Berakhot 38a — the Talmud in English

For if

he made them ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location on the folio") for chewing

as

in

“thick ones,”

when it is arranged and shaped like those who make dough for fine pastries, he has thereby revealed his intention that he made it in order to eat it as complete bread, and therefore

the loaves are obligated

in the separation of challa, even though he baked them in the sun and not in an oven,

but if he made them

as “boards,”

like mere planks, without their having the form of bread,

they are exempt

from challa, for he has revealed his intention that they are not destined to be eaten as “bread” but as “kutah,” and therefore they are not considered “bread.”

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: This kova de-ara,

which was mentioned above—

what blessing does one recite over it?

He said to him: Do you think it is bread,

[that it is bread and its blessing is “Who brings forth”?]

It is merely gubla,

a mixture of water in flour,

and one recites over it, “Who creates various kinds of nourishment.”

Mar Zutra established his meal over it, and recited over it, “Who brings forth bread from the earth,”

before it,

and three

blessings

of the Grace after Meals after it.

Mar bar Rav Ashi said: And one fulfills his obligation with them on Passover.

What is the reason?

[Deuteronomy 16:3]

“We call it ‘the bread of affliction.’”

And Mar bar Rav Ashi said: This date honey,

the honey that comes out of dates [and likewise liquids that come out of other kinds of fruit, apart from wine and oil],

one recites over it, “Everything came to be through His word.”

What is the reason

that one does not recite over it, “Who creates the fruit of the tree”?

Because the honey or the liquid that comes out of the fruit

is merely moisture

and is not considered the fruit itself; therefore one recites over it the blessing “Everything.”

In accordance with whom

did Mar bar Rav Ashi state this ruling?

In accordance with this tanna,

Rabbi Yehoshua.

As we learned:

A non-priest who ate or drank

date honey, apple wine, and vinegar of autumn grapes,

[vinegar from grapes that grow in the autumn and never ripen],

and other fruit liquids of teruma—

Rabbi Eliezer obligates

the one who drinks it to pay

the principal and a fifth,

as is the law of one who eats the teruma fruit itself.

And Rabbi Yehoshua exempts

him from paying the principal and the fifth, because he holds that those liquids are considered merely moisture and not fruit; therefore the designation teruma does not apply to them.

One of the Sages said to Rava: “Trima,”

which is crushed fruit, but not completely pulverized—

what is

its blessing?

Rava did not understand what he was saying to him

[Rava did not understand what the Sage’s question was].

Ravina was sitting before Rava

In the meantime, he understood

and said to him,

to that Sage: What is your question? Did you mean

trima of sesame,

where one crushes the sesame somewhat,

or did you mean that of korteme,

which is crushed saffron into which one puts wine,

or that of purzanei

crushed grapes into which one puts water to make temed,

did you mean?

Meanwhile, he understood him

—

Rava

the questions of Ravina

according to the intention

of that Sage.

He said to him: “Chashilta”

[a crushed and mashed thing]

you certainly meant,

and you were asking what its blessing is,

and you reminded me of a matter

[you reminded me of something I had heard].

And that is

what Rav Asi said: These dates of teruma—

Shethita,

it is permitted to make trima from them,

for the slight crushing does not remove from them the designation of fruit,

but it is forbidden to make beer from them,

because by doing so he changes the teruma from “food” into “drink,” and it is forbidden to change teruma from its original state. Thus, making the dates into trima does not change the fruit from its original state, and the designation of fruit still applies to it; therefore one recites over the trima, “Who creates the fruit of the tree.”

And the halakha is: If one took dates and made them into trima,

one recites over them, “Who creates the fruit of the tree,”

What is the reason?

Because even after they have been crushed, they still

remain in their state, as at first.

Shehitah,

a food made from roasted flour into which water, oil, and salt are mixed,

Rav said:

Its blessing is

“Everything came to be through His word.”

And Shmuel said:

Its blessing is

“Who creates various kinds of nourishment.”

Rav Chisda said: They do not disagree; this

is what Shmuel said

about

shehitah

that is thick, and this

is what Rav said

about

shehitah

that is thin,

as he proceeds to explain.

Thick,

because

they make it for eating,

therefore one recites over it, “Who creates various kinds of nourishment.”

Thin,

because

they make it for medicinal purposes,

and not for enjoyment; one recites over it only “Everything.”

Rav Yosef raised an objection:

We learned in a beraita in Tractate Shabbat that the tannaim disputed whether it is permitted to mix thick shehitah on Shabbat by means of a modification, and it is explained in the continuation of that beraita there:

And they agree

these tannaim

that one stirs the roasted grain

[the shehitah when it is thin]

on Shabbat

by means of a modification,

and

likewise that one

drinks Egyptian zitum

[a laxative drink] on Shabbat and we do not fear the prohibition of medicine.

And this is for the reason that will be explained below.

And if it should enter your mind

that shehitah

is intended for medicinal purposes,

then

is medicine permitted on Shabbat?

Necessarily, one drinks thin shehitah for the purpose of eating; why, then, did Rav say that its blessing is “Everything”?

Abaye said to him: And

why

would you not accept

Rav’s words?

But we learned: All foods a person may eat for medicinal purposes on Shabbat, and all liquids he may drink,

and why do we not fear here the prohibition of medicine?

Rather, what can you say?

That the permission to be healed with them on Shabbat is because

the person intends for eating

and not for medicinal purposes,

so too

with shehitah, it is permitted to make it on Shabbat because

the person intends for eating

and not for medicinal purposes.

Another version: Rather, what can you say—

the person intends for eating, and the medicine occurs automatically,

so too—

he intends for eating, and the medicine occurs automatically.

And

even though we already learned in the beraita that shehitah is considered food, for that is why they permitted making it on Shabbat,

it is necessary for Rav and Shmuel

to teach us that it requires a blessing.

That it might have been inferred from this

beraita:

I would have said

that only in the manner in which the beraita spoke, namely, that

he intends for eating, and the healing occurs incidentally,

is there a requirement to recite a blessing over it,

but here,

in the case before us,

since initially he intends for healing,

there would have been room to say that

he should not recite a blessing over it at all—

It teaches us

Rav and Shmuel: that even in this manner,

since he has

in practice

benefit from it,

he must recite a blessing .

We learned in the Mishna:

“Over bread he says: ‘Who brings forth bread from the earth.’”

The Sages taught: What does he say,

what is the wording of the blessing of “Who brings forth”?

“Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

Rabbi Nehemiah says: “Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

Rava said: Concerning the

meaning of the word

“brings forth” \-

everyone agrees—

that “brought forth,”

which brought forth in the past,

is implied.

As it is written

in the words of Balaam, which he said after the Exodus from Egypt [Numbers 23:22]:

“A God who brings them forth from Egypt.”

Therefore, one who recites the blessing with this wording has recited a proper blessing, for this is the praise of the Holy One, blessed is He: he now gives thanks to Him for this bread, which He brought forth from the earth some time ago; and this is not thanks for bread that He will bring forth in the future.

They disagree—

concerning

the meaning of the word

“the One who brings forth”:

whether it is an expression of the future, and consequently one should not recite a blessing with this wording, or whether it is also an expression of the past.

The Rabbis hold: “The One who brings forth”—

“brought forth”

in the past

is implied, as it is written

in Moses’ words of rebuke, at the end of the fortieth year in the wilderness [Deuteronomy 8:15]:

“The One who brings forth water for you from the flintlike rock,”

and He had already brought it forth throughout all the years of their sojourn in the wilderness.

And Rabbi Nehemiah holds: “The One who brings forth”—

“brings forth”

in the future

is implied, as it is stated

[Exodus 6:7]:

“The One who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt,”

and this verse the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses in Egypt, before they left there.

And the Rabbis,

what will they answer to Rabbi Nehemiah’s proof from this verse?

That

verse—

this is what the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Israel: “When I bring you out,”

[when I bring you out from Egypt]

“I will perform a deed for you,”

[I will do something for you]

“so that you will know that I am the One who brought you out from Egypt,”

[so that you will know that I am the One who brought you out from Egypt],

as it is written

[Exodus 6:7]:

“And you will know

in the future

that I

am

the Lord your God, the One who brings you out”

in the past. It follows, then, that “the One who brings you out” is also interpreted here as an expression of the past.

The Rabbis were praising him to Rabbi Zeira,

[namely]

Bar Rav

Zavid,

who was

the brother of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Zavid, for he was a great man and well versed in blessings.

He said to them: “When he comes into your hands,”—

“Bring him to me.” Once he happened to come to him; they brought out bread for him,

[they brought out bread for him to eat],

he began and said, “The One who brings forth

bread from the earth.”

Rabbi Zeira said,

and [said]: Is

this the one about whom they say that he is a great man and well versed in blessings?