Birkat Hamazon or
Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the
Grace After Meals, ' onMouseout='HidePop("90307")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Transliteration">translit.
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
bentshn or "to bless";
YinglishYinglish words are neologisms created by speakers of Yiddish in English-speaking countries, sometimes to describe things that were uncommon in the old country...
:
Benching), is a set of
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
blessings that
Jewish LawHalakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
prescribes following a meal that includes
breadBread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
or matzoh made from one or all of
wheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
,
barleyBarley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
,
ryeRye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
,
oatThe common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
s,
speltSpelt is a hexaploid species of wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times; it now survives as a relict crop in Central Europe and northern Spain and has found a new market as a health food. Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the...
. It is a matter of rabbinic dispute whether
birkat hamazon must be said after eating certain other bread-like foods such as
pizzaPizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
.
Birkat hamazon is typically read to oneself after ordinary meals and often sung aloud on special occasions such as the
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and festivals. The blessing can be found in almost all
prayerbooksA siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
and is often printed in a variety of artistic styles in a small booklet called a
birchon in Hebrew or
bentcher in Yiddish.
Source and text
The scriptural source for the requirement to say
birkat hamazon is
DeuteronomyThe Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
8:10 "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless
the LORDThe term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
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:
- The food: A blessing of thanks for the food was traditionally composed by Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
in gratitude for the mannaManna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
which the Jews ate in the wilderness during the ExodusThe Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
from EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
- The land: A blessing of thanks for the Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, is attributed to JoshuaJoshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
after he led the Jewish people into Israel.
- Jerusalem: Concerns Jerusalem, is ascribed to David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, who established it as the capital of Israel and Solomon, who built the Temple in JerusalemSolomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
.
- God's goodness: A blessing of thanks for God's goodness, written by Rabban Gamliel in Yavneh. The obligation to recite this blessing is regarded as a rabbinic obligation.
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
AshkenazicAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
. There are also
SephardicSephardic law and customs means the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim...
,
YemeniteYemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
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.
Preliminary psalms
PsalmThe Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
126,
Shir Hama'alot (Song of Ascents), which expresses the Jewish hope of return to
ZionThe Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
following their final redemption, is widely recited by Ashkenazi Jews before
birkat hamazon on
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
,
Jewish holidayJewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s and other days on which the penitential
TachanunTachanun or , also called nefillat apayim is part of Judaism's morning and afternoon services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services...
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
BabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
), which describes the reactions of the
Jews in exileThe Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
as would have been expressed during the
Babylonian captivityThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
(See Mishna Berura quoting the Shelah).
Spanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
precede Birkat HaMazon with
Ein KeloheinuEin Keloheinu is a well known Jewish hymn. Orthodox Jews pronounce it as Ein Kelokeinu when referring to it outside of prayer, in order to avoid taking the name of God in vain or otherwise violating the sanctity of reverence to the Almighty.Ein Keloheinu is sometimes chanted at the end of the...
on Shabbat and holidays.
Holidays
Additional sections are added on special occasions. On
Jewish holidayJewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s, the
ya'aleh ve-Yavo paragraph is added and on
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
the
retzei paragraph is recited. On
HanukkahHanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
and
PurimPurim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
al ha-Nissim is added. Some Religious Zionist communities also add versions of "al Ha-Nissim" on Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim.
Sheva Brachot
When
birkat hamazon takes place at the
Sheva BrachotSheva Brachot literally "the seven blessings" also known as birkot Nesuim , "the wedding blessings" in Jewish religious law are blessings that are recited for a bride and her groom as part of nissuim...
(seven blessings) following a traditional
Jewish marriageIn Judaism, marriage is viewed as a contractual bond commanded by God in which a man and a woman come together to create a relationship in which God is directly involved. Though procreation is not the sole purpose, a Jewish marriage is also expected to fulfill the commandment to have children. The...
, 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.
Brit milah
At
birkat hamazon concluding the
celebratory mealA seudat mitzvah , in Judaism, is an obligatory festive meal, usually referring to the celebratory meal following the fulfillment of a mitzvah , such as a bar mitzvah, a wedding, a brit milah , or a siyum...
of a
brit milahThe brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
(ritual circumcision), additional introductory lines, known as
Nodeh Leshimcha, are added at the beginning and special
ha-Rachaman prayers are inserted.
Zimmun
According to
HalakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
when a minimum of three men eat bread as part of a
mealA meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.Meals occur primarily at homes, restaurants, and cafeterias, but may occur anywhere. Regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day...
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
minyanA minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the 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
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
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 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.
Large gatherings
According to the one opinion in the
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(
BerakhotBerachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
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
dwellsShekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
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.
Cup of Blessing
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
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and Jewish Holidays, and almost universally done at meals celebrating special events. At a
Passover SederThe Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
, 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
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
.
Mayim Acharonim
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), 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, 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
halachahHalakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, 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 AruchKitzur Shulchan Aruch may refer to:#The famous work of that name by Shlomo Ganzfried#A similar Sephardi work entitled "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch" by Rabbi Raphael Baruch Toledano....
(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 JewsYemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
or related groups, will wash up to the wrist. One should not pause between the washing and saying
birkat hamazon.
Traditions
The
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
relates that at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, a
special feastThe Seudat Chiyat HaMatim, a Hebrew term, is a Seudah for the righteous following the Chiyat Hamatim, the bodily Resurrection of the dead, which is referred to in a passage of the Talmud in the section on Passover which alludes to a relationship between the Passover Seder and this other feast of...
will take place.
AbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
,
IsaacIsaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
,
JacobJacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
,
MosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and
JoshuaJoshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
will all claim unworthiness to lead the grace and the Cup of Blessing will pass to King David, who will accept the honour.
Abbreviated form
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 JewsSephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
, especially
Spanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
often sing a hymn in Spanish (not
LadinoLadino may refer to:*Ladino is the name used primarily in Israel for Judaeo-Spanish, a Sephardic language, primarily spoken among Sephardic Jews, or for the written form used in religious texts and translations; compare to Ashkenazic Jews' language, Yiddish*Ladino is also used for the variety of...
as is commonly assumed), called
BendigamosBendigamos is a hymn sung after meals according to the custom of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. It is has also been traditionally sung by the Jews of Turkish decent. It is similar in meaning to the Birkat Hamazon that is said by all Jews. Bendigamos is said in addition to Birkat Hamazon, either...
, before or after
birkat hamazon. An additional abbreviated form of
birkat hamazon in Ladino, called
Ya ComimosYa Comimos is a poetic Judeo Spanish or Ladino prayer said after the recital of Birkat Hamazon. It can be found in some birchonim, some Spanish and Portuguese siddurim and some Haggadot....
, may also be said.
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