Birkat Ha-mazon ברכת המזון

And it will be if you truly listen to My commandments that I command you today to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Then I will give the rain of your land in its time, a first rain and last rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your oil. And I will provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied. Guard yourselves lest your heart seduce you and you veer and serve other gods and bow down to them.

For the Lord your God brings you to a good land, a land of wadis of water, springs and groundwaters that emerge in the valley and the mountain. A land of wheat and barley and grapevine and fig and pomegranate, a land of olives for oil and [date] honey. A land in which you will eat bread without poverty, you will not lack for anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you will hew copper. And you will eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God for the good land that He gave you. Guard yourself lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and laws and ordinances which I command you today. Lest you eat and be satisfied and build good homes and settle. And your cattle and your flocks multiply and silver and gold increase for you and everything that you have increase. And your heart become arrogant and you forget the Lord your God Who took you out of the land of Mitzrayim from the house of bondage. Who leads you in the great and awful wilderness with snake and serpent and scorpion and thirst for there is no water. Who brings forth water for you from the flint rock. Who feeds you man in the wilderness that your fathers did not know in order to afflict you and in order to test you for your ultimate good. And you may say in your heart ‘my strength and the power of my arm made me this wealth.’ And you will remember the Lord your God, that He gives you strength to make wealth in order to uphold His covenant which He swore to your forefathers as on this day.

It is a positive Torah-level mitzva to recite a beracha after eating nourishing food, as it is said “And you will eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God.”

…This is the rule: everything whose beginning [beracha] is ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz [who brings forth bread from the land] one recites after it three berachot [birkat ha-mazon]…

Rabbi Meir reasoned: “And you will eat” – this is eating, “and be satisfied” – this is drinking. And eating is defined as a ke-zayit. But Rabbi Yehuda reasoned: “And you will eat and be satisfied” – eating that is sufficient for satisfaction. And what is this? A ke-beitza (the volume of an egg).

And will I not show favor to Israel? For I wrote to them in the Torah “and you will eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God,” And they are exacting with themselves [to recite it] to an olive’s worth and to an egg’s worth.

One is not obligated on a Torah level unless one is satisfied, as it says “And you will eat and be satisfied and recite a beracha” And from the words of the scribes [rabbinically], if one ate even an olive’s worth, he recites a beracha after it.

Rav Nachman said: Moshe enacted for Israel birkat ha-zan [“Who sustains,” the first beracha] at the time that the man descended for them. Yehoshua enacted birkat ha-aretz [the second beracha, over the land] when they entered the land. David and Shelomo enacted boneh Yerushalayim [“Who builds Yerushalayim,” the third beracha]. David enacted [requesting mercy] “over Your people Israel and over Your city Yerushalayim,” and Shelomo enacted “over your great and sacred house [the Temple]. They [the sages] enacted ha-tov ve-hameitiv [“Who is good and does good,” the fourth beracha] in Yavneh, as a response to those killed at Beitar. As Rav Matana said: on the day that those killed at Beitar could be buried, they established ha-tov ve-ha-meitiv in Yavneh, ha-tov, that they did not rot, and ha-meitiv, that they could be buried.

Our rabbis taught [in a baraita]: Whence do we know that birkat ha-mazon is from the Torah? For it is said “And you will eat and be satisfied and bless” This is birkat ha-zan. “The Lord your God” this is birkat ha-zimmun [the prologue invitation to birkat ha-mazon], “over the land” —this is birkat ha-aretz.” The good” — this is boneh Yerushalayim, and so it says “this goodly mountain and the Levanon” (Devarim 3:25). “That He gave to you” This is ha-tov ve-hameitiv…Rabbi [Yehuda Ha-nassi] says: This is unnecessary. “And you will eat and be satisfied and bless” this is birkat ha-zan. But birkat ha-zimmun derives from “Exalt God along with me” (Tehillim 34:4). “Over the land” This is birkat ha-aretz. “The good” this is boneh Yerushalayim. And so it says “this goodly mountain and the Levanon” (Devarim 3:25). Ha-tov ve-hameitiv they enacted in Yavneh.

That which we say “Moshe enacted for them birkat ha-zan, Yehoshua enacted for them birkat ha-aretz,” etc., is difficult. For we maintain afterwards that these are from the Torah. One can say that their language formula is what they [newly] formulated for them. For if it is on a Torah level, if one wished to say it [each beracha] with any language formula that he wants, he can say it. And Moshe and Yehoshua and David and Shelomo came and enacted for them a formula, for each one [of the berachot] in its time…And certainly prior to the conquest of the land and the building of Jerusalem, they would not say it as the formula that they said after the conquest and building, just as we don’t say the same formula as David and Shelomo enacted, for we request to restore the kingship and to build the Temple and they would ask to preserve the kingship and to preserve the Temple and to continue the tranquility of the land.

…They said regarding birkat ha-mazon which is certainly from the Torah (Berachot 48b): “Moshe enacted birkat ha-zan, Yehoshua enacted birkat ha-aretz, Shelomo enacted boneh Yerushalayim.” For all of them, the formula is not from the Torah. Rather we were commanded from the Torah to recite a beracha after our eating, every person as he chooses …And the prophets came and enacted for us a text with correct language and clear phrasing. And we changed it already in the exile [to say] “and may You swiftly restore the kingship of the house of David your anointed one and build Yerushalayim Your holy city. For Shelomo and his court enacted the idea, but the language is said in accordance with the times.

We learn in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: whoever did not say “the desirable good and expansive land” in birkat ha-aretz or “the kingship of the house of David” in boneh Yerushalayim did not discharge his obligation. Nachum the elder said: One must mention in it [birkat ha-aretz] berit. Rabbi Yosei said: he must mention in it [birkat ha-aretz] Torah…

Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: If he didn’t mention Torah in [birkat] ha-aretz, we make him go back [and repeat it]. What is the reason? “And He gave them the lands of the nations” [Tehillim 105:44]. Why? “In order that they keep His ordinances and guard His teachings” [Tehillim 105:45] R’ Ba son of R’ Acha in the name of Rabbi [Yehuda Ha-nassi]: If he didn’t mention berit in ha-aretz or didn’t mention the kingship of the house of David in boneh Yerushalayim, we make him go back.

He must mention in it: In birkat ha-aretz. For by virtue of the berit, it [the land] was given to Avraham in the portion about circumcision: “And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land of your sojourning” Bereishit 17).

…For given that birkat ha-mazon is on a Torah level, its formula is rabbinic and since he only changed the rabbinic formula, it is possible that he discharged his obligation [even when omitting mention of berit or Torah], but…It is written explicitly in the Yerushalmi at the end of the first chapter of Berachot, “If he didn’t mention Torah in ha-aretz, we make him go back…

Women and bondsmen and minors are exempt from reciting Shema and from tefillin and obligated in prayer and in mezuza and in birkat ha-mazon.

“And birkat ha-mazon” as it is written “And you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God.” There we learn: every positive time-bound mitzva, men are obligated and women are exempt, and every positive mitzva that is not time-bound, both men and women are obligated…

“And in birkat ha-mazon” – that is obvious! What might you have said? Since it is written “When God gives you in the evening meat to eat and bread in the morning to satiety” (Shemot 16:8), it [birkat ha-mazon] is similar to a positive time-bound commandment. It [the mishna] teaches us [otherwise].

For Rav Chananel said Rav said: One who didn’t say berit or Torah or kingship discharged his obligation [in birkat ha-mazon]. Berit, because it doesn’t apply to women, Torah and kingship, because it doesn’t apply to women or to bondsmen.

Ravina said to Rava: Women in birkat ha-mazon, is it from the Torah or rabbinic?

Women in birkat ha-mazon, is it from the Torah- as it is written “And you will eat and be satisfied” and it is a positive commandment that is not time-bound.

Or is it rabbinic? As it is written “for the good land that he gave you,” and the land was not [initially] given to females to apportion. If [you would question this] because of the daughters of Tzelofchad, it was their father’s portion that they took, for he was among those who left Egypt.

‘And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now behold I have brought the first fruit of the land that God gave to me.’ And place it before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.

…And the woman and the person of unclear gender and the androgynous person bring [bikkurim] and don’t recite [mikra bikkurim], for they cannot say “that God gave to me.”

Look out from Your holy dwelling from the sky and bless Your people, Israel, and the ground that you gave us as you swore to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

From here they said: Israelites and mamzerim recite viduy [ma’aser] but not converts and not freed bondsmen, for they don’t have a portion in the land. Rabbi Meir says: Not even Kohanim or Levi’im, for they did not take a portion of the land. Rabbi Yosei said: They have the Levite cities.

“Women in birkat ha-mazon, is it from the Torah or rabbinic?”- Rashi explained that you might have thought they were not obligated on a Torah level because it is written “for the good land” and women did not take a portion of the land, and what the daughters of Tzelofchad took was the portion of their father. And this is questionable because then you should also ask about Kohanim and Levi’im, for they did not take a portion of the land…

…For women are included in the seed of Avraham and are included in the law that the Land of Israel is in our domain from our forefathers, and behold they [women] are included in the promise of God to Avraham Avinu “To you I will give it and to your descendants.” And the basis of the law that women do not take a portion of the land is because they are not those who conquer [militarily], and they are not included in the [obligation] of inheriting it and settling it…It is explained that birkat ha-mazon depends on the law of acquiring it through Avraham Avinu, and in the law that the Land of Israel is in our domain from our forefathers, and like the law of viduy ma’aser. And one must say that Tosafot thought that from the perspective of taking a portion of the land of Israel, women do recite the beracha of birkat ha-mazon, since even though the women didn’t take a portion of the land, that is solely with respect to them not being included in the law of acquiring it based on the law of inheriting it and settling it. And in any case they are included in the law of acquiring the Land of Israel as our domain from our forefathers…

If one did not mention berit and Torah in birkat ha-aretz, even if he only left out one of them, we make him go back. Rema: and women and bondsmen do not say berit and Torah, for women are not benei berit [included in the covenant of circumcision] and bondsmen are not included in Torah.

Even regarding woman there is room to discuss [mention of berit], for one is not called a man unless he has a wife (Yevamot 63a) male and female are one flesh, and they [women] well could say “for Your covenant which You sealed in our flesh.”

In our day women are accustomed also to say “on Your covenant which You sealed in our flesh and on the Torah which You taught us” etc., and the intention is for the circumcision of the males that You sealed in our flesh and similarly Your Torah that You taught us refers to the learning of males, for by merit of the Torah and circumcision, Israel received the land. Furthermore that also women need to learn their mitzvot, to know how to do them (as I wrote in 47).

For women recite the berachot of birkat Ha-Torah because they are obligated to study their mitzvot…nd we say “thus you will say to beit Ya’akov”—those are the women. If so, why should they [women] not say “on Your Torah that You taught us?” And furthermore they say in Avoda Zara 28a [27b]……A woman is similar to one who is circumcised…And if so, it is possible that “on Your covenant that You sealed in our flesh” they [women] can say, as those who are similar to one who is circumcised.

A woman is similar to one who is circumcised

Regarding the matter of a halachic ruling, we do not follow Ravina…For we said above “And in birkat ha-mazon” – that is obvious! And we respond: What might you have said? Since it is written “When God gives you in the evening meat to eat and bread in the morning to satiety” (Shemot 16:8), it [birkat ha-mazon] is similar to a positive time-bound commandment. It [the mishna] teaches us [otherwise]. Therefore, it is a simple matter to all of them that women are obligated from the Torah…

Women and bondsmen are obligated in birkat ha-mazon, and there is a doubt as to whether they are obligated from the Torah, because it has no set time, or whether they are not obligated from the Torah…

Women are obligated in birkat ha-mazon, and it is a matter of doubt if they are obligated from the Torah and discharge the obligations of men or if they are only obligated on a rabbinic level and only discharge the obligation of someone whose obligation is only rabbinic.

One who ate and does not know whether he recited birkat ha-mazon or not, needs to recite it out of doubt because it is [obligatory] from the Torah.

One needs to recite it out of doubt. A woman in this situation, one can say that she does not need to recite it. For regarding a Torah-level obligation, it is a compound doubt. A doubt as to whether women are obligated. And a doubt as to whether she already recited it. Regarding a rabbinic-level obligation, it is a single doubt as to whether she already recited it, and we are lenient.

In any case, if they [women] ate to satiety and were in doubt as to whether they had recited birkat ha-mazon, it is a doubt in a Torah-level obligation and they need to recite birkat ha-mazon… but if they ate to satiety it is not a compound doubt, [based on] the possibility that they are exempt on a Torah level, for an unresolved question is not considered a doubt.

… In the matter of a woman who is in doubt whether she recited birkat ha-mazon. Know that even according to the Shulchan Aruch, where it is implied that he followed the opinion of Rambam and Rosh and the Ma’or and Riaz and their faction, that it is a matter of doubt whether women are obligated in birkat ha-mazon on a Torah level… in any case, it is not entirely clear, and there are many major early authorities who maintain that they are certainly obligated on a Torah level… Therefore, it seems in my humble opinion that one who relies on the opinion of the Sha’arei Efraim and the other later authorities who require the woman go back and recite birkat ha-mazon has not lost out, for even without this there is the opinion of those early authorities that she is certainly obligated on a Torah level.

Ravina said to Rava: Women in birkat ha-mazon – [is their obligation] on a Torah level or rabbinic? What is the practical implication? To discharge the obligation of the masses. If you say it is a Torah-level obligation, one [person with] a Torah-level obligation comes and discharges [another’s] Torah-level obligation. But if you say it is rabbinic, that is, he is not obligated in the matter, and “anyone who is not obligated in a matter cannot discharge the obligation of the masses.” [Mishna Rosh Ha-shana 3:8]. What [is the halacha]?

The halacha is in doubt, and this is also the opinion of Rambam in chapter 5, and thus ruled Rabbeinu the Beit Yosef in se’if 1, and therefore they only discharge the obligation of someone whose obligation is rabbinic, such as a woman or a minor.

…Birkat ha-mazon, when if he wants, he eats and if he wants, he doesn’t eat – we do not make him go back. But according to that, on Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim, when it is not possible not to eat, there too, if he erred, he goes back! He said to him, yes…

Women never go back [and repeat birkat ha-mazon], even on Shabbat and the first night of Pesach and Sukkot, and even though they are obligated to eat matza, since there is a doubt whether they are obligated in birkat ha-mazon on a Torah level…