Birkat Hamason

The Birkat Hamason ( Hebrew ברכת המזון) is the Jewish grace said after eating a meal that includes bread. Birkat Hamason has to be distinguished from the blessings that are spoken before eating.

The grace period consists of four blessings .

The first blessing is thanks to God that He provides food for all of His creatures.
The second blessing is thanks for the good land given by God as well as for the redemption from Egypt, the covenant of circumcision and the revelation of the Torah . This also includes the Bible verse to which Birkat Hamason's commandment is traced back: And you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Eternal your God for the good land that he has given you ( Deut 8.10 EU ).
The third blessing is a request for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple and the continued support of the people of Israel.
The prayer ends with another thank you for God's goodness and requests, which can be formulated differently depending on the situation.

According to the Talmud ( B'rachot 48b), the first blessing goes back to Moses , who is said to have introduced prayer when manna fell from heaven. The second blessing comes from Joshua during the conquest of the land of Israel, the third from King David and Solomon and the fourth from the rabbis from Jawne after the defeat of Bar Kochba in his revolt against the Romans.

literature

Michael Berenbaum , Fred Skolnik: Grace after Meals. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Macmillan Reference USA, Detroit 2007, 22-23. online: Gale Virtual Reference Library .

Web links

Y. Deusel: Birkat ha-Mason. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.
The grace in German translation. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, accessed April 10, 2017 .
The grace to sing along and learn. Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center, accessed April 10, 2017 .
Birkat Hamason. (Microsoft Word (32 kB)) Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany, accessed on April 10, 2017 .