Study a Mishnah with Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger. This week's Mishnah: Brachot 6:6 Archived Mishnayot
	Mishnah Text "If they sat down to eat, each person makes a blessing for himself. If they reclined, one should bless for them all. If they brought wine during the meal, each one blesses for himself- after the meal, one blesses for them all. This one also blesses over the spices, even though they don't bring the spices till after the meal. " Context and Commentary The idea behind this mishnah is that one person can make a blessing on behalf of others doing the same thing at the same time, and by answering "amen," [which means something like "I agree"] it's "as if" each individual said the blessing. For example, the Friday night kiddush is often recited in the synagogue or in the home by one person on behalf of others; many other common prayers are also recited communally this way. So our mishnah asks the following question- when are people "all together" for the purposes of making one prayer for everybody? Random strangers are not considered to be eating together- this is the intent of the first sentence of our text, which concerns people who just happened to sit down to eat together. If, however, they were reclining, which was the sign of an intentional, formal meal, that means they meant to eat together, and should be considered one group. (Pop Quiz: What Jewish meal features reclining? Answer at bottom of page*.) The next part of our mishnah supposes that people are eating together, but wine is brought after the meal has started. Rashi says that if people are in the middle of eating and drinking, they won't pay attention and say "amen" to the blessing. Maimonides has a different explanation; he says that the reason people bless for themselves is that if they all of a sudden had to say "amen" in the middle of a mouthful of food, they might choke. (He was a doctor, after all, and thought about such things.) Therefore, if wine comes in the middle of the meal, each person should say their own blessing- but if the food is concluded, and a dessert wine is brought out, then people can pay attention as a group and have one blessing said for all present. Finally, we learn from our mishnah of an ancient custom to bring spices, probably on a burning coal or embers, at the end of the meal, probably even after the final blessings after eating. Perhaps this incense served to cover up the smell of the food, or it was a kind of "dessert" for one's sense of smell. You might see this custom preserved today in Ethiopian restaurants- small cups of strong, bitter coffee are often served at the end of a meal, and sometimes it is accompanied by incense burning on coals, just as our mishnah describes. In any event, the mishnah teaches that the one honoured with making a blessing over wine at the end of the meal should also be the one to make the blessing over spices. This would be worded like our blessings over other foods and drinks: "Blessed Are You, Adonai Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who Creates Fragrant Spice." An alternative version might end "Who Creates Fragrant Trees." Open Ended Question This mishnah is concerned with the definition of community for the purposes of praying together. On the other hand, we might turn things around, and say that one of the purposes of communal prayer is to bring people together, even if only to share a few moments of shared spiritual focus. When a typical North American family is sharing a meal, sometimes with the TV on, and people running in and out, is there space for the kind of shared moments of focus that this mishnah describes? Besides offering blessings of gratitude, how else can we bring a group of friends or family together in a moment of reflection and connection? NJL *Pop Quiz Answer: One of the "four questions" of the Passover seder is: Why do we only eat reclining on this night? This custom may also have its origins in the formal meals of the ancient world, where citizens of high class reclined and asked philosophical questions in a relaxed atmosphere.
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