Berakhot 40a — the Talmud in English

It is forbidden to interrupt with speech between the blessing and eating, and one who interrupted is obligated to return and bless.

However, if the speech concerned something that was needed for the blessing, this interruption is not considered as though he interrupted between the blessing and eating, and he need not return and bless.

Rav said:

One who blesses over bread and exempts his fellow with his blessing, and before tasting from it said to his fellow

“Take, bless; take, bless”

[take from the slice over which I blessed], this speech does not constitute an “interruption” and

he need not

return and

bless

again.

However, if he lacked salt and said between the blessing and eating:

“Bring salt”

or

“Bring relish,”

to give flavor with them to the slice over which he recited the blessing of HaMotzi,

he must

return and

bless

because this speech constitutes an “interruption” between the blessing and eating.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Even

if he said

“Bring salt”

or

“Bring relish” also, he need not

return and

bless,

because the speech is considered needed for the blessing and therefore does not constitute an “interruption.”

However, if he said:

“Prepare [food] for the oxen; prepare [food] for the oxen,”

prepare the food for the oxen,

he must

return and

bless,

because this speech constitutes an “interruption,” since it is not needed for the blessing.

And Rav Sheshet said: Even

if he said

“Prepare [food] for the oxen” also,

this does not constitute an interruption, and

he need not

return

to bless.

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: It is forbidden

for a person to eat

before he gives food

to his animal,

as it is stated:

Deuteronomy 11:15

“And I shall give grass in your field for your animal,” and afterward

and only afterward —

“and you shall eat and be satisfied.”

And since it is forbidden to eat before giving food to one’s animal, it emerges that saying “Prepare [food] for the oxen” is considered a need of the blessing or of the meal.

Rava bar Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Chiya: The one who breaks bread may not break bread until they bring salt or relish before each and every one

of those reclining, so that they can dip the slice in them, for it is an honor to the blessing that the slice over which they blessed should be flavored, and also so that they will not need to interrupt between the blessing and eating in order to request salt or relish.

Rava bar Shmuel happened to come to the house of the Exilarch. They brought out bread for him

[they brought him bread so that he would eat],

and he broke bread immediately,

at once, without waiting until they brought salt.

They said to him:

Does

the Master then retract his teaching?

He said to them: This does not require waiting

[this bread does not require waiting for salt or relish, since it is fine bread.

And Rava bar Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Chiya: Urine is not fully expelled

from a person’s body

except

when he expels it in a

sitting

position

.

Since when he expels urine while standing, he is concerned that when the stream begins to stop, drops will splash onto his legs, and therefore he refrains from expelling it until it has been completely expelled.

Rav Kahana said: And

if he urinates

in loose earth,

where there is no concern about drops splashing,

even while standing

he expels it until it has been completely expelled from his body.

And if there is no loose earth —

he should stand in a high place and urinate onto a slope,

so that the drops will not splash onto his legs and he will not be concerned about expelling it until it has been completely expelled from his body.

And Rava bar Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Chiya: After all your eating, eat salt, and after all your drinking, drink water, and

through this

you will not be harmed

by your eating and drinking.

It was taught likewise: After all your eating, eat salt, and after all your drinking, drink water, and you will not be harmed.

It was taught in another [baraita]: One who ate every kind of food but did not eat salt,

or

drank every kind of beverage but did not drink water,

during the day —

he should fear bad breath, and at night —

he should fear diphtheria.

The Sages taught: One who floats his food with water,

who drinks a great deal of water after eating, until the food in his stomach floats from the abundance of water,

does not come to intestinal illness.

And how much

should he drink?

Rav Chisda said: A jug

of water

for a loaf.

Rav Mari said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: One who is accustomed to

eating

lentils once every thirty days —

prevents diphtheria from his household.

Since this illness results from constipation of the intestines, and lentils cause diarrhea.

But every day, not

should he eat lentils.

What is the reason? —

Because it is difficult

to eat them

for the breath of the mouth.

And Rav Mari said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: One who is accustomed to

eating

mustard once every thirty days —

prevents illnesses from his household.

But every day he should not

eat mustard.

What is the reason? —

Because it is difficult

to eat it

for weakness of the heart

[for weakness of the heart].

Rav Hiyya bar Ashi said in the name of Rav: One who is accustomed to

eating

small fish does not come to intestinal illness. Moreover, small fish -

make one fruitful and multiply, and restore

[make healthy]

a person's entire body.

Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said: One who is accustomed to

eating

black cumin

[a type of seed that grows in the land of Ishmael]

does not come to heartache.

It was objected: Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says: Black cumin -

is one of the sixty ingredients

[ingredients]

of death. And one who sleeps to the east of his granary

of black cumin, for then the wind brings the scent of the black cumin into his body while he sleeps -

his blood is upon his own head!?

The Gemara resolves:

It is not difficult.

This one is referring to its scent

of the black cumin, which harms a person,

and this one is referring to its taste

of the black cumin, which benefits a person.

Rabbi Jeremiah's mother would bake bread for him

[Rabbi Jeremiah's mother baked bread for him],

and she would stick it to him

[and stuck black cumin to it for him] so that it would give it flavor,

and

afterward

she would peel it off him

the black cumin from the bread, so that he would not smell it.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Judah says:

Regarding vegetables, he says:

“Who creates kinds of grasses.”

Rabbi Zeira said, and some say Rabbi Hinena bar Pappa: The halakha is not in accordance with Rabbi Judah.

And Rabbi Zeira said, and some say Rabbi Hinena bar Pappa: What is the reason of Rabbi Judah?

The verse says

[Psalms 68:20]:

“Blessed is the Lord day by day.”

But do they bless Him by day and do they not bless Him at night ?

Rather, this is to tell you: Each and every day, give it something of its blessings,

on Shabbat you shall bless it with the blessing special to Shabbat, and on a festival with the blessing special to the festival.

Therefore,

here too

with regard to a blessing, regarding

each and every kind, give it something of its blessings

special to it, and one should establish a blessing formula of its own for vegetables and a blessing formula of its own for seeds .

And Rabbi Zeira said, and some say Rabbi Hinena bar Pappa: Come and see that the measure of the Holy One, blessed be

He, is not like the measure of flesh and blood:

The measure of flesh and blood -

an empty vessel holds what they put into it, whereas a full vessel does not hold what they add to it.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so -

a full vessel, a person wise in Torah, holds, and wisdom is added to his wisdom, whereas an empty person who is not wise

in Torah does not hold the wisdom of Torah, and it is lost from him .

As it is stated

[Exodus 15:26]:

“And he said, If you will surely heed.”

And we expound:

“If you heed”

once,

you will heed

a second time.

And if not,

if you did not heed at first -

you will not heed

at all.

Another matter: “If you heed” in what is old,

when you review and repeat your learning -

you will heed what is new.

You will become wise enough to understand new things from the old things that you already heard,

but if your heart turns aside

to idleness and you do not review what you already heard, in the end you will

no longer heed .

MISHNA:

One who

blessed

over the fruit of the tree

the blessing

“Who creates the fruit of the earth”

instead of the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the tree” -

has fulfilled his obligation

after the fact .

And

if he recited

over the fruits of the earth

the blessing

“Who creates the fruit of the tree”

instead of the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth” -

he has not fulfilled his obligation,

and he must recite the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth” again over them .

And over

the kinds

all of them -

if he said

the blessing

“Everything came into being through His word”

instead of their appropriate blessing -

he has fulfilled his obligation

after the fact, for this blessing is praise for everything that God created in His world .

GEMARA:

Since the tanna in our Mishna holds that one who recites “Who creates the fruit of the earth” over a fruit of a tree has fulfilled his obligation, it follows that the earth is considered the principal source of the fruit's growth, even though its place of growth is upon the tree; for otherwise it would not be possible to fulfill the obligation of a blessing over a fruit of a tree through the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth,” since it is not a fruit of the earth at all.

The Gemara inquires:

Who is the tanna

[who is the tanna] who holds

that the principal

growth of the fruits of the

tree

is from

the earth?

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: It is Rabbi Judah.

As we learned

in the Mishna in tractate Bikkurim: One who harvested first fruits from his field or gathered first fruits from his trees, and afterward

the spring dried up

or

the tree was cut down -

brings

the first fruits to the Temple

but does not recite

the passage of first fruits. For he must say in the recitation of the first fruits, “Behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the earth that You have given me.” And since the spring dried up and the tree was cut down, the one who now brings the first fruits no longer has earth worthy of praise to God for it, for the principal force that causes the fruits to grow has been removed from the earth , and he can no longer say, “the earth that You have given me” .

This is the view of the first tanna.

Rabbi Judah says:

Even when the tree was cut down and the spring dried up -

he brings

first fruits

and recites

the passage of first fruits, because the earth is the principal factor in the growth of the fruit, and not the tree and the water. And the earth still exists.

And since with regard to first fruits Rabbi Judah holds that the principal growth of the fruit is attributed to the earth, it necessarily follows that with regard to a blessing as well he holds that if one recited over the fruit “Who creates the fruit of the earth,” he has fulfilled his obligation, even though he did not mention the place of its growth; and our Mishna is Rabbi Judah. But according to the Sages, who hold with regard to first fruits that the principal growth of the fruit is attributed to the tree and not to the earth, it necessarily follows that with regard to a blessing as well it is not possible to fulfill one's obligation through the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the earth” .

We learned in the Mishna: One who recited a blessing

over the fruits of the ground

the blessing

Who creates the fruit of the tree

instead of the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the ground” —

has not fulfilled his obligation.

The Gemara raises an objection:

It is obvious

that he has not fulfilled his obligation, for the fruits of the ground have no connection whatsoever to a tree,

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It was not necessary

for our Mishna to teach us this law,

but according to the

opinion of

Rabbi Yehuda,

who says: Wheat —

is a type of tree.

And it might enter your mind that for this reason, if one recited over wheat “Who creates the fruit of the tree,” he has, after the fact, fulfilled his obligation; the Mishna teaches us that he has not fulfilled his obligation.

For it was taught:

The tannaim disputed what was the

tree from which the first man ate,

Rabbi Meir says: It was a grapevine.

And this is reasonable, because

there is no thing that brings wailing upon a person except wine. As it is stated

(Genesis 9:21):

“And he drank of the wine, and became drunk.”

And for this reason it is reasonable that through it death and mourning were imposed upon the world forever.

Rabbi Neḥemya says: It was a fig tree,

and in it the first man sinned, because it is reasonable to say

that with the thing through which they were corrupted

Adam and Eve —

through it they were repaired!

For this is the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He: with the thing with which He strikes, He Himself repairs .

As it is stated

(Genesis 3:7):

“And they sewed fig leaves.”

And since they were repaired with a fig leaf, it is reasonable that they also sinned with a fig tree.

Rabbi Yehuda says: It was wheat,

and in it the first man sinned.

And his proof is from the fact that Scripture called the tree with which the first man sinned “the tree of knowledge”; learn from this that he ate a tree that brings a person to knowledge, and this is wheat. For

a child does not know how to call out “Father” and “Mother” —

until he tastes the taste of grain!

And therefore —

it might enter your mind to say: Since Rabbi Yehuda said that wheat is a type of tree —

let him recite over it “Who creates the fruit of the tree” [

if he recited over it “Who creates the fruit of the tree,” he has fulfilled his obligation after the fact] —

it teaches us

that this is not so, and he has not fulfilled his obligation, because although in the language of the Torah wheat is called a “tree,” nevertheless, with regard to a blessing it is not considered a tree .

And the general rule in this matter is:

Where do we recite “Who creates the fruit of the tree”? —

Where, when you remove the fruit

from the tree, it still

has the guza,

the branch of the tree remains intact,

and then produces

other fruits .