Berakhot 48b — the Talmud in English

And

the Gemara infers: this indicates that only

joining with them

is possible, but

he cannot enable the others to fulfill their obligation until he eats an olive-bulk of grain.

It was likewise stated: Rav Ḥana bar Yehuda said in the name of Rava: Even if he dipped with them only in brine, and ate with them only one dried fig, he joins them. But he cannot enable the others to fulfill their obligation until he eats an olive-bulk of grain.

Rav Ḥana bar Yehuda said in the name of Rava: The ruling is that if one ate a leaf of a vegetable and drank a cup of wine, he joins

for the invitation to recite the blessing, but

to enable

others to fulfill their obligation through the Grace after Meals,

he cannot do so until he eats an olive-bulk of grain.

Rav Naḥman said: Moses instituted the first blessing of the Grace after Meals, the blessing for sustenance, for Israel

when the manna descended for them .

Joshua instituted the blessing for the Land for them when they entered the Land of Israel.

David and Solomon instituted

the blessing

“Who builds Jerusalem,”

and each of them instituted part of the blessing:

David instituted “For Your people Israel and for Your city Jerusalem,” and Solomon instituted “For the great and holy House.”

The blessing

“Who is good and does good” was instituted in Yavne in response to the fallen of Beitar.

For Rav Mattana said: On the very day that the fallen of Beitar were permitted to be buried, they instituted in Yavne the blessing “Who is good and does good.”

“Who is good” —

because the bodies did not decompose; “and does good” —

because they were permitted to be buried.

It follows that the blessing “Who is good and does good” is rabbinic [and shortly afterward the Sages disagree about this].

The Sages taught: The order of the Grace after Meals

is as follows: The first blessing —

the blessing for sustenance; the second —

the blessing for the Land; the third —

“Who builds Jerusalem”; the fourth —

“Who is good and does good.”

And

also

on Shabbat,

one need not begin and conclude the third blessing with a reference to Shabbat, but

begins with consolation,

a petition for consolation through the rebuilding of Jerusalem,

and concludes with consolation, while mentioning the sanctity of the day in the middle.

Rabbi Eliezer says: If one wishes to recite it,

the sanctity of the day,

in the consolation —

he recites it; in the blessing for the Land —

he recites it; in the blessing instituted by the Sages in Yavne —

he recites it.

But the Sages say: He recites it only in the consolation.

The Gemara asks: The statement of

the Sages,

that he recites it in the consolation,

is

the same as the statement of

the first tanna.

The Gemara explains:

The difference between them concerns a case after the fact.

If one forgot and did not mention it in the consolation: According to the first tanna, he may mention it in “Who is good and does good,” whereas according to the Sages, “he recites it only in the consolation.” If he forgot, he must return to the beginning.

The Sages taught: From where is the Grace after Meals derived from the Torah? -

As it is stated [

Deuteronomy 8:10]:

“You shall eat and be satisfied

and bless” —

this is the blessing for sustenance.

“The Lord your God” —

this is the blessing of the invitation.

“Over the Land” —

this is the blessing for the Land.

“The good” —

this is

the blessing

“Who builds Jerusalem,” and so it says [

Deuteronomy 3:25]:

“This good mountain and the Lebanon.”

“That He gave you” —

this is

the blessing

“Who is good and does good.”

And this beraita maintains that the blessing “Who is good and does good” is also required by the Torah.

I have

a source from the Torah that one must bless over food

only afterward. From where

does one learn that one must bless beforehand?

You can derive it by an a-fortiori inference: When one is satisfied, one recites a blessing; when one is hungry, is it not all the more so?

Rabbi says:

There is no need

to derive this through an a-fortiori inference, because the verse is expounded as follows:

“You shall eat and be satisfied and bless” -

This is the blessing for sustenance.

But the blessing of the invitation is derived from “Exalt the Lord with me.”

“Over the Land” —

this is the blessing for the Land.

“The good” —

this is “Who builds Jerusalem,” and so it says: “This good mountain and the Lebanon.”

But the blessing

“Who is good and does good”

is not from the Torah, because

it was instituted in Yavne.

I have only a source for blessing afterward; from where do we know that one must bless beforehand? —

The verse states: “That He gave you” —

you must bless also

once He has given it to you.

Rabbi Yitzḥak says: There is no need

to derive it from “that He gave you,” because

it says [

Exodus 23:25]:

“And He will bless your bread and your water,”

and this is expounded as follows:

Do not read “and He will bless”

as a statement of promise,

but rather “and bless”

as an imperative, meaning that you must bless your bread.

And when is it called “bread”? Before you eat it.

Rabbi Natan says: There is no need

to derive the obligation from an a-fortiori inference or from an exposition of the verses, because

it says

explicitly [ I Samuel 9:13]: When Saul asked the women of the city of Samuel the prophet where he was, they answered him:

“As soon as you enter the city, you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he arrives, because he will bless the sacrifice; afterward those invited will eat.”

This shows that one must recite a blessing before eating.

And

the Gemara explains the reason that

so much

detail was included in their answer about how they would find him:

Why? —

Because women are talkative.

And Samuel said

that they prolonged their words

in order to gaze at Saul’s beauty, as it is written [

there, verse 2]:

“From his shoulders and upward he was taller than all the people.”

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because one kingdom does not encroach

upon another even by a hairsbreadth

[like a strand of hair; that is, a precise time was fixed for each kingdom, and one king does not rule during the time of another even for a single moment]. Since Samuel transferred the leadership of the people of Israel to Saul, this brief delay was necessary so that Saul would not arrive before the time of his reign.

The continuation of the beraita:

I have no source from the Torah that one must recite a blessing

over food

except

over

the Grace after Meals. From where

do we know this regarding the blessing over Torah? —

Rabbi Yishmael said: An a-fortiori inference,

for if

over temporary life one recites a blessing, over life in the World to Come

is it not all the more so!

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Naḥmani, the student of Rabbi Yishmael, said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: There is no need

to derive the obligation to recite a blessing over Torah through an a-fortiori inference, because

it says in the Grace after Meals [

Deuteronomy 8:10: “And you shall bless the Lord your God

over the good Land that He gave you”; and elsewhere it says [

over the good Land that He gave you”; and elsewhere it says

Exodus 24:12]

“And I shall give you the stone tablets, and the Torah and the mitzva, and so on.”

And concerning everything regarding which the term “giving” is used, one must recite a blessing.

Rabbi Meir says: From where is it derived that just as one blesses for the good, so one blesses for the bad? —

The verse teaches

“which the Lord your God has given you,”

and he expounds the mention of the Name according to the attribute of mercy [“the Lord”] and according to the attribute of justice [“your God”], teaching that one is obligated to bless for the attribute of justice just as for the attribute of mercy, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is

your Judge in every judgment by which He judges you, whether it is a good attribute

—the Torah, for whose giving to us one blesses—

or an attribute of punishment.

Rabbi Judah ben Beteira says: It is not necessary

to derive the blessing over the Torah from the wording of “giving” used concerning it, because

it says “for the good land,” and this contains two apparently superfluous words

“for the good land”; a. It was not necessary to write

“good,”

because it had already been mentioned earlier that it is a good land. b. He added the definite article and wrote

“the good,”

and necessarily “good” refers to the Torah, because

“good” —

this is the Torah, and so it says [

Proverbs 4:2]

“For I have given you a good teaching,”

and this is the source for the blessing over the Torah. But

“the good,”

with the definite article —

this is the building of Jerusalem, and so it says: “This good mountain and the Lebanon.”

It was taught in a tannaitic source: Rabbi Eliezer says: Anyone who did not say “a desirable, good, and spacious land”

in the blessing over the Land, and “the kingdom of the House of David” in the blessing “Who builds Jerusalem,”

has not fulfilled his obligation.

Nahum the Elder says: One must mention in it

in the blessing over the Land

“covenant,”

because the Land was given to Abraham our forefather through a covenant, at the Covenant Between the Pieces.

Rabbi Yosei says: One must mention in it

in the blessing over the Land also

“Torah,”

because they inherited the Land also by virtue of the Torah, as it says [Deuteronomy 8:1]: “You shall carefully observe every commandment that I command you today, so that you may live, increase, and come and inherit the Land that the Lord swore to your forefathers.”

Pillemo says: One must place the covenant before the Torah,

and say: “For Your covenant that You sealed in our flesh, and for Your Torah that You taught us,” because

this

—the Torah—

was given through three covenants,

namely: a. At Mount Sinai and in the Tent of Meeting. b. In the Plains of Moab. c. At Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.