Berakhot 38b — the Talmud in English

Granted, if he says “Who brings forth” ![](pamud.bmp "

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it teaches us the reason,

the explanation of the verse, that its intention is in the past tense, as the Sages explained it,

and it teaches us that the halakha is according to the Rabbis,

for he may say even “Who brought forth,” since it is an expression in the past tense.

But

with regard to

one who says “Who brings forth”—

what does it teach us?

And he,

Bar Rav Zevid,

who acted

so as to recite the blessing with the wording “Who brings forth,” because he wished

to remove himself from the dispute

[to remove himself from the disagreement].

And the halakha:

he recites

“Who brings forth bread from the earth.” For we hold like the Rabbis, who say

that also the wording “Who brings forth”

which brought forth

in the past

is implied .

We learned in the Mishna:

“And concerning vegetables he says:

“Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

The Gemara analyzes:

It teaches vegetables analogous to bread—

just as bread is changed

by its baking

through fire, so too vegetables

are being discussed that

are changed

by their cooking

through fire,

and therefore:

Ravnai said in the name of Abaye: This teaches us: cooked vegetables,

cooked vegetables —

one recites over them “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

For our Mishna is dealing with these vegetables .

Rav Hisda expounded in the name of our master—and who is he?—

Rav: Cooked vegetables, one recites over them “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And our teachers who descend from the Land of Israel—and who is he?—

Ulla, in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, said: Over cooked vegetables one recites “Everything came to be through His word.”

And I,

Rav Hisda,

say

that they did not disagree about the matter; rather, their statements refer to two different kinds of vegetables.

Every

vegetable

that

one recites over at

its beginning,

before it has been cooked,

“Who creates the fruit of the earth,”

because it is fit to be eaten raw as it is, if

he cooks it

its taste changes for the worse , and therefore—he recites over it

“Everything”

“came to be through His word.”

And every

vegetable

that

one recites over at

its beginning, “Everything came to be through His word,”

because it is not fit to be eaten while raw, if

he cooks it

and its taste is improved, he recites over it

“Who creates the fruit of the earth” .

And the Gemara found difficulty with the words of Rav Hisda:

Granted

the rule that

everything whose beginning is “Everything came to be through His word,” when cooked, receives “Who creates the fruit of the earth”—

you find it with cabbage

[cabbage]

and chard

[spinach]

and pumpkin

[pumpkin], which are not good to eat as they are, but must be cooked.

But

the rule that

everything whose beginning is “Who creates the fruit

of the earth,” when cooked, receives “Everything”—

how do you find it

a vegetable that cooking worsens ?

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: You find it with garlic

[garlic]

and leeks,

whose taste is better while they are still alive .

Rav Nahman expounded in the name of our master—and who is he?—

Samuel: Over cooked vegetables one recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And our colleague

who descends from the Land of Israel—and who is he?—

Ulla, in the name of Rabbi Yohanan, said: Over cooked vegetables one recites “Everything came to be through His word” .

And I,

Rav Nahman,

say: It is stated as a dispute.

It

is taught:

For it was taught: One fulfills

the mitzva of eating matza

with a wafer

thin matza

that has been soaked

in water,

and with a

wafer

that has been cooked

as long as

it has not dissolved,

but if it dissolved, the designation “bread” was removed from it, and the mitzva of eating matza is fulfilled only when it bears the designation “bread,”

the words of Rabbi Meir.

And Rabbi Yosei says: One fulfills it with a soaked wafer, but not with a cooked one,

because cooking in itself already removes from it the designation “bread,”

even though it has not dissolved.

And if so, Rav Nahman holds that Samuel and Ulla also disagreed in this dispute. Samuel holds in accordance with the view of Rabbi Meir, that cooking does not remove the designation “bread,” and the same is true that it does not remove the designation “vegetable”; therefore, over vegetables that have been cooked one should recite “Who creates the fruit of the earth.” Ulla, however, holds in accordance with the view of Rabbi Yosei, that cooking removes the designation “bread,” and the same is true that it removes the designation “vegetable”; therefore, over vegetables that have been cooked one should recite “Everything.”

It follows that the law of the blessing over cooked vegetables depends upon the dispute whether cooked matza still retains its designation.

The Gemara rejects this:

That is not so!

Rather,

everyone

holds that

over cooked vegetables one recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And Rabbi Yosei said only there

with regard to matza, that one does not fulfill the obligation with it after it has been cooked—

rather, because we require the taste of matza, and there is none

[and not because the designation “bread” was removed from it] .

But here,

with regard to cooked vegetables,

even Rabbi Yosei agrees

that one recites over them the blessing “of the earth,” because they still bear the designation “vegetable” even after they have been cooked.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Over cooked vegetables one recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Over cooked vegetables one recites “Everything came to be through His word.”

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: Ulla fixed his error

[his mistake] in his heart,

in accordance with

the words of

Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet,

who said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan that one should recite “Everything” over cooked vegetables, although Rabbi Yohanan had never said this. Once this error had become fixed in his heart, he came to state it in the study hall in the name of Rabbi Yohanan.

Rabbi Zeira wondered: What connection does Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet have

to have his words mentioned in the study hall

alongside

the words of

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba,

his disputant? After all, Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet is not worthy of disputing Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba! For

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba—

was precise and learned teachings from Rabbi Yohanan, his master, and

whereas

Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet—

was not precise.

And furthermore, Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba—

every thirty days he would review his learning

[he would review his learning]

before Rabbi Yohanan, his master, whereas Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet—

did not review it.

And furthermore, apart from this and apart from that.

Apart from these two arguments, it can be proved that Rabbi Yohanan never said that one recites “Everything” over cooked vegetables.

For there was that lupine

[a type of vegetable]

that they cooked seven times

[they cooked it seven times]

in a pot and ate it as a conclusion to the meal.

They came and asked Rabbi Yohanan

what blessing one recites over it.

And he said to them: Over it one recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And it is proved that according to Rabbi Yohanan one should recite over cooked vegetables the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And furthermore,

behold,

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: I saw Rabbi Yohanan eat a salted olive

whose law is like that of a cooked item—

and recite a blessing over it at the beginning and at the end.

Granted, if you say

that according to Rabbi Yohanan

cooked vegetables remain in their status

it is understandable that

at the beginning he recites over it

over the olive

“Who creates the fruit of the tree,” and at the end he recites over it “one blessing that is a likeness of the three.”

But if you say

that

cooked vegetables do not remain in their status,

and the designation “vegetable” was removed from them,

granted, at the beginning

one can say that

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

But at the end—

what does he recite?

After all, he cannot recite over it “one blessing that is a likeness of the three,” since it is no longer a fruit. It is necessarily the case that Rabbi Yohanan holds that vegetables, after their cooking, remain in their original status with regard to the blessing, and they still bear the designation “vegetable”; therefore he recited over them “one blessing that is a likeness of the three” .

The Gemara rejects this:

Perhaps

Rabbi Yohanan recited over it the blessing

“Who creates many living things and their deficiencies, for all that He has created” .

Rav Yitzhak bar Samuel objected: Vegetables through which a person fulfills his obligation

to eat bitter herbs

on Passover—

he

fulfills it whether with them

[by eating the leaves]

or

by eating the

stalk of them, but not

when they are

pickled and not

when they are

cooked and not

when they are

boiled.

And if it enters your mind

that cooked vegetables

remain in their status

as at the beginning—

why are cooked ones not

fit for fulfilling the obligation of eating bitter herbs?

The Gemara answers:

There it is different, for we require the taste of maror —

and it is absent

when he cooked them. Therefore, although they are still considered produce of the ground, one does not fulfill his obligation through them.

Rabbi Yirmeya said to Rabbi Zeira: Rabbi Yohanan —

how does he recite

the after-blessing

over a salted olive?