Cup of Blessing

Ritual Objects

During the recitation of Birkat Hamazon (grace after the meal), when there are at least three people present, the Cup for the Blessing (kos shel bracha) is filled with wine and a special blessing is made. The person who is honored by leading birkat hamazon also drinks the cup of wine.

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The Ritual of the Cup of Blessing

TALMUD

The cup of blessing used during the blessing after Meals has detailed and specific requirements that enhance the ritual's significance. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Berakhot outlines ten customs associated with the cup of blessing, from preparation to the blessing itself.

Rabbi Zeira said that Rabbi Abbahu said, and some say that this halakha was taught in a baraita: Ten things were said with regard to a cup of blessing, e.g., the cup of wine over which Grace after Meals is recited: It requires rinsing and washing; it must be undiluted wine, and full; it requires adorning and wrapping; he takes it in his two hands and places it in his right hand, and he lifts it at least one handbreadth from the ground, and when reciting the blessing he fixes his eyes upon it…

Berakhot 51a:16

Maximizing the Blessing with Wine

TALMUD

The manner in which wine is consumed during a blessing can enhance the enjoyment and fulfillment of the mitzvah. The Gemara in Tractate Sukkah discusses the significance of wine in libations and provides practical advice on how to drink it to maximize enjoyment.

The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that this is referring to plugging the drainpipes? Rav Pappa said: Shekhar is an expression of drinking, of satiation, of intoxication. In order to underscore all three aspects of the libations, the space between the altar and the ramp would fill with wine. Rav Pappa said: Conclude from this that when a person is satiated from drinking wine, it is from his throat being filled with wine that he is satiated. Unlike food, wine does not satiate a person when it fills his stomach…

Sukkah 49b:5

The Joy in Ritual Blessings

MUSAR

The four rules for the ritual of drinking wine and reciting blessings form an acronym that spells out the Hebrew word for joy, שמחה. In the 17th-century work Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz connects this ritual to the concept of joy during meals.

In this way joy will become part of our meal which we must signify by drinking wine and reciting the appropriate benediction to display our joyous frame of mind. We must not project sadness. If we follow these guidelines we may be sure that the שכינה is above our heads. The Rabbis enumerate ten rules to observe in connection with the cup of wine we fill before saying grace (Berachot 51a). According to Rabbi Yochanan only four of these rules are actually practiced nowadays. The four are: הדחה, שטיפה, חי, מלא…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Re'eh, Derekh Chayim 4

Proper Conduct for Tasting Wine

HALAKHAH

The protocol for tasting wine during Birkat HaMazon (the blessing after meals) ensures proper conduct and respect during communal meals. The Shulchan Arukh, a 16th-century code of Jewish law by Rabbi Joseph Karo, outlines the procedure for Birkat HaMazon and the associated blessing over wine.

After concluding the Birkat HaMazon, one blesses "Creator of the Fruit of the Vine", then the blesser tastes [from the cup of wine]. After that tasting, others [at the meal] taste [from the cup of wine] if all of them are connected to one cup, and the blesser gives from their cup to empty cups in their hands. They should not taste from the cup of blessing until the blesser tastes. But, if they are not connected to that cup, they are able to taste prior to the blesser tasting. The blesser need not spill from their cup to the cups of their fellow diners…

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 190:1

Essential Wine Measure

TALMUD

The rabbis established that a single cup of wine cannot be divided for multiple ritual uses, emphasizing the importance of a minimum measure for the cup of blessing. The Talmudic tractate Pesachim discusses the requirement of a cup of wine for Birkat HaMazon and the necessity of a minimum measure for the cup of blessing.

And learn from it that one who recites the blessing of Grace after Meals requires a cup of wine. And learn from it that a cup of blessing requires a minimum measure, for otherwise it would have been possible for one who has only one cup of wine to simply divide it into two, recite havdala immediately, and still have a cup of wine left over for Grace after Meals.

Pesachim 105b:5

Seizing the Blessing

TALMUD

The urgency and eagerness in seizing the opportunity to recite the blessing for Birkat HaMazon is a powerful reminder of the importance of gratitude in daily rituals. The Talmudic tractate Nazir emphasizes this importance, as taught by Rav Huna to his son, Rabba.

Seize the opportunity and quickly recite a blessing over the cup of blessing for the Grace after Meals. And similarly, Rav Huna said to his son, Rabba: Seize the opportunity and recite a blessing.

Nazir 66b:1

Ritual Precision in Birkat Hamazon

TALMUD

The specific physical actions and postures required during the recitation of Birkat Hamazon highlight the importance of ritual precision in Jewish practice. The Jerusalem Talmud provides detailed instructions on how to properly hold the cup during this significant prayer.

Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Yoḥanan: The first generations asked whether the left hand may help the right hand with the cup used for reciting Grace. You may infer from this three things. You infer that one must hold the cup with his right hand, that one’s hand must be lifted from the table at least a hand-breadth, and that one has to look at the cup.

Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 7:5:6

The Consequences of Neglecting the Cup of Blessing

TALMUD

Refusing to recite the blessing over the cup of blessing can have severe consequences, including curtailing one's days and years. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Berakhot discusses the importance of reciting blessings.

And Rav Yehuda said: Three things curtail a person’s days and years: One who is invited and given the Torah scroll to read and he does not read, one who is given a cup of blessing over which to recite a blessing and he does not recite a blessing, and one who conducts himself with an air of superiority.

Berakhot 55a:7

Detail of a painting of a man sitting at the spread table lifting his cup and saying the blessing over food. Image taken from f. 132v of Prayer book, Italian rite. Written in Hebrew, Judeo-Italian.

Relatedראו גם

Kiddush

Meals (סעודה)

Sheetsדפי מקורות

Related Sheets