| Birkat Hamazon | |
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Birkat Hamazon is recited after consuming |
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| Halakhic texts relating to this article: | |
| Torah: | Deuteronomy 8:10 |
| Babylonian Talmud: | Berakhot ch.7 |
| Mishneh Torah: | Hilkhot Berakhot |
| Shulchan Aruch: | Orach Chayim 182 - 201 |
| * Not meant as a definitive ruling. Some observances may be rabbinical, customs or Torah based. | |
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, (Hebrew: ברכת המזון ; trans. Blessing on Nourishment), known in English as the Grace After Meals, (Yiddish: בענטשן; translit. bentshn or "to bless"; Yinglish: Benching), is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt. It is a matter of rabbinic dispute whether birkat hamazon must be said after eating certain other bread-like foods such as pizza.[1]
Birkat hamazon is typically read to oneself after ordinary meals and often sung aloud on special occasions such as the Shabbat and festivals. The blessing can be found in almost all prayerbooks and is often printed in a variety of artistic styles in a small booklet called a birchon in Hebrew or bentcher in Yiddish.
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The scriptural source for the requirement to say birkat hamazon is Deuteronomy 8:10 "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He gave you".
Birkat hamazon is made up of four blessings. The first three blessings are regarded as required by scriptural law:
After these four blessings, are a series of short prayers, each beginning with the word Harachaman (the Merciful One) which ask for God's compassion.
There are several known texts for birkat hamazon. The most widely available is the Ashkenazic. There are also Sephardic, Yemenite and Italian versions. All of these texts follow the same structure described above, but the wording varies. In particular, the Italian version preserves the ancient practice of commencing the paragraph inserted on Shabbat with Nachamenu.
Psalm 126, Shir Hama'alot (Song of Ascents), which expresses the Jewish hope of return to Zion following their final redemption, is widely recited by Ashkenazi Jews before birkat hamazon on Shabbat, Jewish holidays and other days on which the penitential Tachanun prayer is not recited. This is frequently followed by reciting four further lines of four other Psalms, (145:21; 115:18; 118:1; 106:2), known as Tehillat Hashem (Praise of God). Less common is the recitation on weekdays of Psalm 137, Al Naharot Bavel (By the rivers of Babylon), which describes the reactions of the Jews in exile as would have been expressed during the Babylonian captivity (See Mishna Berura quoting the Shelah). Spanish and Portuguese Jews precede Birkat HaMazon with Ein Keloheinu on Shabbat and holidays.
Additional sections are added on special occasions. On Jewish holidays, the ya'aleh ve-Yavo paragraph is added and on Shabbat the retzei paragraph is recited. On Hanukkah and Purim al ha-Nissim is added. Some Religious Zionist communities also add versions of "al Ha-Nissim" on Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim.
When birkat hamazon takes place at the Sheva Brachot (seven blessings) following a traditional Jewish marriage, special opening lines reflecting the joy of the occasion are added to the zimmun (invitation to grace) beginning with Devai Haser. At the conclusion of birkat hamazon, a further seven special blessings are recited.
At birkat hamazon concluding the celebratory meal of a brit milah (ritual circumcision), additional introductory lines, known as Nodeh Leshimcha, are added at the beginning and special ha-Rachaman prayers are inserted.
According to Halakha when a minimum of three men eat bread as part of a meal together they are obligated to form a mezuman (a "prepared gathering") with the addition of a few extra opening words whereby one man "invites" the others to join him in birkat hamazon. (This invitation is called a zimmun). When those present at the meal form a minyan (a quorum of ten adult Jewish men) there are further additions to the invitation. A Zimmun of 10 is called a Zimmun B'Shem.
Although the Talmud states that women are obligated to say birkat hamazon and that accordingly, three women can constitute a zimmun and lead it (Berachot 45b), later authorities, such as Maimonides and the Mishnah Berurah, held that women were exempt from leading a zimmun on grounds that women were not generally sufficiently educated to know how. A number of Modern Orthodox authorities [2] have held that because of improvements in women's religious education women can now do so, and some say that they are now obligated to. Accordingly, women forming a zimmun and leading birkat hamazon has become increasingly common in Modern Orthodox circles. Such authorities disagree, however, on the appropriateness of women leading a zimmun in the presence of men (or of three men). A minority of Modern Orthodox authorities, citing earlier authorities including Meiri, Sefer HaMeorot and the Shiltei HaGibborim, also hold that 10 women can (or should) constitute a minyan for purposes of saying Zimmun B'Shem for birkat hamazon. Unlike in Conservative or Reform Judaism, even Orthodox authorities who hold that women can form a zimmun maintain that one cannot be formed from a combination of men and women.
According to the one opinion in the Talmud (Berakhot 49b), there are special versions of the zimmun if birkat hamazon is said by at least one hundred, one thousand or ten thousand seated at one meal. When one hundred are present, the leader says "Blessed is HaShem our God, of Whose we have eaten and of Whose goodness we have lived", and the group responds "Blessed is HaShem our God, of Whose we have eaten, and of Whose goodness we have lived." When one thousand are present, the leader of the Zimmun says "Let us bless HaShem our God, the God of Israel, of Whose we have eaten, and of Whose goodness we have lived", and the crowd responds, "Blessed is HaShem our God, the God of Israel, of Whose we have eaten, and of Whose goodness we have lived." When at least ten thousand are present, the leader of the zimmun says "Let us bless Hashem our God, the God of Israel, who dwells among the cherubim, of Whose we have eaten, and of Whose goodness we have lived," and the multitude responds, "Blessed is Hashem our God, the God of Israel, who dwells among the cherubim, of Whose we have eaten, and of Whose goodness we have lived."
None of these variations is ever used in practice: the codes lay down that the only variation is the addition of eloheinu (our God) when the number reaches or exceeds ten.
It is customary for the person leading the zimmun to recite the blessings over a cup of wine called the kos shel beracha (cup of blessing). Although sometimes done at ordinary meals, it is more commonly done on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays, and almost universally done at meals celebrating special events. At a Passover Seder, the cup of blessing is drunk by everyone present, and functions as the "Third Cup". The practice of a cup of blessing is mentioned in the Talmud.[3]
There is a practice in many Orthodox communities to wash the hands before reciting birkat hamazon. This practice is called mayim acharonim (final waters). It is held that this, though a chovah (duty),[4] is not a mitzvah (a commandment), as the practice was instituted for health reasons (specifically, to avoid the danger of touching the eyes with harmful salts). A special ritual dispenser can be used to dispense the water[5], but does not need to be. Although the practice is based on a ruling recorded in the Talmud, whether or not this ruling is still binding is a matter of dispute among various Orthodox communities, given that the practice of eating with knives and forks seems to remove the practical reason for it. Some practice it as a binding halachah, others as an optional custom, and others do not practice it at all. Among those who do practice mayim acharonim, the majority simply pour a small amount of water over their finger tips (note that according to the Mishna Berurah, this does not fulfill the terms of the obligation at all but according to the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch(43:1) one "need not wash the entire hand. It is sufficient to wash until the second joint of the fingers", while a minority, usually Yemenite Jews or related groups, will wash up to the wrist.[6] One should not pause between the washing and saying birkat hamazon.
The Talmud relates that at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, a special feast will take place. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua will all claim unworthiness to lead the grace and the Cup of Blessing will pass to King David, who will accept the honour.[7]
An abbreviated form is sometime used when time is lacking. It contains the four essential blessings in a somewhat shortened form, with fewer preliminaries and additions. In liberal branches of Judaism, there is no standard text to be recited and customs vary accordingly. Many Sephardi Jews, especially Spanish and Portuguese Jews often sing a hymn in Spanish (not Ladino as is commonly assumed), called Bendigamos, before or after birkat hamazon. An additional abbreviated form of birkat hamazon in Ladino, called Ya Comimos, may also be said.
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