Berakhot 48a (מח.) — the Talmud in English

And the halakha is not in accordance with all these statements,

which were lenient concerning the laws of joining for a zimmun,

but

only

in accordance with this

leniency

that Rav Naḥman said: A minor

who knows for Whom we recite the blessing may be included in the zimmun.

Abaye and Rava were sitting

Abaye and Rava were sitting

before Rabba

when they were minors, and when he wished to recite the blessing, he examined whether they were fit to be included in the zimmun. And so

Rabba said to them: For Whom do we recite blessings? They said to him: For the Merciful One.

And where does the Merciful One dwell? Rava pointed

[with his finger]

toward the ceiling,

[toward the ceiling], while

Abaye went outside and pointed toward the heavens.

Rabba said to them: Both of you will become Torah scholars!

You will both become wise, because

as people say: The quality of a squash is recognizable from the time it is formed!

[The quality of a squash is recognizable from the time it is formed, when it emerges from the sap of the tree.] This is a proverb, meaning that their qualities are recognizable from childhood.

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rav Shemuel bar Shilat, said in the name of Rav: If nine

ate

bread made from

grain and one ate

vegetables,

they may be joined

for a zimmun, even though the one who ate vegetables does not recite Birkat HaMazon with them.

Rabbi Zeira said: I asked Rav Yehuda: If eight

ate grain,

what

is the ruling regarding joining two people who ate vegetables to them, so that they become obligated in a zimmun? And likewise, if

seven

ate grain,

what

is the ruling regarding joining three people who ate vegetables to them, so that they become obligated in a zimmun?

He said to him,

Rav Yehuda:

It makes no difference,

and they may be joined.

Rabbi Zeira said:

Six certainly does not present a question for me,

meaning that it was clear to him that it was impossible to join four more people to six, as follows.

Rabbi Yirmeya said to him: You did well not to ask about it,

but the law is not as you understood it, because

there,

in the cases of seven and eight,

what is the reason

that they may be joined?

Because there is a majority. Here too,

in the case of six who ate grain, they may be joined because

there is a majority.

And he,

Rabbi Zeira,

held that we require a recognizable majority,

and therefore held that if seven people who ate grain are not present, it is impossible to join them for the obligation of a zimmun.

King Yannai and the queen broke bread

[ate bread]

together.

And since he killed

Yannai

the Sages

[he killed the Sages because they sought to disqualify him from the priesthood],

he had no one to recite the blessing for them,

to discharge them with Birkat HaMazon.

He said to her,

Yannai

to his wife,

his wife:

“Who will provide us with a man who can recite the blessing for us?” She said to him: “Swear to me that if I bring you a man, you will not distress him.”

She swore to him. She brought Shimon ben Shetaḥ, her brother

[her brother, whom she had hidden from Yannai],

and seated him between him and her,

seating him between them.

He said to him,

Yannai said to Rabbi Shimon ben Shetaḥ:

“You see how much honor I am showing you!”

He said to him: “It is not you who are honoring me; it is the Torah that honors me, as it is written:

concerning the Torah [Proverbs 4:8]:

‘Prize her,

review it regularly,

and she will exalt you; she will honor you, for you will embrace her.’”

He said to her,

Yannai said to his wife:

“You see,

you see that I was right to kill the Sages, for here before you is a Torah scholar

who does not accept authority!”

They gave him a cup

[a cup of wine]

to recite the blessing

over it, Birkat HaMazon.

He said,

Shimon ben Shetaḥ:

“How can I recite the blessing?

I did not eat; can I say

‘Blessed is He from Whose bounty Yannai and his companions ate’?”

Therefore,

he drank from that cup,

and thereby joined their meal, and afterward

they gave him another cup, and he recited the blessing.

Rabbi Abba, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, said

(Rabbi Yoḥanan said):

Shimon ben Shetaḥ

what he

did, he did on his own authority,

[on his own initiative]

he did,

and the Sages did not agree with him.

For this is what Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: A person leading the zimmun never

the one leading the zimmun

discharges the many from their obligation

in Birkat HaMazon,

until he eats an olive-bulk

of bread made from

grain

and becomes obligated in Birkat HaMazon, because in Birkat HaMazon he cannot discharge another unless he himself is obligated in it.

(The Gemara raises an objection)

[as it was taught in a beraita]

“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

‘He went up and reclined with them, even if he did not !(pamud.bmp "Precise page location")

place of exact column location

dip with them except

vegetables

in brine,

and he ate with them only one dried fig, he may be included

for a zimmun.’”