The Siddur Project

Yeshua and the Grace After Meals

By Aaron Eby  | Comments (3) | Posted on July 4, 2007

In Christian tradition, at least in America, it is common to give thanks before eating. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Even our Master can be found consistently giving thanks before eating, which may have given rise to this Christian custom.

While they were eating, Jesus took [some] bread, and after a blessing, He broke [it] and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." (Matthew 26:26 NASB)

Of course, what Yeshua was doing was in keeping with Jewish tradition. It is customary to offer a blessing prior to eating. Different blessings are prescribed for different categories of food.

But Jewish sages note that although it is important to bless God before eating, it is an actual commandment in the Torah to make a blessing afterward:

When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:10 NASB)

Judaism refers to the blessing after eating as the Birkat Hamazon, which literally means “The Blessing of the Nourishment.”

The Torah does not give a specific text for the blessing after eating (although the Torah has been known to do that—consider the declarations over the first fruits and the tithes in Deuteronomy 26). Over time, however, a roughly universal blessing has arisen from Jewish tradition as the result of a chorus of the opinions of sages who each chimed in, “Whoever fails to mention ______ has not fulfilled his obligation.” The end result is a relatively extensive four-part blessing that covers the food, the land, the Torah, the covenant, the Messiah, Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Heaven among a few other things.

I understand that a pre-written prayer makes some folks uncomfortable. Obviously, it is possible to thank God for food without reading a blessing word for word from a book. In fact, there are a variety of opinions recorded in the Talmud of different spontaneous expressions that could qualify as valid blessings.

But one benefit of a universal blessing is readily apparent when you are with a group of people from all over—whom you may never have even met before—who know the same blessing and recite it together.

Did Yeshua Recite the Birkat Hamazon?

It is clearly stated that Yeshua recited a blessing before eating, although it doesn’t say what the blessing was. It is tougher to find evidence that the Master made a blessing after eating. Did Yeshua recite some form of the Grace After Meals?

(The precise formulation of the Birkat Hamazon probably had not been settled on by the beginning of the Tannaitic Era when Yeshua was with us, but for certain there were standard elements in place.)

First of all, if it is a Torah commandment, then we know that Yeshua did it, since He is a tzaddik gamur, a perfectly righteous person. But granted, one could make the case that Deuteronomy 8:10 is not meant to be taken quite as literally as it is.

However, we should not be surprised that the blessings before and after eating would be omitted from the Gospels, since they are a given. The Gospels predominantly only record remarkable events. A rabbi reciting the traditional blessing before or after eating is not remarkable. As it is said:

"When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news." (John B. Bogart)

I think that journalistic principle holds well for the Gospels. Considering how often He ate in the homes of Pharisees, had He abstained from a traditional Grace After Meals, it would have been mentioned at some point. For this reason I think we can assume He said it, and nobody was surprised.

The Cup of Blessing

There is one bit of circumstantial evidence that can be brought up. This is the final Passover meal that He shared with His disciples, in which something that is indeed remarkable occurs during the Grace After Meals. The Birkat Hamazon is included in the traditional Passover seder in the section known as barech (bless).

We already have other evidence that the seder meal that He shared was traditional. For example, we can see Him reciting the Hallel (Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26) and utilizing what appears to be the four cups,* which are not mentioned in the written Torah.

The third of the four cups in the Passover meal accompanies the Grace After Meals. For this reason it is called the Kos Berachah (Cup of Blessing). This is the cup that the Master associated with the New Covenant:

And in the same way [He took] the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." (Luke 22:20 NASB)

In the same way [He took] the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink [it], in remembrance of Me." (1 Corinthians 11:23 NASB)

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16 NASB)

These factors have led me to believe that Yeshua recited Grace After Meals at Passover as well as other times of the year.

Aaron Eby
18 Tammuz 5767

* A careful reading of Luke 22:17-20 will reveal that at least two cups were involved.

About the Author: Aaron Eby writes for messiah magazine and other FFOZ publications. He is also the author of the forthcoming siddur project, as well as the forthcoming Hebrew lesson DVD.

Search in blogs...

Feeds

Use RSS feeds to track this section in your favorite reader.

FFOZ Blogs RSS Feed

Browse Entries

• « Between the Straits
• Blogs...
• » Eikah! An Introduction

Select a Blog

• Events and Administration
• Founder’s Blog
• Guest Contributors
• Publications
• Shalom Tour
• Teaching Team
• The Siddur Project
• Site Info Blog

Most Recent Entries

• A Dead Sea Stone: In Three Days You Shall Live
• Our 4th of July Bang!
• America Believes in God
• Shabbat and Fireworks
• Plum Tuckered Out!
• Blind Ambition
• A Shot in the Dark: A Bulgarian Translator
• Obama and Dobson Talk Some Torah
• I Cried Today
• The World's Oldest Church?
• It's Summer...Now What?
• Help Wanted: Artist
• Forum people have faces!
• Shabbat Shalom is Coming!
• New Testament Burning In Israel

Select a Previous Month