Berakhot 48a — the Talmud in English

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

which were lenient in the laws of joining for zimmun,

but

only

like this

leniency

that Rav Naḥman said: A minor

who knows to Whom we bless may be included in the zimmun.

Abaye and Rava were sitting

when they were minors

before Rabba,

and when he wished to bless, he examined them whether they were fit to join for zimmun. And thus

Rabba said to them: “To Whom do we bless?” They said to him: “To the Merciful One.”

“And where does the Merciful One sit?” Rava pointed [

pointed ]

toward the ceiling [

toward the ceiling ],

and Abaye went outside and pointed toward the heavens.

Rabba said to them: “Both of you will be scholars!”

You will both be wise, because

this is what people say: “The quality of a gourd is recognizable from the time of its budding!” [

The quality of a gourd is recognizable in it from the time of its budding, when it emerges from the sap of the tree. ] And this is a proverb: their quality is recognizable from their childhood.

Rabbi Judah, son of Rav Samuel bar Shilat, said in the name of Rav: Nine

ate

bread made from

grain, and one ate

vegetable,

join

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

Rabbi Zeira said: “I asked Rav Judah: Eight

who ate grain,

what

is the law: may two who ate vegetable join them and become obligated in zimmun? And likewise

seven

who ate grain,

what

is the law: may three who ate vegetable join them and become obligated in zimmun?”

He said to him,

Rav Judah:

“It makes no difference,

and they join.”

Rabbi Zeira said:

“Six I certainly did not ask about,”

and he intended to say that it was clear to him that it is impossible to join four more to six, as follows.

Rabbi Jeremiah said to him: “You did well not to ask about it,”

but the law is not as you understood it, because

there,

with seven and eight,

what is the reason,

why do they join?

Because there is a majority. Here too,

with six who ate grain, they join because

there is a majority.

And he,

Rabbi Zeira,

held that we require a recognizable majority,

and therefore he held that if there are not seven who ate grain, it is impossible to join for the obligation of zimmun.

King Yannai and the queen ate bread [

ate bread ]

together.

And since he killed them,

Yannai

the Sages [

for he killed the sages because they sought to disqualify him from the priesthood ],

he had no one to bless for them,

to discharge them with the blessing of Birkat HaMazon.

Yannai said to

Yannai

his wife,

to his wife:

“Who will give us a man who will bless 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, his brother [

her brother, whom she had hidden from Yannai ],

and seated him between him and her,

she seated him between them.

He said to him,

Yannai to Rabbi Shimon ben Shetaḥ:

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

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

concerning the Torah [Proverbs 4:8]:

‘Extol her,

return to it regularly,

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

He said to her,

Yannai 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 bless

over it the blessing of Birkat HaMazon.

He said,

Shimon ben Shetaḥ:

“How shall I bless?”

For I did not eat, and can I say

“Blessed is He from whose bounty Yannai and his companions ate”?

Therefore

he drank from that cup,

and thereby joined them in their meal, and again

they gave him another cup, and he blessed.

Rabbi Abba, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, said

(Rabbi Yoḥanan said)

Shimon ben Shetaḥ

what he

did, for himself [

on his own authority ]

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: “Always

the one who leads the zimmun

does not discharge the many from their obligation

in the blessing of Birkat HaMazon,

until he eats an olive-sized portion

of bread made from

grain

and becomes obligated in the blessing of Birkat HaMazon, for in the blessing of Birkat HaMazon he cannot discharge his fellow unless he is obligated in it .

(He raised an objection) [

and as it was taught ]

“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says:

‘Go up and recline with them, even if you did not ![](pamud.bmp "

exact column position")

dip with them except

vegetable

in brine,

and you ate with them only one dried fig, you join

for zimmun.’”