Ketubot 8a (ח.) — the Talmud in English

A. The blessing over the gathering of the people:

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

Who created everything

the Holy One, blessed be He,

for His glory.

This blessing was instituted over the gathering of the people who assemble there to perform acts of kindness and to gladden the groom and bride, in remembrance of the kindness of the Omnipresent, who acted in this manner toward Adam the first man, serving as his shoshvin and attending to him. This gathering of the people—the fact that they assemble—is an honor to the Omnipresent, and therefore they instituted that one say: “Who created everything for His glory.”

B.

And

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

Who fashions man.

After these two blessings, they begin to recite a series of four blessings concerning the union, and concerning the male and the female. Since this is a new series of blessings, the first of the four blessings begins with “Blessed” and also concludes with “Blessed,” as is the practice with the opening blessings of other series of blessings.

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

And

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

Who formed man in His image, in the image of the likeness of his form,

and prepared

for him

for man

from him

from the ribs of man the woman, who is

a structure

for all eternity

a structure that endures for generations.

And it concludes:

Blessed are You, Lord, Who fashions man.

D. The blessing over the future joy of Zion:

May the barren one rejoice greatly and be glad

Jerusalem,

when her children are gathered into her with joy.

And it 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 their success throughout all their days,

as You gladdened Your creation

Adam the first man

in the Garden of Eden of old

as it is stated: “And the Lord planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed.”

And it concludes:

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

forever, with sufficient sustenance and every good thing.

F. Praise with which one praises the Holy One, blessed be He, Who created the union of man and woman through joy and gladness:

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who created joy and gladness, groom and bride; jubilation, song, exultation,,,

gladness, love and fellowship, peace and friendship,

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

and in the courtyards 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 joyous cries of grooms beneath their canopies, and of youths from their feasts of song.

And it concludes:

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

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

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

Levi recited

only

five

blessings, but he did not recite the blessing “Who fashions man.”

But

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

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

he recited six

blessings.

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

One said: “A profile.” That is, at the outset, when man was created, two profiles were created for him: on his front was a man, and on his back was a woman. When Eve was created, the Holy One, blessed be He, divided the profiles into two human beings. According to this view, the creation of a man without a woman never occurred; rather, a man and a woman were created immediately.

But the other said: The first man had a tail, and from it the Holy One, blessed be He, created Eve. According to this view, at first a man was created without a woman. Afterwards, an additional creation of Eve took place.

Let us say that this is the matter over which they disagreed,

Levi and Rav Asi:

One master,

Levi,

held: There was a single creation

a single creation of man and woman together.

For from the very beginning of man’s creation, two profiles were created for him, one in front and one behind, and there was no separate creation of a man without a woman. Therefore, there are not two creations over which to recite two blessings.

And the other master,

Rav Asi,

held: There were two creations.

In his view, the man was first created without the woman. Only afterwards did the Holy One, blessed be He, create Eve from the first man’s tail. Accordingly, 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—

held: There was a single creation,

and they disagreed about something else:

One master,

Levi,

held: We follow the original thought,

for at first the Holy One, blessed be He, conceived of creating two, and on account of that thought one recites two blessings.

And the other master,

Rav Asi,

held: We follow the actual deed,

and in the actual deed only one was created.

For this is like that which Rav Yehuda raised

he posed a contradiction between the verses:

It is written

at the beginning of Genesis:

“And God created man in His image,”

which implies that only one person was created.

And

conversely,

it is written

later in the verse:

“Male and female He created them.”

This implies that two were created.

How is this possible?

How can these two verses be reconciled?—

At first it arose in thought

of the Holy One, blessed be He,

to create two, but ultimately only

one

was created ...

Rav Ashi happened to come to the house of Rav Kahana

Rav Ashi was at Rav Kahana’s wedding.

On the first day

of the marriage

he recited all of them,

Rav Ashi recited all six blessings.

From then,

from the first day

onward,

until the seventh day, only

if there are new faces

if new faces were present at the meal

did he recite

Rav Ashi

all of them,

the six blessings.

But if not,

if there were no new faces,

it is merely an increase of joy,

there is only an increase of joy; therefore, all the blessings are not recited. Rather, one recites:

A.

“That there is joy in His dwelling”

within Birkat HaZimun, before Birkat HaMazon.

B.

And “Who created”,

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

The Gemara now explains the law concerning reciting “That there is joy in His dwelling” in Birkat HaZimun: A.

From seven

days after the marriage

until thirty

days after the marriage—

Whether

or not

he said

the groom

to them

to those reclining at the meal—that he had gathered them together for a meal

because of the wedding

because of his wedding,

and whether

or

he did not say to them

the groom did not tell those reclining at the meal that

because of the wedding

he had gathered them—

in either case:

he recites: “That there is joy in His dwelling.”

B.

From then,

from thirty days

onward—

If he said to them

the groom told those reclining at the meal that

because of the wedding

he had gathered them for the meal,

he recites: “That there is joy in His dwelling.”

But if not,

if the groom did not tell those reclining at the meal that he had gathered them because of the wedding—

he does not

recite: “That there is joy in His dwelling.”

C. And the Gemara asks:

But if he said to them: Because of the wedding—

until when?

Until when does one say “That there is joy in His dwelling” when he gathered them for a meal because of the joy of his wedding?

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

twelve months after the marriage.

D.

And initially,

before the marriage,

from when

does one recite “That there is joy in His dwelling” at a meal?

Rav Pappi said: From when one places barley in the asintha.

Some explain: From the time that one soaks barley in a vat of water in order to make beer for the needs of the huppa.

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

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

And we challenge this:

Is that so?

But Rav Pappa

himself

was engaged in arranging the marriage of Abba Mar, his son

Rav Pappa was arranging the match of his son, who was called “Abba Mar,”

and he recited “That there is joy in His dwelling” from

“For the joy is in His dwelling” beginning

the time of the betrothal,

and he did not wait until “when one places barley in the asintha”!

And the Gemara answers:

Rav Pappa is different, for it was already prepared for him,

for at the time of the betrothal all the requirements of the huppa and the wedding feast for his son’s marriage had already been prepared for him. Therefore, his joy began at that point, since everything was ready and there was no concern that the marriage would be postponed.

Ravina arranged the marriage of his son with the family of Rav Haviva

he betrothed his son to Rav Haviva’s daughter,

and he recited

Ravina recited “That there is joy in His dwelling”

from the time of the betrothal.

Ravina said

concerning the family of Rav Haviva:

I am certain about them that they will not retract

I know that they will not retract, and the marriage will take place.

However,

the matter did not succeed

the matter did not come to fruition,

and they retracted

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

Rav Taḥlifa from the West happened to come to Babylonia and recited

the blessings of the grooms

six lengthy blessings

six extended blessings.

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

And the Gemara’s conclusion is:

The halakha does not follow him,

Rav Taḥlifa.

Rav Haviva happened to come to a house where a circumcision was being celebrated,

he happened upon a meal celebrating a circumcision, and

he recited: “That there is joy in His dwelling.”

Here too, the Gemara’s conclusion is:

The halakha does not follow him!

For one does not recite this at a circumcision

because they are preoccupied,

since

the infant is in pain,

and the joy is disrupted when one sees his suffering.

Rav Naḥman said in the name of Rav:

The

grooms themselves are considered

themselves are counted

part of the quorum

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

And

however,

mourners are not included in the count.

Meitivi

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

From that which was taught in a beraita:

Bridegrooms and

also

mourners are included in the count!?

And the Gemara expresses astonishment at the challenge from the words of the beraita to Rav’s position:

And is it that

you are raising a teaching against Rav

[are you raising a question against Rav from a beraita]!?

But

Rav is a tanna, and he disagrees!

Rav’s status as a tanna gives him the authority to disagree with the beraita!

It was stated:

Rabbi Yitzhak said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Bridegrooms are included in the count, but mourners are not included in the count.

Meitivi

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

Bridegrooms and

also

mourners are included in the count!?