Tre che hanno mangiato insieme chayavin lezamen. [Devono "raggruppare" (lehizdamen) insieme per benedire al plurale: "Benediciamolo di chi abbiamo mangiato".] Uno zimun (un tale gruppo) viene fatto (anche) se uno mangia: demai, [Il i frutti di un am ha'aretz (una persona non imparata) sono chiamati "demai", cioè "da mai?" "Cos'è questo?" Decima o non decima? Perché gli amei ha'aretz sono sospetti nei confronti della decima. E i saggi proibirono di mangiare i loro frutti fino alla decima. Ma se uno ne ha mangiato senza la decima, la benedizione (grazia) è comunque recitata, e non è considerata "una mitzvah che sta attraversando una trasgressione" perché la maggior parte degli amei ha'aretz fa la decima], e ma'aser rishon ( la prima decima) la cui teruma era stata presa, [anche se la terumah gedolah ("la grande teruma") non ne era stata presa. Vale a dire: un levita ha preceduto un Cohein e ha preso la sua ma'aser negli steli, prima che il Cohein avesse preso Terumah Gedolah. Il Cohein avrebbe dovuto prendere Terumah Gedolah, un cinquantesimo, prima, la Torah chiamandolo "reshith" ("il primo"). Emerge quindi che la terumah gedolah del Cohein si trova in questo ma'aser— un cinquantesimo di esso —a parte il terumath ma'aser, spetta al levita separare il terumah dal suo ma'aser. La nostra Mishnah ci informa che il levita non ha bisogno di separare la terumah gedolah da essa, essendo scritto (Numeri 18:26): "Allora tu (i leviti) ti separerai dalla teruma per l'L-rd, ma'aser dalla ma ' Aser"—ma'aser dal ma'aser, e non terumah gedolah e terumath ma'aser del ma'aser.], e ma'aser sheni (la seconda decima) e hekdesh (oggetti devoti) che furono riscattati, [come quando ha dato il preside, ma non il quinto (i proprietari aggiungono un quinto), il tanna ci informa che la (assenza di) il quinto non ostacola (della benedizione).], e (viene fatto uno zimun con) il cameriere che ha mangiato una dimensione di oliva. [poiché penseremmo che, poiché il cameriere non aveva un posto fisso, ma andava e veniva, uno zimun non veniva fatto con lui; siamo pertanto informati diversamente. In tutti questi casi siamo informati che sebbene siano simili a ciò che è proibito, non costituiscono "benedizione che passa attraverso la trasgressione".], E (con) un Cuthite [una delle sette di idolatri che il re di Ashur ha portato da Cutha e da altre terre e si stabilirono nelle città di Shomron. Divennero proseliti dalla paura dei leoni che iniziarono a divorarli, come spiegato in II Re (17), e osservarono la Legge scritta, essendo più esigenti degli ebrei stessi nell'osservanza di ogni mitzva che tenevano. Pertanto, furono affidati a certi mitzvoth fino a quando non fu scoperto che avevano creato l'immagine di una colomba sulla cima del monte Gerizim, che servivano. Da quel momento in poi furono considerati come idolatri assoluti sotto ogni aspetto, per cui oggi uno zimun non è fatto con un cuthite.] Ma uno zimun non viene prodotto se si mangia un tevel [Grano da cui non sono stati prelevati teruma e ma'aser si chiama "tevel" ("tav lo" - "Non va bene"). E non solo (è ovvio) uno zimun non è fatto su ciò che è tevel secondo la Scrittura, ma anche su ciò che è tevel dall'ordinanza rabbinica, come il grano coltivato in un vaso di fiori non perforato.], E Ma'aser rishon di cui il teruma non era stato preso. ["Terumah" qui non è terumath ma'aser, poiché quello sarebbe tevel assoluto, ma l'istanza a cui si fa riferimento è quella in cui il Levita precedette il Cohein alla pila dopo che era stato terminato e divenne soggetto a terumah secondo il Torah, e prese prima Ma'aser Rishon. Un cinquantesimo di questo è soggetto alla terumah gedolah del Cohein; e fintanto che il terumah gedolah non è stato separato, anche se il terumah di ma'aser è stato separato, non viene creato alcuno zimun. (Se il levita avesse preceduto il Cohein e avesse preso la sua ma'aser negli steli, prima della fine della pila, non sarebbe necessario separare terumah gedolah, come spiegato sopra).], E ma'aser sheni e hekdesh che non era stato riscattato [Non è necessario affermare che (non è stato effettuato lo zimun) se non fossero stati riscattati affatto; per questo va da sé. Il riferimento è, piuttosto, a un caso in cui era stato riscattato, ma non secondo l'halachah, come quando ma'aser sheni è redento con frammenti d'argento o con una moneta che non ha alcun disegno su di esso, affermando la Scrittura ( Deuteronomio 14:25): "Vetzarta il denaro"—denaro che ha una tzura (disegno sopra); e come quando hekdesh viene redento con terra invece che con denaro, la Scrittura ha dichiarato (Levitico 27:19): "Quindi aggiungerà un quinto del denaro" ", e (con) il cameriere che mangiava meno di un'oliva -taglia. [Questa è una superflua Mishnah; ma poiché la maggior parte (dei casi summenzionati) viene ripetuta per un insegnamento necessario, anche questo viene ripetuto.] e un idolatore. [Il riferimento è a un proselito che ha subito la circoncisione ma non l'immersione rituale, la Mishnah ci sta informando che finché non ha subito l'immersione rituale è ancora un idolatore, non è considerato un proselito fino a quando non ha subito sia la circoncisione sia l'immersione rituale. ]
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
שלשה שאכל כאחד חייבין לזמן – to join oneself to [the group] together to recite [Birkat HaMazon] in the plural [formulation], “let us bless/give thanks for what we had have eaten of His {God’s].”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
The seventh chapter is all about the invitation to recite Birkat Hamazon together. This is the short responsive refrain recited before the first blessing of Birkat Hamazon. This invitation is called a “zimun” which literally means, “invitation.”
Our mishnah teaches when a “zimun” is recited.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
דמאי – produce of the masses (lit., “ignorant ones”) which are called “DEMAI”/doubtfully tithed, that is to say, this – have they been tithed or not? Since they are suspected regarding the tithes. (Note: Generally, the masses (common people – who are not known as Haverim/colleagues who are considered trustworthy) would give תרומה גדולה– the 2% tithe of their produce to a Kohen, but they might not necessarily give 1/10th of the rest to a Levite- known as מעשר ראשון/First Tithe or take 1/10 of the remainder to Jerusalem in years 1,2,4 and 5 of the seven year cycle to be consumed there- known as מעשר שני/Second Tithe), and the Sages forbade eating from their produce until they would tithe it, and if one ate [from produce] that was not tithed, one recites the [appropriate] blessing on it and it is not considered a Mitzvah performed on account of a sin, since most of the masses do tithe.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Three that have eaten together, it is their duty to invite [one another to say Birkat Hamazon]. The minimum number of people required to recite a “zimun” is three. This seems the minimum number to be considered a group.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
שנטלה תרומתו – And even though they may not have taken from it the תרומה גדולה/the Great Tithe (for the Kohen), such as the son of a Levite who took his portion (מעשר ראשון) for them prior to the Kohen taking his תרומה גדולה portion (2% of the entire individual’s produce, and the Kohen who should have taken his תרומה גדולה first [which is] one-fiftieth (1/50), as the All-Merciful (in the Torah) calls it “[the] first [portion]” (see Numbers 15:20); it is found that the תרומה גדולה of the Kohen is amidst this tithe one of fifty, besides the תרומה מעשר that the Levite is obligated to separate out the tithe from his tithe to give to the Kohen (1/10 of his received gift goes to a Kohen), and our Mishnah teaches us that he the Levite is exempt from separate out תרומה גדולה (the “Great Tithe” of 2% that all Israelites must give), as it is written (Numbers 18:26), “you shall set aside from them one-tenth of the tithe as a gift to the LORD.” “One tenth of the tithe” I said to you and not “תרומה גדולה/the Great Tithe”, but one-tenth of the tithe [only].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
One who ate demai, or first tithe whose terumah has been separated, or second tithe or sanctified property which have been redeemed, or an attendant who has eaten as much as an olive’s worth of food, or a Samaritan may be included [in the three]. In order to be part of a “zimun” four requirements have to be fulfilled, three of which are listed in our mishnah (we will see the fourth tomorrow). First of all one must eat food permitted by the Torah. We have already encountered the list in this mishnah on several occasions (Shabbat 18:1; Eruvin 3:2; Pesahim 2:5; Sanhedrin 8:2; Makkot 3:2). It is basically a list of foods which can be eaten, at least according to toraitic law. One who eats them can participate in a zimun. The opposite is contained in the following section those foods are prohibited and hence one who eats them cannot join together with others in a zimun. The second requirement is that one needs to eat an olive’s worth of food. The mishnah teaches this and at the same time teaches another halakhah that even the attendant, the one serving the food to the others, may aid in constituting the zimun, provided that he ate with them a minimum measure of food. The third requirement is that the person be Jewish. For this issue, being a Samaritan counts enough toward being Jewish.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
מעשר שני והקדש שנפדו – Such as the case where he gave the principal but did not give the extra one-fifth, that the owners that fifth, and our Tanna/teacher comes to teach us that the one-fifth does not invalidate an act by its omission.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
But one who ate untithed produce, or first tithe whose terumah has not been separated, or second tithe or sanctified property which have not been redeemed, or an attendant who has eaten less than the quantity of an olive or a Gentile may not be counted. This section is the opposite of the previous one. One who eats prohibited foods, or doesn’t eat enough food, or is a Gentile, does not count in constituting a zimun.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
והשמש שאכל כזית – you might be under the impression that since the waiter/attendant lacks having a regular appointment (i.e., being regularly there), [but simply] comes and goes, that we would not invite him [to recite ברכת המזוןas part of a group], but [the Mishnah] comes to teach us that in all of these cases, it teaches us, that even though it appears to be forbidden, there is no blessing recited in the midst of a transgression.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
והכותי – From the those who worship idols and constellations which the King of Ashur brought [with him] from Cuth (a Babylonian town whence Assyrian colonists were introduced into Samaria) and from the other lands and dwell with them in the cities of Samaria who converted out of fear of lions that would eat them as explained in II Kings 17:24-41. And they observed the written Torah and all the commandments that they took hold of, they observed punctiliously more than the Israelites, therefore, people accepted them in some of the commandments until they examined them [more closely] and found among them the image of the pigeon at the top of Mount Gerizim that they would worship and from then on, they considered them as those who totally worship idols and constellations. Therefore, nowadays, we do not invite a Cuthean to participate [in the group recitation of ברכת המזון; see especially verse 41 of II Kings 24.)
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
אכל טבל – Grain from which the heave-offering (for the Kohen) and the tithes (i.e. First and Second Tithes) had not been taken is called TEVEL/טבל [where produce is in that stage in which the separation of Levitical and Priestly shares respectively is required, before you may partake of them], and the explanation of טבל is “it is not good” (the word טבל is a aggregate of these two words), and it is not necessary to say, טבל according to the Torah, but even טבל according to the Rabbis, such as grain that grew in a pot without a hole, which is only considered טבל according to the Rabbis, we don’t invite that individual to participate [in the group recitation of] ברכת המזון.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
ומעשר ראשון שלא נטלה תרומתו – We are not dealing with תרומת מעשר (the tithe that the LEVITE must make to the KOHEN from what he received from other Israelites as מעשר ראשון/First Tithe), since that is complete TEVEL – but rather such as the case where the Levite preceded a Kohen at a pile [of grain] after it had been shaped into an even pile, which had been designated for TERUMAH from the Torah, and he (the Levite) took the First Tithe first and one-fiftieth of it is appropriate for the תרומה גדולה/the Great Terumah for the Kohen, and as long as he (the Levite) did not give from it תרומה גדולה, even though he separated out תרומת מעשר (the heave-offering of the tithe), we don’t invite him to join the group [recitation of ברכת המזון]. But if he (the Levite) came prior [to the Kohen] with regard to ears of corn, he does not have to separate the heave offering/תרומה גדולה, as we have written of above earlier.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
ומעשר שני והקדש שלא נפדו – And we don’t need to say that they were not redeemed at all, for this matter is simple, but rather, that they were redeemed, but not redeemed properly , such as the case where a person redeemed the Second Tithe/מעשר שני in broken ware vessels of silver or in a coin that did not have a shape as the All Merciful-One (God) said (Deuteronomy 14:25), “Wrap up the money [and take it with you to the place that the LORD your God has chosen],” in a form that has a shape, and that which was sanctified for the Sanctuary which was redeemed by land and not by money, for the All-Merciful One (God) said (Deuteronomy 14:25), “You may convert them into money” (not the exact quotation in the Hebrew).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
והשמש שאכל פחות מכזית – [This section of the Mishnah] is questionable/unnecessary, but since he retracted for the majority, out of need, , he also retracted for this.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
והעובד כוכבים – We are speaking of a [potential] convert who [was] circumcised but did not [as yet] immerse [in a Mikveh/Ritual bath], for as long as he did not immerse, he is an idolater (non-Jew), and he is not [considered] a convert until he is [both] circumcised and immersed [in a Ritual bath/Mikveh].
