Berakhot 38b (לח:) — the Talmud in English

Granted, if he says, “Who brings forth”

he teaches us the reason,

the explanation of the verse, that its meaning is in the past tense, as the Sages interpreted it,

and he teaches us that the halakha is in accordance with the Rabbis,

who permit him to say even “Who brings forth,” since that expression is in the past tense.

But

with regard to

one who says, “brings forth”—

what does this teach us?

And he,

Bar Rav Zevid,

who did

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

to remove himself from the dispute [

to remove himself from the dispute].

And the halakha:

he recites the blessing,

“Who brings forth bread from the earth.” This is because we hold in accordance with the Rabbis, who say

that the wording “Who brings forth”

which brings forth

in the past tense

is implied .

We learned in the Mishna:

And over vegetables he says:

“Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

The Gemara infers:

It teaches vegetables analogous to bread—

just as bread undergoes a change

through baking

by means of fire, so too vegetables

are being discussed that

undergo a change

through cooking

by means of fire.

And therefore:

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

—cooked vegetables —

are blessed over with “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

For our Mishna is dealing with these vegetables .

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

Rav: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And our Rabbis who descended from the Land of Israel—and who is he?

Ulla said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Everything came to be through His word.”

And I,

Rav Ḥisda,

say

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

Any

vegetable

that

one recites over at

the beginning

before it is cooked

“Who creates the fruit of the earth,”

because it is good to eat raw, as it is, if

one cooks it

and its flavor deteriorates , he recites over it

“Everything”

“came to be through His word.”

And any

vegetable

that

one recites over at

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

because it is not good to eat while raw, if

one cooks it

and its flavor improves, he recites over it

“Who creates the fruit of the earth” .

The Gemara raised a difficulty concerning Rav Ḥisda’s statement:

Granted,

the law that

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

you find this with cabbage [

cabbage]

and beets [

chard]

and pumpkin [

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

But the law that

anything whose initial blessing is

“Who creates the fruit of

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

where do you find this?

What vegetable is there that cooking worsens ?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: You find it with garlic [

garlic]

and leeks,

whose flavor is better while they are raw .

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

Shmuel: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And our colleague

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

Ulla, in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan, said: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Everything came to be through His word” .

And I

Rav Naḥman

say: It is stated as a dispute.

It

was taught:

One fulfills

the mitzva of eating matza

with a wafer

a thin matza

that has 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” has been 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 the mitzva with a wafer that has soaked, but not with one that has been cooked,

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

even if it has not dissolved.

Accordingly, Rav Naḥman maintains that Shmuel and Ulla also disagreed in this dispute. Shmuel follows Rabbi Meir, who holds that cooking does not remove the designation “bread,” and the same applies to the designation “vegetable”; therefore, one recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth” over vegetables that were cooked. Ulla follows Rabbi Yosei, who holds that cooking removes the designation “bread,” and the same applies to the designation “vegetable”; therefore, one recites “Everything” over vegetables that were cooked.

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

The Gemara rejects this:

That is not so!

Rather,

everyone

holds that

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

And Rabbi Yosei said only there,

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

rather, because the flavor of matza is required, and it is absent [

and not because the designation “bread” has been removed from it] .

But here,

with regard to cooked vegetables,

even Rabbi Yosei agrees

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

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Who creates the fruit of the earth.”

And Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Cooked vegetables are blessed over with “Everything came to be through His word.”

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Ulla fixed his error [

his mistaken understanding] in his heart,

in accordance with

the words of

Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet,

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

Rabbi Zeira raised an objection: What connection does Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet have

to mention his words in the beit-midrash

alongside

the words of

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba,

his disputant? For Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet is not fit to disagree with Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba! For

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba

was precise and learned traditions from Rabbi Yoḥanan, his master, whereas

if

Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet

was not precise.

Furthermore, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba

reviewed his learning every thirty days [

he would review what he had learned]

before Rabbi Yoḥanan, his master, whereas Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet

did not review it.

Furthermore, apart from this and apart from that.

Besides these two arguments, there is proof that Rabbi Yoḥanan never said that one recites “Everything” over cooked vegetables.

There was a certain lupine [

a type of vegetable]

that they cooked seven times [

they cooked it seven times]

in a pot and ate it as the dessert of the meal.

They came and asked Rabbi Yoḥanan

what blessing should be recited over it.

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

This proves that according to Rabbi Yoḥanan one recites the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth” over cooked vegetables.

Furthermore,

did

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba say: I saw Rabbi Yoḥanan eat a salted olive

whose law is like that of a cooked food

and recite a blessing over it before and afterward.

Granted, if you say

that according to Rabbi Yoḥanan

cooked vegetables retain their status,

it is understandable that

he recites over it at the beginning

over the olive

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

But, if you say

that

cooked vegetables do not retain their status,

and the designation “vegetable” has been removed from them,

granted, at the beginning

one could say that

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

But at the end—

what blessing does he recite?

He cannot recite “one blessing that is a summary of three,” since it is no longer a fruit. It must therefore be that Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that vegetables retain their previous status with regard to blessings after they are cooked, and that they still retain the designation “vegetable”; therefore, he recited over them “one blessing that is a summary of three” .

The Gemara rejects this:

Perhaps

Rabbi Yoḥanan recited over it the blessing

“Who creates numerous living beings and their deficiencies, for everything that He has created” .

Rav Yitzḥak bar Shmuel raised an objection: With regard to vegetables through which a person fulfills his obligation

to eat maror

on Pesaḥ—

he

fulfills it whether with them [

by eating the leaves]

or

by eating the

stalks, 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

retain their status

as they were initially,

why are cooked vegetables not

foods with which one fulfills the mitzva of eating maror?

The Gemara explains:

The case there is different, as we require the taste of bitter herbs

and it is absent

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

Rabbi Yirmeya said to Rabbi Zeira: Rabbi Yohanan—

how does he recite

the after-blessing

over a salted olive?