Gemara Clarity

Berachos 41b

ברכות מ״א ע״ב

Berakhot 41b

Learn Berachos 41b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Berachos 41b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The verse of the שבעת המינים (as measurements and as the order of ברכות), and which ברכות are needed for foods eaten during or after a bread meal

Overview

The גמרא finishes reading the verse of the שבעת המינים as a hint to halachic measurements. רמון is the hole that ends a vessel's status, זית shows that most measurements are a כזית, and דבש is the large date of יום הכפורים. It then explains that the verse is just an אסמכתא: the measures themselves are הלכה למשה מסיני (עירובין 4a–4b), and the רבנן only attached them to the verse, which is what 'מדרבנן' means here. So the verse can still teach the order of ברכות. In a story, רב המנונא blesses dates before pomegranates. רב חסדא challenges him, and רב המנונא answers that the order is counted from the nearest word 'ארץ'. Next, אמוראים argue about fruit eaten during a bread meal: does it need a ברכה before, after, or both? רב פפא gives the final הלכה in three cases, depending on whether the food is part of the meal and when it is eaten. Finally, בן זומא explains that bread exempts the meal-foods. The גמרא asks why bread does not exempt wine, and the answer, 'wine is different,' continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שִׁיעוּרָן כְּרִמּוֹנִים.

Their measure is the size of pomegranates.

״אֶרֶץ זֵית שֶׁמֶן״,

'A land of olive oil'

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא:

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Ḥanina said:

אֶרֶץ שֶׁכָּל שִׁיעוּרֶיהָ כְּזֵיתִים.

A land all of whose measures are the size of olives.

The steps (20)

  1. StatementThe pomegranate hints at the measure for a broken vessel
  2. StatementThe olive hints that the land's measures are olive-sized
  3. ChallengeChallenge: not all measures are olive-sized
  4. ResolutionAnswer: most measures are olive-sized
  5. StatementDate-honey hints at the יום הכפורים measure
  6. QuestionWhat does the other opinion do with this reading?
  7. ResponseThe verse is only a rabbinic hint for measures given at סיני
  8. StatementStory: רב המנונא blesses dates before pomegranates
  9. Challengeרב חסדא challenges: the verse's order decides
  10. Resolutionרב המנונא counts from the word 'ארץ'
  11. Conclusionרב חסדא praises רב המנונא
  12. Statementרב הונא: fruit during a meal needs a ברכה only before
  13. Statementרב נחמן agrees with רב הונא
  14. Statementרב ששת: a ברכה both before and after
  15. StatementBoth views disagree with רבי חייא
  16. Conclusionרב פפא's final הלכה: three cases
  17. Questionבן זומא is asked why meal-foods need no ברכה
  18. ResponseBecause the bread exempts them
  19. ChallengeThen bread should exempt wine too
  20. ResolutionWine is different