Ketubot 8a — the Talmud in English

A. The blessing over the gathering of the people:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe ![](pamud.bmp "

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who created everything

the Holy One, blessed is He,

for His honor.

This blessing was instituted over the gathering of the people, who gather there to perform an act of kindness, to gladden the groom and the bride, in remembrance of the kindnesses of the Omnipresent, who acted in this way with the first man, becoming his “best man” and attending to him. And this gathering at which the people gather is the honor of the Omnipresent; therefore they instituted that one should say, “who created everything for His honor.”

B.

And

a blessing over the creation of the human being, before the female was created: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe,

who forms the human being.

And after these two blessings they begin to recite an order of four blessings concerning the matters of pairing, and concerning the male and the female. And since it is a new order of blessings, therefore in the first blessing of the four it begins with “Blessed” and also concludes with “Blessed,” in the manner of the other beginnings of orders of blessings.

C. A blessing over the creation of male and female:

And

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

who formed the human being in His image, in the image of the likeness of the form of his pattern,

and prepared

for him

for the human being

from him

from the ribs of the human being the woman, who is

a structure

for all eternity

a structure that continues for generations.

And he concludes:

Blessed are You, Lord, who forms the human being.

D. A blessing over the future joy of Zion:

Rejoice greatly and be glad, barren one

Jerusalem,

when her children are gathered into her in joy.

And he concludes:

Blessed are You, Lord, who gladdens Zion through her children.

E. A blessing and prayer for the couple’s success:

Gladden greatly the beloved companions

the groom and bride, who are beloved to one another; we pray that they will rejoice in success all their days,

as You gladdened Your creation

the first man

in the Garden of Eden from of old

as it is said: “And the Lord planted a garden in Eden from of old, and He placed there the human being whom He had formed.”

And he concludes:

Blessed are You, Lord, who gladdens the groom and the bride

forever, with sufficient sustenance and every good thing.

F. Praise with which they praise the Holy One, blessed is He, who created the wedding joining a man to a woman through joy and gladness:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who created joy and gladness, groom and bride, rejoicing, song, gladness,,,

joy, love and fellowship, peace and companionship,

Soon, Lord our God, may there be heard in the cities of Judah

and in the streets of Jerusalem—

the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride,

the sound of the rejoicing of grooms from beneath their wedding canopies, and youths from their festive meal of song.

And he concludes:

Blessed are You, Lord, who gladdens the groom with the bride.

Levi happened to come to the house of Rabbi at the wedding celebration of Rabbi Shimon, his son

of Rabbi; Levi was with Rabbi at the wedding of Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi’s son.

He recited

Levi only

five

blessings, but he did not recite the blessing “who forms the human being.”

Whereas

Rav Asi happened to come to the house of Rav Ashi at the wedding celebration of Mar, his son

of Rav Ashi, at the wedding of Mar, Rav Ashi’s son, and

he recited six

six blessings.

In tractate Eruvin [18a], Rav and Shmuel disagreed in explaining what is stated in the account of Creation concerning the creation of Eve: “And the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the human being, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed flesh beneath it. And the Lord God built the rib” [the expression means “side,” as in “and the side of the Tabernacle which he took from the human being for a woman, and he brought her to the human being”].

One said: “A face.” That is, at first, at the time of the creation of the human being, two faces were created for him: on his front was a man, and on his back was a woman. And at the time of the creation of Eve, the Holy One, blessed is He, divided the faces into two human beings. It follows according to this view that there was never the creation of a man without a woman; rather, a man and a woman were created immediately.

Whereas one said: He had a tail, and from it the Holy One, blessed is He, created Eve. It follows according to this view that at first there was the creation of a man without a woman. Afterward there was an additional creation of Eve.

Let us say that they disagree about this

Levi and Rav Asi:

For one,

Levi,

holds: There was one creation

there was one creation of the man and the woman together.

For from the beginning of the creation of the human being, two faces were created for him, one in front and one behind, and there was no separate creation of a man without the woman. And there are not here two creations over which to recite two blessings.

And the other,

Rav Asi,

holds: There were two creations.

And according to his view, at first the man was created without the woman. Rather, afterward the Holy One, blessed is He, created Eve from the tail of the first man. And according to him, the first blessing was instituted over the first creation, which was without the female, and the second blessing over the creation of the female.

And the Gemara rejects this:

No,

this is not what they disagreed about!

Rather,

everyone—

there was one creation,

and they disagreed about something else:

One,

Levi,

holds: We follow the thought,

because at first it arose in the thought of the Holy One, blessed is He, to create two, and on account of that thought two blessings are recited.

And the other,

Rav Asi,

holds: We follow the deed,

and in the deed only one was created.

As in the case where Rav Yehuda juxtaposed

he challenged the verses, one against the other:

It is written

at the beginning of the Book of Genesis:

“And God created the human being in His image,”

which implies that there was the creation of only one human being.

And

on the other hand,

it is written

later in the verse:

“Male and female He created them.”

And this implies that there was the creation of two.

How is this

that these two verses can both stand?

At first it arose in thought

of the Holy One, blessed is He,

to create two. But ultimately only

one

was created ...

Rav Ashi happened to come to the house of Rav Kahana

Rav Ashi was with Rav Kahana at a wedding held by Rav Kahana.

On the first day

of the marriage

he recited all of them,

Rav Ashi recited all six blessings.

From here,

from the first day

onward,

until the seventh day, only

if there are new faces

if there were new faces at the meal,

he recited

Rav Ashi

all of them,

the six blessings.

But if not,

there were no new faces,

it is merely an increase of joy,

there is only an increase of joy; therefore one does not recite all the blessings, but recites:

A.

that the joy is in His dwelling

within the blessing of the invitation, before Grace after Meals.

B.

and “who created,”

which is the sixth and final blessing of the blessings of grooms.

And now the Gemara explains the law concerning saying “that the joy is in His dwelling” in the blessing of the invitation: A.

From seven

days after the marriage and

until thirty

days after the marriage—

whether

if

he said

the groom

to them

to those reclining at the meal, that he gathered them together for the meal

because of the wedding celebration

because of his wedding,

or whether

if

he did not say to them

the groom did not say to those reclining at the meal that

because of the wedding celebration

he had gathered them—

in either case:

he recites, “that the joy is in His dwelling.”

B.

From here,

from thirty days

onward—

if he said to them

the groom said to those reclining at the meal that

because of the wedding celebration

of his wedding he had gathered them for the meal,

he recites, “that the joy is in His dwelling.”

But if he did not

the groom did not say to them that he had gathered them because of the wedding celebration—

he does not

recite, “that the joy is in His dwelling.”

C. And the Gemara asks:

But if he said to them, “because of the wedding celebration”—

until when?

Until when do they say “that the joy is in His dwelling” when he gathered them for the meal because of the joy of his wedding?

Rav Pappi said in the name of Rava: Until twelve months of the year

twelve months after the marriage.

D.

And initially,

before the marriage,

from when

does he recite “that the joy is in His dwelling” at a meal?

Rav Pappi said: From when they place barley in the asinta.

Some explain: From the time that they soak the barley in a trough of water in order to make beer for the needs of the wedding canopy.

And some explain: For the sake of the groom and bride they sow barley in a flowerpot as a sign of blessing, saying: “Be fruitful and multiply and grow like these barley grains.”

That is, from the time that they begin the practical preparations for the marriage, from which point they are confident that it will not be postponed, the joy of the marriage begins, and they may already recite “that the joy is in His dwelling.”

And we challenge this:

I do not accept this—

But Rav Pappa

himself

undertook [the marriage arrangements] for Abba Mar, his son

Rav Pappa arranged the match for his son called “Abba Mar,”

and recited “that the joy is in His dwelling” from

“For the joy is in His dwelling” beginning

the time of betrothal,

and he did not wait until “when they place barley in the asinta”?!

And the Gemara answers:

Rav Pappa is different, for it was burdensome for him,

all the needs of the wedding canopy and the marriage feast for his son’s marriage had already been prepared for him at the time of the betrothal. Therefore, for him the joy had already begun from then, because since everything was ready, there was no concern that the marriage would be postponed.

Ravina arranged his son’s marriage with the house of Rav Haviva

he betrothed his son to Rav Haviva’s daughter,

and recited

Ravina recited “that the joy is in His dwelling”

from the time of betrothal.

Ravina said

about the house of Rav Haviva:

I am certain about them that they will not retract

I know about them that they will not retract, and the wedding will take place.

However,

the matter did not succeed

the matter did not come to fruition,

and they retracted

the house of Rav Haviva retracted and did not give him the woman.

Rav Tahlifa bar Ma’arava happened to come to Babylonia and recited

at the blessing of grooms

six lengthy [blessings]

six lengthy blessings.

That is, in the short blessings, which do not conclude with “Blessed” because they contain no addition, but are entirely a single acknowledgment, Rav Tahlifa would add words to them; and once he added, he would also conclude them with “Blessed.”

And the conclusion of the Gemara is:

The halakha does not follow him

Rav Tahlifa.

Rav Haviva happened to come to a house of circumcision,

he happened upon a meal of a circumcision, and

recited, “that the joy is in His dwelling.”

And here too the conclusion of the Gemara is:

The halakha does not follow him!

For one does not recite this at a circumcision

because they are preoccupied,

since

the infant has pain,

and the joy is confused when they see his pain.

Rav Nahman said in the name of Rav:

The

grooms

themselves are considered

among the quorum

of ten people for the blessing of grooms. That is, only nine people are required, and the groom is the tenth.

And

however,

the mourners are not included in the count.

Meitivi

to Rav, who holds that the mourners are not included in the count:

From that which was taught:

Grooms and

also

mourners are included in the count!?

And the Gemara is astonished at the challenge from the words of the beraita against Rav’s position:

And is

a beraita being brought against Rav

[Are you challenging Rav from a beraita]!?

For

Rav is a tannai, and he disputes!

It is within Rav’s power, since he is a tannai, to dispute the beraita!

It was stated:

Rabbi Isaac said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Grooms are included in the count, but mourners are not included in the count

Meitivi

to Rabbi Yohanan [who is an amora], from the beraita mentioned above:

Grooms and

also

mourners are included in the count!?