh, he recites it [there]. And the rabbis say: He may only recite [the mention of the sanctity of the Sabbath] in [the context of] the blessing of consolation.

The sages taught: From where [is it derived that] grace after meals is from the Torah? As it is stated: And you shall eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless [the Lord, your God, for the good land that He has given you] (Deuteronomy 8:10). And you shall bless, that is the blessing of “Who feeds.” The Lord, your God, that is the zimmun¹ blessing. For the land, that is the blessing of the land; good, that is “Who builds Jerusalem,” and it also says: This good mountain and Lebanon (Deuteronomy 3:25), [which is interpreted homiletically as referring to Jerusalem and the Temple]. That He gave you, that is “Who is good and does good.” [However,] I only have [a Torah source for blessings] after [eating]. From where [is it derived that one is obligated to recite blessings] before [eating]? You said [that it can be derived through] an a fortiori inference: When one is satisfied, he [is obligated to] recite a blessing [and thank God for food]; when he is hungry, all the more so [that he should recite a blessing to offer thanks for the food he will eat].

It was taught: R. Eliezer says: Anyone who did not say, “A desirable, good, and spacious land” in the blessing of the land, and [who did not mention] the royal house of David in [the blessing] “Who builds Jerusalem” did not fulfill his obligation. Naḥum the Elder says: One must mention the covenant [of circumcision] in [the blessing of the land]. R. Yossi says: One must mention the Torah in [the blessing of the land]. Pelimu, [one of the last tanna’im,] says: He must [make mention of the] covenant [of circumcision] preceding [mention of the] Torah, as this, [the Torah,] was given [to the Jewish people] with three covenants, and that, [the covenant of circumcision,] was given with thirteen covenants, [as the word berit, covenant, appears thirteen times in the portion dealing with the circumcision of Abraham].²

R. Abba says: One must mention thanks [in the blessing of thanksgiving in grace after meals] at the beginning and the end [of the blessing]. And one who decreases [the number of expressions of thanksgiving] may not decrease [their number] to fewer than one, and [if] anyone decreases [their number] to fewer than one, it is reprehensible.

Anyone who concludes the blessing of the land “Who bequeaths lands” and [concludes] the blessing “Who builds Jerusalem” [with the formula] “Who redeems Israel” is an ignoramus, [as he thereby corrupts the intention of the blessing]. And anyone who does not mention covenant and Torah in the blessing of the land and the royal house of David in [the blessing] “Who builds Jerusalem” did not fulfill his obligation. [ . . . ]

49b–50a

Samuel said: One should never exclude himself from the collective. We learned: In a group of three people and him, [he] says, “Bless.” Say [that the meaning of the mishnah is, he may] even [say] “Bless”; nevertheless, “Let us bless” is preferable. [ . . . ]

[As a rule,] from [the style of] one’s blessings it is obvious whether or not he is a Torah scholar. How so? [For example,] Rabbi says: [One who recites “Blessed be the one from whose food we have eaten] and by whose goodness [we live],” he is a Torah scholar. [However, one who recites “Blessed be the one from whose food we have eaten] and from whose goodness [we live],” he is an ignoramus. [ . . . ] It was taught: Rabbi says: [One who recites] “And by His goodness we live,” he is a Torah scholar. [However, one who recites, “And by His goodness] they live,” he is a fool. [ . . . ] R. Yoḥanan said: [One who recites] “Let us bless the one whose food we have eaten,” he is a Torah scholar. [However, one who recites “Let us bless] Him from whose food we have eaten,” he is an ignoramus.³