Talmud - Berakhot 40a ברכות מ׳ א׳

Continuing to discuss the halakhot of breaking bread, Rav said: One who broke bread, and before eating it, offered a piece to another, and said: Take it and recite a blessing, take it and recite a blessing, need not recite the blessing a second time, because that is considered to have been for the purpose of the blessing. If, however, he said: Bring salt or bring relish, he must recite the blessing a second time, as that is considered an interruption between the blessing and eating the bread. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Even if he said: Bring salt or bring relish, it is not considered an interruption and he need not recite the blessing a second time. Only if he said: Mix the food for the oxen, mix the food for the oxen, it is considered an interruption and he is required to recite the blessing a second time. And Rav Sheshet said: Even if he said: Mix for the oxen, he need not recite a blessing a second time, as that is also considered to be for the purpose of the blessing, as Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: One is prohibited from eating before feeding his animals, as it is stated: “And I will give grass in your fields for your animals” first and only then: “And you shall eat and be satisfied” (Deuteronomy 11:15). In the verse, preparation of food for one’s cattle precedes preparation of his own food. Consequently, it is considered part of the preparation for one’s own meal.

Rava bar Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya: One who breaks bread is not permitted to break it until they bring salt or relish before each and every one seated at the table. However, the Gemara relates that Rava bar Shmuel himself happened to come to the House of the Exilarch. They brought him bread, which he immediately broke, without waiting for them to bring salt or relish. They said to him: Did the Master reconsider his halakhic ruling? He said to them: Although poor quality bread requires salt in order to give the bread flavor, and therefore one must wait before breaking bread, this refined bread served in the House of the Exilarch needs no salt, and does not require waiting.

And Rava bar Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya: Urine only completely leaves the body if one urinates seated, as, otherwise, due to concern that drops of urine will drip onto his clothes, he attempts to conclude prematurely. Rav Kahana said: Over loose soil which absorbs the urine, one is not concerned that it will splash on him; therefore, even when standing the urine leaves his body. And if there is no loose soil there is another way to prevent the urine from splashing on his clothes while standing. Stand on an elevated place and urinate down an inclined plane.

And Rava bar Shmuel said the following advice in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya: After all eating, eat salt and after all drinking, drink water and you will not be harmed. That was also taught in a baraita: After all eating, eat salt and after all drinking, drink water and you will not be harmed. It was taught in another baraita: If one ate any food and did not eat salt afterward, or if he drank any liquid and did not drink water afterward, during the day, he should be concerned about bad breath, and at night he should be concerned about diphtheria.

On the topic of health, the Gemara cites that the Sages taught in a baraita: One who inundates his food with water, i.e., one who drinks a great deal of water, will not come to suffer from intestinal illness. The Gemara asks: And how much water? Rav Ḥisda said: One jug [kiton] per loaf.

Rav Mari said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who is accustomed to eat lentils once in thirty days prevents diphtheria from afflicting his house. The Gemara comments: However, one should not eat lentils every day. What is the reason? Because it is deleterious in that it causes bad breath.

And Rav Mari said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One who is accustomed to eat mustard once in thirty days prevents illnesses from afflicting his house. The Gemara comments: However, one should not eat mustard every day. What is the reason? Because it is deleterious in that it causes weakness of the heart.

Another health recommendation: Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: One who is accustomed to eat small fish will not come to suffer from intestinal illness. Moreover, eating small fish causes one’s entire body to flourish, to grow, and to be healthy.

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: One who is accustomed to eat black cumin, a medicine for the heart, will not come to suffer from heart pain. The Gemara raises an objection: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Black cumin is one of sixty deadly drugs, and therefore one who sleeps to the east of its storage area, where its odor wafts with the westerly wind, responsibility for his blood is on his own head. The Gemara responds: This is not difficult, as this, where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said that black cumin is harmful, refers to its odor, whereas this, where Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said that it is beneficial for the heart, refers only to its taste. And the Gemara relates: The mother of Rabbi Yirmeya would bake him bread and would stick black cumin to it so its taste would be absorbed, and she would peel it off, so that its odor would not harm him.

We learned in the mishna that Rabbi Yehuda says that one recites over herbs and leafy greens: Who creates various kinds of herbs. Rabbi Zeira, and some say Rabbi Ḥinnana bar Pappa, said: The halakha is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda. And Rabbi Zeira, and some say Rabbi Ḥinnana bar Pappa, said: What is the reason for Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion? The verse says: “Blessed is the Lord, day by day” (Psalms 68:20). The question arises: Is it so that one blesses Him by day and does not bless Him at night? Rather, the verse comes to tell you: Each and every day, give the Lord the appropriate blessings for that day. Here too, with regard to the blessings recited over food, for each and every type of food, give the Lord the appropriate blessings for that food.

And Rabbi Zeira, and some say Rabbi Ḥinnana bar Pappa, said: Come and see that the attribute of flesh and blood is unlike the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He. The attribute of flesh and blood is that an empty vessel holds that which is placed within it, while a full vessel does not hold it. The attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He, however, is not so, as if God adds to a person who is a full vessel in terms of knowledge or good attributes, he will hold it; a person who is an empty vessel will not hold it. This is alluded to by the verse where it is said: “And He said, if you will surely listen [shamo’a tishma] to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes” (Exodus 15:26). This verse is interpreted homiletically: If you listen [shamo’a] in the present, you will listen [tishma] in the future as well; and if not, you will not listen. Alternatively: If you listened [shamo’a] to the old, you review what you already learned, then you will listen [tishma] to the new as well. But if you turn your heart away, you will no longer be able to hear.

MISHNA: This mishna discusses how, after the fact, a more general blessing exempts one from the obligation to recite a more specific one. One who recited: Who creates fruit of the ground, over fruit of the tree, fulfilled his obligation. One who recited: Who creates fruit of the tree, over fruits of the earth, did not fulfill his obligation. And over all food items, one who recited: By whose word all things came to be, fulfilled his obligation.

GEMARA: The Gemara begins by ascertaining: Who is the tanna that holds that the primary factor in the growth of a tree is the earth, and therefore one may recite: Who creates fruit of the ground, over fruits of the tree fulfills his obligation? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: That is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as we learned in a mishna dealing with the halakhot of first fruits: If, after one picked the first fruits from his field, the spring dried up and the tree upon which the fruit grew was chopped down, he brings the first fruits to the Temple but does not read the accompanying praise. The tree or spring, which were the primary components of the growth of the fruit, no longer exist and he cannot recite the passage thanking God for “the good land.” Rabbi Yehuda says: He brings the first fruits and reads the accompanying praise, as the land is the primary factor in the growth of the tree, and the tree itself is merely an extension of the land. Even after the tree is felled, the land remains intact. Similarly, with regard to blessings, the halakha maintains that fruit of the tree is considered to be fruit of the ground, as well.

We learned in the mishna: One who recited: Who creates fruit of the tree, over fruits of the earth, did not fulfill his obligation. The Gemara asks: That is obvious, as fruits of the earth do not fall under the rubric of trees. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This ruling in the mishna is only necessary according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, who said in another context that wheat is a type of tree, as we learned in a baraita: The tree from which Adam, the first man, ate, Rabbi Meir says: It was a vine, as nothing brings wailing and trouble upon man even today other than wine, as it is stated with regard to Noah: “And he drank from the wine and became drunk” (Genesis 9:21). Rabbi Neḥemya says: It was a fig tree, as with the object with which they were corrupted and sinned they were rehabilitated, as it is stated: “And they sewed together fig leaves and made for themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7). They must have taken the leaves from the tree closest at hand, the Tree of Knowledge. Rabbi Yehuda says: It was wheat, as, even today, the child does not know how to call his father and mother until he tastes the taste of grain.

Based on this, it might have entered your mind to say, since Rabbi Yehuda said that wheat is a type of tree, one should recite over it: Who creates fruit of the tree. Therefore, the mishna taught us that with regard to blessings, the principle is different. Where does one recite: Who creates fruit of the tree? Only in a case where, when you take the fruit, the branch remains and again produces fruit.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Berachot 40a discusses whether requesting salt or animal feed between blessing and eating bread requires repeating the blessing.