22 May 2006

The Guest's Blessing

(I originally posted this elsewhere, but here it is on my blog.)
The Talmud (bBerakhot 46a) quotes Rabbi Yohanan, who says in the name of Rabbi Shim'on, son of Yohai, "A host breaks [bread] and a guest blesses. He breaks [bread] so that he will break with a great amount (lit. a pretty eye), and a guest blesses in order that he should bless the host."
It is then asked (presumably by Rabbi Yohanan): "What does he bless?"
The following line is provided:
יהי רצון שלא יבוש בעל הבית בעולם הזה ולא יכלם לעולם הבא
May it be [the] will [of God] that the host should not be embarrassed in this world, nor humiliated in the world to come.

And Rabbi (Yehudah, the Prince) added words into it:
ויצלח מאד בכל נכסיו ויהיו נכסיו ונכסינו מוצלחים וקרובים לעיר ואל ישלוט שטן לא במעשי ידיו ולא במעשי ידינו ואל יזדקר לא לפניו ולא לפנינו שום דבר הרהור חטא ועבירה ועון מעתה ועד עולם
And he should be very successful with all of his properties and may his properties and our properties be successful and close to the city. And may Satan neither rule over his handiwork nor over ours, and may there neither appear before him nor us any thought of sin, transgression, or iniquity from now and until ever.
Thus is the printed text as we have it in the printed Vilna edition.
In Dikdukei Soferim, some textual emendations from manuscripts are offered for the text of the blessing. For the first line, we have

יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלהינו שלא יבוש בעל הבית הזה ולא יכלם לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא
May it be the will before you, God, our Lord, that this host should not be embarrassed, nor should he be humiliated in either this world or the next world.

And, for Rabbi's addition, we have
ויצלח מאד בכל נכסיו ויהיו נכסיו מוצלחים וקרובים לעיר ואל ישלוט שטן לא במעשי ידיו ולא במעשי ידינו ואל יזדקר לא לפניו ולא לפנינו שום דבר הרהור חטא ועון ועבירה מעתה ועד עולם
And he should be very successful with all of his properties and may his properties be successful and close to the city. And may Satan neither rule over his handiwork nor over ours, and may there neither appear before him nor us any thought of sin, inquity, or transgression from now and until ever.
Additionally, Mesorat haShas mentions that it instead of יזדקר, the Rif and the Rosh have יזדקק, and it's also found in the Shulhan Arukh that way, as well. I do not know why (speaking of said work) the Shulhan Arukh (O.H. 201.1) has a slightly different version of the blessing (which is the version of Artscroll, so that may invariably popularize the version of that found in the Shulhan Arukh versus that of that found in the Talmud):

יהי רצון שלא יבוש ולא יכלם בעל הבית הזה לא בעולם הזה ולא בעולם הבא, ויצליח בכל נכסיו, ויהיו נכסיו מוצלחים וקרובים לעיר, ולא ישלוט שטן במעשי ידיו, ואל יזדקק לפניו שום דבר חטא והרהור עון מעתה ועד עולם.
May it be [the] will [of God] that the host should be neither embarrassed nor humiliated, neither in this world, nor the next. And may all his properties be successful, and may his properties be successful and close to the city. And may Satan not rule over his handiwork. And may there not appear before him any sinful thing, not thought of sin, transgression, nor iniquity from now and until ever.
Questions, the answers to which I don't have, about this topic remain, and they are thus:
  • How did Rabbi Shim'on, son of Yohai, come up with such a formula?
  • How come Rabbi added on what he did?
  • Where in the ברכת המזון (Grace after Meal) is this blessing supposed to be made?
  • How come Rabbi Yohanan needed to quote in the name of Rabbi Shim'on, son of Yohai, as well as Rabbi - why wasn't it included within a formal tannaitic teaching? (However, I suspect that this question may be more generally asked of all such statements in the Talmud.)
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