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Berachos 45b

ברכות מ״ה ע״ב

Berakhot 45b

Learn Berachos 45b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The laws of זימון: whether two may make one, counting an absent diner, who must pause for whom, and answering אמן.

Overview

This amud deals with the rules of זימון. It first asks whether two people who ate together may make a זימון if they want to. A proof from women making a זימון is rejected, because three women are still three separate people (דעות). The גמרא then shows that רבי יוחנן is the one who forbids a זימון of two, while רב allows it. Next it explains רב's ruling about a diner who stepped out to the market. He counts only if he hears and answers (אביי), and for a זימון of ten he must actually come back (מר זוטרא), because ה׳'s Name is mentioned. Further rules follow: two diners should bless separately unless one is unlearned, and one diner must pause for two but two need not pause for one. A story with מרימר teaches that three equals must still make a זימון, and that a זימון cannot be made after the fact. The amud ends with what a latecomer answers to a זימון, and with saying אמן after one's own ברכה of בונה ירושלים.

Opening lines

דְּנִיחָא לְהוּ

because it is preferable to them

דְּמַקְבַּע לְהוּ בְּחוֹבָה מֵעִיקָּרָא.

to establish it for themselves as an obligation from the outset.

תָּא שְׁמַע: נָשִׁים מְזַמְּנוֹת לְעַצְמָן,

Come and hear: Women form a zimmun for themselves,

וַעֲבָדִים מְזַמְּנִים לְעַצְמָן,

and slaves form a zimmun for themselves,

The steps (39)

  1. RejectionFinishing the rejection of the waiter proof
  2. ProofQuoting a ברייתא about women and slaves making a זימון
  3. ProofThe proof: women count like two men, yet they may make a זימון
  4. RejectionRejection: three women are still three separate people
  5. ChallengeChallenge from the end of the ברייתא: why can't a mixed group make a זימון?
  6. ResolutionWomen and slaves are kept apart for a different reason
  7. ProofTrying to show that רב is the one who forbids two from making a זימון
  8. ProofDrawing the inference from רב's ruling
  9. RejectionThat group was fixed as an obligated three from the start
  10. ProofTrying instead to show that רבי יוחנן forbids two from making a זימון
  11. ChallengeWhat new point is רבי יוחנן teaching?
  12. Resolutionרבי זירא: two diners have no זימון
  13. ConclusionConclusion: רבי יוחנן is the one who forbids it
  14. ChallengeThe Sages from ארץ ישראל allow it
  15. ResolutionThey heard it from רב before he left
  16. StatementCalling back a diner who went out to the market
  17. Statementאביי: only if he hears and answers
  18. Statementמר זוטרא: for ten, he must come back
  19. Challengeרב אשי argues the opposite makes more sense
  20. ConclusionThe הלכה follows מר זוטרא because God's Name is mentioned
  21. Statementאביי: two who ate together should bless separately
  22. ProofA ברייתא supports אביי
  23. StatementException: a learned person can bless for an unlearned one
  24. Statementרבא: one stops eating for two, but two do not stop for one
  25. ChallengeChallenge from רב פפא stopping for his son
  26. Resolutionרב פפא went beyond the letter of the law
  27. StatementStory setup: three equal חכמים eat together
  28. QuestionDoes זימון apply when no one is greater?
  29. StatementEach one blessed for himself
  30. Responseמרימר: you fulfilled the ברכה, but not the זימון
  31. StatementA זימון cannot be made after the fact
  32. QuestionWhat does a latecomer answer to a זימון?
  33. Responseרב זביד: he says ברוך ומבורך
  34. Responseרב פפא: he answers אמן
  35. ResolutionBoth opinions are correct, at different moments of the זימון
  36. ChallengeTwo ברייתות contradict each other about answering אמן to your own ברכה
  37. ResolutionAnswering אמן is good after בונה ירושלים but improper after other ברכות
  38. Statementאביי said the אמן loudly so the workers could go back to work
  39. Statementרב אשי said the אמן quietly so people would not belittle הטוב והמטיב