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Questions tagged [bentching]

Questions about the the blessings of thanks recited after eating bread products. Hebrew: Bircat Hamazon. Also known as Grace After Meals.

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29 votes
2 answers
971 views

Why don't people bentch on a kos nowadays?

Bentching with a kos (recite Grace after Meals with a cup of wine) was clearly a popular thing to do in the times of the gemara. Additionally many Ashkenazi rishonim (Rosh, Ri, and many other ...
Double AA's user avatar
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25 votes
4 answers
1k views

תהלת ה' ידבר פי - what's the origin?

In between the 'Shir HaMaalot' that precedes birchat hamazon and the the blessings themselves, there are a few psukim beginning תהלת ה' ידבר פי . Some people add these, and some don't. What's the ...
Laizer's user avatar
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24 votes
11 answers
889 views

"I never saw a tzaddik be abandoned..." - how do we understand this?

At the end of bentching we say that "I was young, and I also became old, and I never saw a righteous person be abandoned, and his children asking for bread" (Tehillim 37:25). How do we reconcile that ...
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23 votes
2 answers
581 views

People half-standing for אלקינו in zimun

When conducting a zimun with ten or more men, the nusach is to say "...ברוך אלקינו שאכלנו משלו". I have noticed that many people, when saying the word "אלקינו", get up from their seats at least a ...
jake's user avatar
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15 votes
4 answers
516 views

Benching on yom kipper

If one must eat on yom kipper, does he make any day-specific additions during benching?
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15 votes
1 answer
764 views

Woman and Zimun: What is the requirement?

What is a woman's requirement to say Bircat Hamazon with a Zimun of women? What is a woman's requirement to say Bircat Hamazon with a Zimun of men?
RCW's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
389 views

And let who say Amen?

In light of this answer, why do we say V'imru amen and V'nomar amen at various points in bentching and davening when saying that passage alone? (eg. bentching by yourself, or oseh shalom at the end of ...
Double AA's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
306 views

Tapping on the table for "שולחן זה שאכלנו עליו"

I always assumed that tapping the table as you say "ועל שולחן זה שאכלנו עליו" in bentching was something you do in Junior High School. But I have now seen several full-grown (at least chronologically)...
Y     e     z's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
385 views

Why did the Vilna Gaon not approve of singing the zemiroh “Tzur Mishelo” on Shabbos?

I understand that the Vilna Gaon did not approve of singing the zemiroh “Tzur Mishelo” on Shabbos because it could be valid as Grace after Meals. But on Shabbos, Grace after Meals is not valid ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Source of saying migdol / magdil in Bentching

I was once told by someone that saying migdol instead of magdil in bentching on Shabbos and yom tov is an error. That a siddur had the source in pesukim in short form on the side and people mistook it ...
Moshe Yitzhak's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Should we say Al Naharos Bavel?

Tehillim 137 is printed in several bentchers before birkas hamazon, but from what I have seen most people do not say it. What is the correct thing to do: say or omit? Are there different minhagim?
none's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Zimun and Bentsching (Bircat Hamazon / Grace After Meals) with Jews who ate non-kosher food

I came across an interesting situation recently. I was eating with Jewish, non-observant friends. I brought over a hamburger from a local kosher take-out place. They had homemade, non-kosher food, ...
user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
180 views

What is the intention behind "Shamayim" in the Zimun?

In Nusach Edut HaMizrach, in the Zimun before Birchat Hamazon, after the leader says: הַב לָן וְנִבְרִיךְ לְמַלְכָּא עִלָּאָה קַדִּישָׁא: give us [a cup of wine] and we will recite the blessings to ...
Menachem's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
2k views

Where does the tune for birkat hamazon come from?

It's hard to describe who's tune this is and I can only refer to it as the 'commonly used' or 'popular' tune for birkat hamazon. It seems like it is compiled of many unrelated tunes. At times there ...
bondonk's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
255 views

If three men pre-arranged to sit down and eat together over a video-chat, is there any reason they shouldn't have a zimun?

I learned that if two groups were eating in two different rooms but even one person could see someone in the other room, then they could have one zimun (I thought this was in Masechet Brachot, but I ...
zaq's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
217 views

What should i do with food stuck in my mouth after bentching?

It happens to everyone sometimes. You'll be eating a sandwich (for example), bentch, and then find some food stuck in your mouth. What should be done with this food? Is it permissible to swallow it? ...
Scimonster's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
1k views

Continuing to drink a Beverage after Birchas HaMazon?

Perhaps this is a simple matter that I should be embarrassed not to know (which I am even if it isn't because I need to learn hilchos b'rachos better and always forget to look this question up) but.......
Yirmeyahu's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
720 views

Tzur MiShelo - Should you sing it before Bentching?

The song "Tzur MiShelo", generally printed in Bentchers, Siddurim, Zimronim, etc., as a Friday night song, follows the pattern of Bentching (grace after meals), praising G-d and praying for redemption,...
Seth J's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
448 views

Can a woman drink the Kos Shel Bracha?

After saying Birkat HaMazon with a cup of wine, the Shulchan Aruch rules in OC 190:3, that at least a cheekful of wine must be drunk. If this was at a zimmun and the leader of the zimmun does not want ...
Double AA's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
1k views

What do you do if your Shabbos host serves chocolate chip challah? [closed]

Based on this shiur from R. Sobolofsky, chocolate chip challah is no different from chocolate babka or other cake and thus has the bracha of mezonos If that is the case, one would only be able to ...
Curiouser's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
374 views

Is there such a thing as פת מדינה?

In Bereishit, Hashem said to Adam בזעת אפך תאכל לחם This would seem to imply that bread is universal to all people. We also know that bread has a particular definition: it has to be made from one ...
Heshy's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
264 views

V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - does a lady say this?

In Bentching (grace after meals) - both in the Ashkenazic and in the Sefardic version - we say V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - "and for Your covenant, which you sealed ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
365 views

wording of the invitation to birkas hamazon

I know some Ashk'nazim say rabosay n'varech, some rabosay mir velen bentschen, and some hertzi rabosay mir velen bentschen. (Any other forms?) Is there any particular reason given for one or another?
msh210's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
336 views

What is the source for washing Mayim Acharonim with only a few drops of water?

OC 181 (4) MB [10] says that when washing mayim acharonim one must wash up to the second knuckle and using a few drops does not fulfill the mitzvah at all. Shulchan Oruch HaRav 181 (4) says there is ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
630 views

Why can't a mixed gender meal of 3 form a zimun?

In a group of two women and one man (or one woman and two men), why can they not have a zimun together? Is it because of different levels of obligation in bentching? If so, why is a woman less-...
Charles Koppelman's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
435 views

Can you do benching for 3 people when one person does not know what to say in response?

When you have at least 3 men who ate a meal together, you can bench using the formula "Rabbosai Nivorech", at which point the other men at the table respond "Yehi Shem..." and so on. However, what ...
Barry Hammer's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
3k views

Does "Brich Rachamana Malka D'Alma Ma'rei D'Hai Pita' really fullfil the obligation of Birkas Hamazon?

I heard from a friend that, as per the Gemara, saying the following phrase in Aramaic discharges the obligation to recite Bircas Hamazon in its entirety: Brich rachamana malka d'alma ma'rei d'hai ...
Naftuli Kay's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
922 views

Said al hamichya instead of birkas hamazon. What do I do?

If one had 'pas habah bekisnin' thinking that he needs to make a mezonos followed by al hamichya, and after doing so discovers that he should have washed, said hamotzi and then birkas hamazon, what ...
Moshe Steinberg's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
345 views

Not Bentching on a Kos when wine is already on the table

According to this answer R' Moshe Feinstein Paskened that, since for many years the practice of Bentching on a Kos (reciting grace after meals over a cup of wine, as formally constructed in the Talmud)...
Seth J's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
7k views

How long do I have after a bread meal to bensch?

How long do I have after a bread meal to bensch (say grace)? Does it matter if I am distracted by other things? For example, I eat at 1 pm, then I work for 5 hours, go to the store for half an hour, ...
avner's user avatar
  • 765
7 votes
1 answer
710 views

Do I need to wash and bentch on oatmeal?

I was reading in Artscroll's The Laws of Brachos that if someone eats an amount of mezonos equal to the amount of bread he would have eaten during a meal then he needs to wash and bentch. For some ...
Ani Yodea's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
152 views

if someone never eats bread during the week, only on Shabbos and he is not sure whether he said Retzai or not, does he repeat Birkhas Hamazon?

The Mishnah Berurah in OC 188:6:16 - קפח,ו,טז says that if someone said Birkhas Hamazon on Shabbos and he is not sure whether he said Retzai or not, he must repeat the Birkhas Hamazon because we ...
RibbisRabbiAndMore's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
578 views

"Praiseworthy is he who will clutch and dash your infants against the rock"?

I do not understand the last lines of psalm 137 ("By the rivers of Babylon"/"Al naharos bovel," the psalm recited before Birkat Ha-Mazon on weekdays. [It includes the famous lines &...
SAH's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
325 views

who says "baruch hu uvaruch sh'mo" before birkas hamazon

Ashk'nazi prayer books generally include the line ברוך הוא וברוך שמו after the zimun (invitation to say birkas hamazon and before the actual birkas hamazon. It generally (in my experience) is ...
msh210's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
341 views

stop benching at al-yichasiranu?

Can you stop benching (saying the grace after a meal) after al-yichasiranu (the end of the fourth blessing of the grace)?
user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
230 views

Is there anything wrong with not eating bread to avoid reciting Birkat Hamazon?

Is there anything wrong with not eating bread during the weekdays to avoid reciting Birkat Hamazon?
Nosson's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
224 views

Should we say Amen after the Harachamans in Bentching?

I recently heard (cannot recall from who or if I saw it somewhere) that after each Harachaman (הרחמן) after the 4th Bracha in Birchas Hamazon, one should answer Amen. Additionally, I was bentching ...
yydl's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
199 views

Meaning of komemiyyut (קוֹמְמִיּוּת)

The word "komemiyyut" (קוֹמְמִיּוּת) appears only once in the Torah: אֲנִ֞י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר הוֹצֵ֤אתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מִֽהְיֹ֥ת לָהֶ֖ם עֲבָדִ֑ים וָאֶשְׁבֹּר֙ ...
Maurice Mizrahi's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
105 views

Reason for "Oseh Shalom" in 3 places [duplicate]

The phrase starting with the words עושה שלום במרומיו ("He who makes peace in his high places") is said in 3 places and always at the end (or very near it): Birkat Hamazon Kaddish Shmoneh Esreh What ...
DanF's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
450 views

Special Grace After Meals in a House of Mourning

The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De'ah 379 outlines a special version of Bentching to be recited in a House of Mourning. I have been in several houses of mourning and have never seen this done. Has anyone ...
Double AA's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
1k views

V'Nomar Amen (וְנאמַר אָמֵן) vs. V'Imru Amen (ואמרוּ אָמֵן)

In Bentching by the end of the Harachamon's we say וְנאמַר אָמֵן and at the end of Magdil we say ואמרוּ אָמֵן. Is there a difference? What is the difference? Why the difference?
Gershon Gold's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
114 views

Refusing Reshut at Benching

In a zimmun, the leader asks permission from the others (BiReshut...) What is the procedure for refusing this permission? Must I outrank him in some way, or does anyone have the privilege of refusing ...
Clint Eastwood's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
293 views

Formulation of Women's Zimmun

According to this answer, three women who have eaten together may make a zimmun. The usual formulation of the zimmun, "רבותי נברך", does not make sense for women. What formulation should women use ...
Daniel's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
125 views

Why recite the fourth Berachah of Bentching in a case of doubt?

If someone is in doubt whether or not to Bentch, we take the strict approach and require the person to Bentch, as it is a Biblical requirement (see here), unlike most Berachoth, for which the rule is ...
Seth J's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
6k views

What is mazonot?

Could someone kindly explain to me what Mazonot means? I recenlty attended a charity do where the bread rolls were described as mazonot. Another person at the table explained to me that this meant ...
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
101 views

Shir Hama'alos in "Barech"?

Among the many hagada versions in use at the seder I attended this year, some of them included Shir Hama'alos before birkas hamazon in the "Barech" section and others did not. Is there any reason to ...
WAF's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
161 views

Why "מַה שֶּׁשָּׁתִינוּ יִהְיֶה לִרְפוּאָה"?

Some Sephardim have this toward the end of the after-meal prayer: מַה שֶּׁאָכַלְנוּ יִהְיֶה לְשָׂבְעָה וּמַה שֶּׁשָּׁתִינוּ יִהְיֶה לִרְפוּאָה In my own, loose translation: May what we ate be ...
msh210's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
194 views

Why repeat birkas hamazon after omitting "yaale v'yavo" on chol hamoed

Aruch Hashulchan, OC 188:18, cites a difference of opinion regarding the following case. On Shabas which is rosh chodesh, someone says the Shabas addition in birkas hamazon (grace after the meal) but ...
msh210's user avatar
  • 73.7k
6 votes
2 answers
525 views

Source for saying Shir Hama'alos but not Al Naharos Bavel

I have noticed that most people say Shir Hamaalos before bentching at their Shabbos and Yom Tov seudos. However, I have noticed very few people say Al Naharos Bavel before bentching on a weekday. As ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
126 views

What is the qualification for chamar m'dina ? [duplicate]

The Shulchan Aruch mentions in a few places that if wine is not available then one may use chamar m'dina (a national drink), for bentching, kiddush, and havdala. chamar m'dina is also permitted if one ...
eramm's user avatar
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