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Berachos 37

1) RECITING A BLESSING FOR RICE JUST LIKE FOR "MA'ASEH KEDEIRAH"

QUESTION: The Gemara attempts to prove that rice requires the blessings "Borei Minei Mezonos" and "Al ha'Michyah" from a Beraisah that states, "One recites a blessing [on rice bread or millet bread] before eating and after eating, just like Ma'aseh Kedeirah (a dish of cooked grain made from one of the five species of grain)." The Gemara concludes that this does not mean that we recite the same blessing for rice as we do for Ma'aseh Kedeirah. Rather, the Beraisa is teaching that just like Ma'aseh Kedeirah requires a blessing before and after it is eaten (Borei Minei Mezonos and Al ha'Michyah), so, too, does rice and millet (sheha'Kol and Borei Nefashos).

Why did the Beraisa compare rice to Ma'aseh Kedeirah just to teach that rice requires a blessing both before and after it is eaten? The Beraisa could have compared rice to *any* food, because any food requires a blessing before and after it is eaten!

ANSWERS:

(a) The P'NEI YEHOSHUA answers that the Beraisa is teaching not what the the blessing that one recites for rice *is*, but what it is *not*. It is not "ha'Motzi." The Beraisa intends to say that one recites the same blessing on rice bread as one recites on a normal *rice* dish (that is, Ma'aseh Kedeirah does not refer to a *grain* dish). Rice is not afforded any special status as a result of being made into bread. (The Tzelach suggests a similar approach.)

(b) The MAGID TA'ALUMAH explains that just like a small amount of Ma'aseh Kedeirah joins any other food to equal a proper Shi'ur upon which one may recite an after-blessing, so, too, rice joins with any other food to make a Shi'ur that obligates one to recite an after-blessing.

(c) SEFER BEIS YOSEF explains that we find later on in Berachos (44a) an opinion that says that one does not recite any after-blessing after eating water and vegetables. To differentiate rice from water and vegetables according to this view, the Beraisa compares it to Ma'aseh Kedeirah.

ANSWER: TOSFOS (DH Nasan Raban Gamliel) explains that if a person drinks only a Melo Lugmav (a cheek-full) of wine, he does not have to recite Birkas ha'Mazon according to Raban Gamliel; Al ha'Michyah will suffice. Raban Gamliel requires one to recite Birkas ha'Mazon after drinking wine only if he drinks a full cup of wine, which is considered "sitting down to drink wine."

37b

(a) The ROSH and RABEINU YEHUDAH HA'CHASID write that *any time* *a Kohen* offers a Minchah offering on the Mizbe'ach, he recites Shehecheyanu.

(b) RASHI here (DH Hayah, and DH Omer Baruch Shehecheyanu) and RABEINU SHEMAYAH (quoted by Rabeinu Yehudah ha'Chasid) say that *any person* who brings a Minchah offering *after a long time* recites Shehecheyanu. Rabeinu Shemayah adds that it is uncommon to bring a freewill Minchah offering, so whenever it is brought one recites a Shehecheyanu.

(c) RASHI in Menachos (75b, DH Hayah Omed u'Makriv Menachos, according to the reading of Rashi in our texts) explains that a *Kohen* who offers on the Mizbe'ach a Minchah offering for the *first time in his life* recites the blessing of Shehecheyanu.

(d) Another version of RASHI (according to the reading of the TOSFOS ROSH) explains that the *first time* in his life that a *Yisrael* brings a Minchah offering, he recites Shehecheyanu.

(e) TOSFOS (DH Hayah Omed u'Makriv) says that the *Kohen* who brings the *first Minchah of his Mishmar* recites Shehecheyanu, because each Mishmar serves only once every half a year.

(e) RASHI in Menachos (ad loc.) suggests a novel explanation. When a *Kohen* brings a *new Minchah offering* (such as the Minchas ha'Omer, which is the first to be brought from the new year's produce), he recites Shehecheyanu.

OPINIONS. The Gemara says that the blessing "ha'Motzi" is recited on pieces of bread larger than a k'Zayis. If the pieces of bread "came from a large piece of bread (Lechem Gadol)," then one recites "ha'Motzi" even on those pieces. What does it mean that the pieces come from a "large piece of bread?" The crumbs of a Minchah offering always come from a large piece of bread, and yet the Gemara says that one does not recite "ha'Motzi" if he eats crumbs of a Minchah that are less than a k'Zayis.

(a) RASHI here (DH Hacha b'Mai Askinan) explains that when the bread from which the crumbs came *still remains* and has not been completely crumbled, then it grants special status to the crumbs and one recites "ha'Motzi" even on the crumbs. It sounds from Rashi as though it all depends upon whether the remainder of the loaf is nearby at the time that its crumbs were eaten.

(b) However, RASHI (Kesav Yad) in Menachos 75b explains that when crumbs are *broken off a piece of bread* which is larger than a k'Zayis, the crumbs are granted special status because of the size of the other half of the loaf ("Agav Avihem"), and they rate the blessing "ha'Motzi." From this it sounds as the Berachah for crumbs is "Mezonos" only if the entire loaf of bread is crumbled all at once. Rashi in our Sugya, then, probably intends to say the same thing as he says in Menachos.

(c) The RITVA explains that when one *bakes the crumbs* into one piece of bread but can still see the crumbs that make up the bread, he recites "ha'Motzi" (even though the individual crumbs are less than a k'Zayis).