Ketubot 7b — the Talmud in English

Meitive

concerning what was explained above, that when a widow marries a bachelor, she requires a blessing throughout all seven days:

From that which was taught in a

beraita:

the birkat chatanim

for a virgin

for

seven

days,

but for a widow

they recite

one day

only.

Is it not so,

does this not mean that

even a widow who marries a bachelor

is blessed for only one day? And we answer:

No!

And what we taught, that a widow is blessed for one day, refers specifically to a widow who marries

not a bachelor.

And the Gemara raises an objection to this:

But

a widow who marries

a bachelor—

according to your words—

how many

days do they bless her?

Seven

days!?

And

if so,

then

let it teach

in the beraita as follows:

they bless a virgin for seven—

and a widow who marries a bachelor for seven—

and a widow

who marries a widower—

one day!?

And we answer: The beraita does not make distinctions between one widow and another, but

an unequivocal matter—

[a clear and absolute matter]—

it teaches

in the beraita:

There is no virgin whose requirement is less than seven

[there is no virgin who requires a blessing for fewer than seven days], for even if she marries a widower, she requires a blessing for seven days.

And there is no widow whose requirement is less than one day

[there is no widow who requires a blessing for fewer than one day], for even when she marries a widower, her blessing is not for less than one day.

The body of the matter: Rav Naḥman said, Huna bar Natan said to me:

A tannai

in a beraita

taught: From where

is it established that the birkat chatanim must be recited

in the

presence of

ten

men, at least?

As it is stated

in the Book of Ruth [4:2], in the account of the marriage of Boaz and Ruth:

“And he took

[Boaz]

ten men from the elders of the city and said: Sit here.” There is no need for the marriage itself for more than two witnesses, and necessarily the ten men whom Boaz took were for the purpose of the birkat chatanim.

The marriage itself requires only two witnesses. Therefore, the ten men whom Boaz took must have been for the purpose of the wedding blessing.

And Rabbi Abbahu said

another source for the law that the birkat chatanim is with ten men—

from here:

For it is written in the Book of Psalms [68:27]:

“In assemblies bless God, the Lord—

from the source of Israel.”

The verse teaches that the “blessing of the Source”—the blessing to the Lord God concerning marriage, whose purpose is the procreation and multiplication of the people of Israel [from the woman’s source]—requires an “assembly” [“in assemblies”].

And an assembly is no fewer than ten men.

And we inquire about it:

And Rav Naḥman,

who learns that the birkat chatanim is with ten men from Boaz,

with regard to this verse of Rabbi Abbahu—

what does he expound from it?

He needs it

Rav Naḥman needs this verse

for that which was taught:

Rabbi Meir used to say: From where is it known that even fetuses in their mothers’ wombs sang a song at the Sea

at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds?

As it is stated

in that passage in Psalms: “

You saw Your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my King, in holiness.

The singers went first, followed by the players, among maidens beating tambourines.”

[That is: These are the ones whom it is fitting for You to save, for when they saw Your processions in Your holiness at the sea, the singers went first to sing the Song of the Sea before You. And after them came the “players,” these are the angels, “among maidens beating tambourines,” among Miriam and her maidens, who took the tambourine in her hand, Rashi].

“In assemblies bless God, the Lord”—

“from the source of Israel.”

That is: Even the fetuses in the “source” of Israel, in their mothers’ wombs, blessed God at the sea.

And the Gemara returns and explains:

But the other one,

Rabbi Abbahu, who learns that the birkat chatanim is with ten from the verse “in assemblies”—how does he expound this verse? Is it not explained in the beraita that the verse speaks of the Song of the Sea, and this is also demonstrated by the continuation of the verses?

Rabbi Abbahu could say to you:

If so—

that the verse comes to teach only about the Song of the Sea—

let Scripture say, “from the womb

of Israel,” which implies fetuses in their mothers’ wombs—

what is

the meaning of “from the source”? To teach you further that they must bless in assemblies

concerning the matter of the source.

And the Gemara further explains:

And Rabbi Abbahu, with regard to this verse of Rav Naḥman,

the ten men whom Boaz took when he married Ruth—

what does he expound from it?

That

verse

he needs to expound

from it that Boaz publicized at that time that only an

Ammonite

is prohibited by the Torah from entering the assembly of the Lord,

but not an Ammonite woman,

who is permitted to enter the assembly of Israel; and likewise an

Moabite

is the one whom the Torah prohibited from entering the assembly of the Lord,

but not a Moabite woman.

Boaz did not gather ten elders for the birkat chatanim, but in order to state before them the law that Ruth the Moabite woman was permitted to enter the assembly of the Lord, and that she was permitted to him.

If it enters your mind

that Boaz gathered them

for the blessing—

But

is it not sufficient,

does the blessing not require only ten men

who are not “elders”

[does it require “the elders of the city,” who are the scholars, for this purpose]!? For with regard to the blessing, he could have taken ten ordinary men from the populace; why, then, did Scripture say: “And he took ten men from the elders of the city”!?

But the other one—

Rabbi Abbahu, who holds that Boaz gathered them for the birkat chatanim—could say to you, on the contrary:

If it enters your mind

that Boaz gathered them

to expound

before them the permission of the Moabite woman, the difficulty is: But

is it not sufficient,

is it not sufficient that he expound this before several scholars

who are not “ten”

men!?

And the Gemara explains the view of Rav Naḥman, who holds that Boaz gathered them in order to expound before them:

No, indeed, ten men are necessary in order to expound. This is in order

in order

to publicize the matter

[to publicize the matter of the permission].

And

similarly we find

that Samuel said to Rav Hana of Baghdad

[from the city of Baghdad in Babylonia]:

Go out and bring me ten men

[go out and bring me ten men],

and I shall say it to you in their presence

[and I shall state a halakha to you before them], so that this halakha will be publicized:

One who transfers ownership

of a gift through another

to a fetus

in its mother’s womb—

the fetus acquires

the property, since Samuel held that a fetus has the capacity to acquire.

And the Gemara adds that although Samuel publicized that this was the halakha, one must not act in this manner in practice, for the halakha is not in accordance with him. Rather—

And the halakha: One who transfers ownership to a fetus—

the fetus does not acquire

the property.

The Sages taught:

They recite

the

“birkat chatanim”—

in the house of the bridegroom,

when the bride enters the marriage huppa.

Rabbi Judah says: Also in the house of betrothal,

at the time when he betroths her,

they recite the blessing over her,

all the birkat chatanim.

Abaye said: And in Judea they taught

this! Only with regard to the practice in Judea were the words of Rabbi Judah taught.

And

because

in Judea the bridegroom

would seclude himself with her

during the period of betrothal, while she was in her father’s house, so that his heart would become “familiar” with her [accustomed to her, as below, 12a], they therefore first recite the birkat chatanim, for we learned in Tractate Kallah: “A bride without a blessing is prohibited to her husband, like a menstruating woman.”

Another teaching: They recite the birkat chatanim—

in the house of the bridegroom,

when he marries her.

And the betrothal blessing—

in the house of betrothal,

when he betroths the woman.

And the Gemara explains:

The betrothal blessing—

what does he bless?

Ravin bar Rav Adda and Rabbah bar Rav Adda,

both in the name of Rav Judah said,

this is how he blesses:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe:

Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning forbidden sexual relations

[which He prohibited us from having relations with]—

and prohibited us

the betrothed women

by rabbinic enactment—

and permitted us the married women through huppa and betrothal

[a huppa that follows betrothal].

And he does not conclude the blessing with “Blessed.”

Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, concludes it,

he would conclude it, and said this

in the name of Rav Judah,

that one should conclude it as follows:

Blessed are You, Lord, Who sanctifies His people Israel through huppa and betrothal.

And the Gemara explains the reason for the dispute whether the blessing should be concluded with “Blessed”:

The one who does not conclude

who holds that the betrothal blessing should not be concluded—

It is analogous to the blessing over fruits and the blessing over mitzvot!

For it resembles the blessing over fruits, such as the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the tree,” which begins with “Blessed” and does not conclude with “Blessed”—

and likewise a blessing over the mitzvot of slaughter and circumcision, which does not conclude with “Blessed.”

And the reason in these blessings is that the entire wording of the blessing is a single expression of thanksgiving, and there is no interruption of a request or the like within the blessing. Therefore one should not add a conclusion to it, since the conclusion is a reflection of the beginning of the blessing, and it is intended to return and mention the beginning of the blessing when the wording of the blessing is long and includes several matters.

Therefore, the betrothal blessing too, which is entirely one expression of thanksgiving and contains no interruption, likewise does not conclude with “Blessed.”

And the one who concludes

[who holds that it should be concluded], his reason is—

It is analogous to the kiddusha

[the kiddush on the night of Shabbat].

Since this blessing, too, is stated in the language of sanctification, it is like the kiddush of the day.

And just as in the kiddush of the day one concludes with “Blessed”—and there the reason is that there is an interruption within the thanksgiving, since one adds and says, “for it is the day first among the sacred convocations”—the Sages instituted that every blessing whose subject is sanctification requires a conclusion of “Blessed” at its end.

The Sages taught:

The blessing of the bridegrooms is recited -

for a bachelor or a virgin -

in the presence of ten

men

all seven

days.

Rav Yehuda said: And this

that we said, that the blessing of the bridegrooms is recited all seven days, applies only when

there came

to the groom’s feast

new faces.

An introduction to the order of the blessings of marriage:

The blessings are divided into three types:

A. Blessings that open with “Blessed” and conclude with “Blessed.”

These are the blessings whose wording contains several requests or several expressions of thanks.

B. Blessings that begin with “Blessed” but do not conclude with it.

These are the short blessings, whose subject contains only one expression of thanks, such as “Who creates the fruit of the tree.”

C. Blessings that conclude with “Blessed” but do not open with it, and these are “a blessing adjacent to its fellow.”

This law of “a blessing adjacent to its fellow” applies wherever the Sages instituted

an order of blessings, to recite them in order,

one after the other.

For example, the order of the blessings in the Eighteen Benedictions prayer, in Grace after Meals, in the blessings after the haftara, and in the blessings of marriage.

The first blessing of the order always opens with “Blessed are You, the Lord, our God, King of the universe,” and its wording, after mentioning the kingship of the Lord, is in

the third person and not in the second person,

because wherever the kingship of the Almighty is mentioned, one must speak only in the third person, in order to indicate that we have no conception of recognizing His kingship, and it concludes with “Blessed are You, the Lord.”

But the other blessings in the order do not open with “Blessed are You, the Lord,” since the mention of “Blessed are You, the Lord, our God, King of the universe” in the first blessing also refers to them, because of their adjacency to it, and they are recited in the second person [“You are mighty,” “We give thanks to You,” “Make happy, make happy”], since they themselves contain no mention of kingship.

But they conclude with “Blessed are You, the Lord.”

The “seven blessings” of the blessings of marriage are six blessings, and together with the blessing over the wine, they are seven.

The first two blessings among the six blessings [“Who created everything for His glory” and “Who formed the human being”] are not considered part of the order of the blessings; rather, they are blessings that were arranged to be recited together with the blessings of marriage, as will be explained below.

And since they are short blessings, in each one of which only one expression of thanks is stated, they do not conclude with “Blessed are You, the Lord.”

Thus, only with the third blessing among the six blessings [which is the blessing “Who formed the human being in His image”] does the order of the blessings of marriage begin.

Therefore, it opens with “Blessed are You, the Lord, our God, King of the universe,” and its wording is in the third person [“Who formed”], and it concludes with “Blessed are You, the Lord.”

But the blessings after it, which have the status of “a blessing adjacent to its fellow,” do not open with “Blessed,” but only conclude with “Blessed are You, the Lord,” and their wording is in the second person [“Make happy, make happy”].

But the final blessing, since it is recited also in a place where all the other blessings are not recited, as will be explained below, opens with “Blessed” and concludes with “Blessed,” and its wording is in the third person [“Who created”].

What does he recite

in the blessing of the bridegrooms?

Rav Yehuda said:

He recites six blessings, in addition to the blessing “Who creates the fruit of the vine.”

And these six blessings are divided into two blessings and four blessings: the first two are not about the union itself, and the final four blessings are about matters of the union; and these are: