Berakhot 46a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Zeira fell ill,

he became sick.

Rabbi Abahu came in to him,

he came to visit him,

he accepted upon himself,

Rabbi Abahu accepted upon himself:

if Kattina Harikh Shakhei

[if he recovers]

recovers,

[this was Rabbi Zeira’s nickname

, I shall make a festive day for the Sages!

Rabbi Zeira recovered,

Rabbi Zeira,

Rabbi Abahu made

Rabbi Abahu

a meal

for all the Sages.

When he reached the point of beginning,

when he came to begin the meal,

Rabbi Abahu said to

Rabbi Zeira:

“Let our master break bread for us!”

Let him break the bread before those reclining at the meal, and let him exempt them all with the blessing ha-motzi.

He said to him,

Rabbi Zeira: But

does our master not hold in accordance with this statement of Rabbi Yohanan, who said: The master of the house breaks bread,

and he is the one who exempts those reclining at the meal with his blessing?

Rabbi Abahu accepted Rabbi Zeira’s argument, and

he permitted them,

he recited the blessing over the bread and exempted those reclining at the meal with the blessing ha-motzi.

When he reached the point of reciting the blessing

the blessing after the meal,

Rabbi Abahu said to

Rabbi Zeira:

“Let our master recite the blessing for us!”

He said to him:

But

does our master not hold in accordance with this statement of Rav Huna of Babylonia, who said: The one who breaks bread recites the blessing!?

Since you broke bread for those reclining at the meal at the beginning, you must also recite the blessing after the meal.

The Gemara clarifies:

And he,

Rabbi Abahu, who told Rabbi Zeira to recite the blessing even though he himself had broken bread at the beginning,

in accordance with whom did he hold? —

Like that which Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: The master of the house breaks bread

and exempts those reclining at the meal with the blessing ha-motzi

, and a guest recites the blessing

the blessing after the meal.

And the reason for this division is:

The master of the house breaks bread, so that he will break generously,

because the bread is his, whereas it is not the way of a guest to take and distribute to others a larger piece than that of the master of the house

, and a guest recites the blessing, so that he will bless

the

master of the house.

What does he recite? —

“May it be the will that the master of the house not be put to shame in this world

and not be humiliated in the World to Come.”

And Rabbi adds to it

further

statements

:

“And may he prosper greatly in all his possessions, and may his possessions and our possessions

[in landholdings]

be successful and near the city,

so that he can always see them and supervise their needs,

and may Satan have no dominion over the work of his hands or over the work of our hands, and may

no matter involving thoughts of sin, transgression, or iniquity appear before him or before us from now and forever.”

Up to where

is

the “blessing of the zimmun

that is recited only when there are three reclining at the meal or more, and not by one or two? —

Rav Nahman said: Until “Let us bless,”

that is, until the end of the response of the one who leads the zimmun, “Blessed is He of whose [food] we have eaten.” From that point onward, the “blessing after the meal” begins.

And Rav Sheshet said: Until

the end of the blessing

“Who feeds,”

and one or two begin only from “We thank You.”

The Gemara discusses:

Shall we say

this dispute is

like

the dispute

of the Tannaim:

For it was taught in one [baraita]: The blessing after the meal

sometimes contains

two and

sometimes

three

blessings.

And it was taught in another [baraita]:

It contains

three and four

blessings.

They supposed

the members of the academy to explain the dispute between the baraitot as follows:

Everyone

holds that the blessing

“the Good and the Beneficent” is not from the Torah,

and the two baraitot did not count it. If so,

is it not that they dispute this: The one who says “two and three” holds

like Rav Sheshet, that the blessing of the zimmun is

until

the end of the blessing

“Who feeds,”

so that where there is a zimmun there are three blessings [“Who feeds,” “For the land,” “Who rebuilds Jerusalem”], and without a zimmun there are only two;

and

the one who says

“three and four” holds

like Rav Nahman, that the blessing of the zimmun is

until “Let us bless,”

and without a zimmun there are three blessings [including “Who feeds,”] while with a zimmun there is an additional fourth blessing, which is the blessing of the zimmun itself? It follows that Rav Sheshet and Rav Nahman dispute the dispute of the Tannaim who taught these baraitot. The Gemara rejects:

No,

the Tannaim did not dispute this; rather,

Rav Nahman explains according to his position

and explains according to his approach what they dispute,

and

also

Rav Sheshet explains according to his position:

Rav Nahman explains according to his position

as follows:

Everyone

holds that the blessing of the zimmun is only

until

the end of

“Let us bless”; the one who says

that in the blessing after the meal there are

“three and four

blessings

” is correct,

because without a zimmun there are three blessings [including “Who feeds,”] and with a zimmun there is an additional fourth blessing, which is the blessing of the zimmun itself.

And

the one

who says

that in the blessing after the meal there are only

“two and three”

blessings

will tell you: Here

in the baraita

we are dealing with the blessing

after the meal of

laborers, for the master said

[above, 16a] that a laborer who ate and recites the blessing after the meal in the midst of his work

begins with “Who feeds” and includes

the blessing

“Who rebuilds Jerusalem” within the blessing “For the land,”

because they are similar blessings; thus, a laborer recites only two blessings.

Rav Sheshet explains according to his position

as follows:

Everyone

holds that the blessing of the zimmun continues

until

the end of the blessing

“Who feeds”; the one who says

that in the blessing after the meal there are only

“two and three

blessings

” is correct,

because where there is a zimmun there are three blessings [“Who feeds,” “For the land,” “Who rebuilds Jerusalem”], and without a zimmun there are only two.

And

the one

who says

that in the blessing after the meal there are

“three and four

blessings

” holds

that the blessing

“the Good and the Beneficent” is from the Torah.

Rav Yosef said: Know

[a proof]

that

the blessing

“the Good and the Beneficent” is not from the Torah, for laborers remove it,

because the Sages did not obligate them to recite it in the blessing after the meal at the time of their work. But if it were from the Torah, they would be obligated to recite it.

Rav Yitzhak bar Shemuel bar Marta said in the name of Rav: Know that “the Good and the Beneficent” is not

from the Torah, for it begins with “Blessed

are You, O Lord

,” but it does not conclude with “Blessed.”

And the proof that it is not from the Torah is that every blessing from the Torah begins with “Blessed,”

as it was taught: All the blessings begin with “Blessed

are You, O Lord

,” and conclude with “Blessed,” except for the blessing over fruits

which is recited before eating them,

and the blessing over mitzvot

which is recited before performing them,

and a blessing adjacent to another blessing,

and the final blessing of the Shema,

for in these blessings

there are some of them

that begin with “Blessed” but do not conclude with “Blessed,”

such as the blessing over fruits and the blessing over mitzvot, in which one gives thanks to the Lord; therefore, they are short blessings.