Halakhah for Berakhot 6:6

הָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִין לֶאֱכֹל, כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מְבָרֵךְ לְעַצְמוֹ. הֵסֵבּוּ, אֶחָד מְבָרֵךְ לְכֻלָּן. בָּא לָהֶם יַיִן בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּזוֹן, כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מְבָרֵךְ לְעַצְמוֹ. לְאַחַר הַמָּזוֹן, אֶחָד מְבָרֵךְ לְכֻלָּם. וְהוּא אוֹמֵר עַל הַמֻּגְמָר, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין מְבִיאִין אֶת הַמֻּגְמָר אֶלָּא לְאַחַר הַסְּעֻדָּה:

If they sat down to eat [without reclining, a sign that they had not arranged to eat together, for when groups of people had arranged to eat together, they would recline on mats, and eat and drink reclining on their left side], each one blesses for himself, [there being no "appointed" meal without reclining. However, if they said: "Let us go and eat bread in that place," even if they did not recline, it is as if they had, and one blesses for all; and they also join together for grace.] If they reclined, one blesses for all. If wine were brought before them during the meal, each one blesses (over the wine) for himself [since their throat is not free, and the recliners are intent not upon the blessing, but upon swallowing what is in their mouths. Or it may be that we are apprehensive of their choking in answering Amen.] And he makes the blessing over the mugmar [The one who makes grace blesses over the mugmar: "Who creates woods of spices." And even though there may be present a person more eminent than he, since he began with one (blessing), he makes the other], even though the mugmar is not brought until after the meal [after grace, so that it is not a requirement of the meal. Still, since he began the latter blessings, he completes them. ["Mugmar": After the meal they were wont to bring wood-spices on a coal-pan, to produce an aromatic fragrance.]

Shulchan Shel Arba

If wine comes to them in the middle of a meal, each person says the blessing for himself, since the throat may not be empty (when it comes), but after the meal, one person says the blessing for all.⁹⁰B.Berakhot 43a; Tur and Orah Hayim 174:8. The explanation: The throat may not be empty because all the diners are involved in eating, and some may not hear the blessing, or be paying attention or listening. That is how Rashi z”l explained it. So by this logic, if they all were to stop eating and listen, one person could say the blessing for himself. And there is someone who explained that even if they were listening and each one says the blessing for himself – because they are not able to reply “Amen,” since anyone who was chewing something in their mouth might swallow something down the wrong pipe.⁹¹Tur. And this is the view of the Jerusalem Talmud, where their version says, “’The throat may not be empty.’ Rabbi Muna said, ‘If someone sneezes during a meal, it is forbidden to say to him ‘asuta,”⁹²The Aramaic equivalent to our “Gesundheit.”since that might endanger his life.”⁹³Y.Berakhot 6:6. That is, dangerous for the one saying “asuta,” since he might choke while eating and talking at the same time.

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