In the previous chapter, it was noted that the master of the house is the last to wash his hands, so that he can sit down at the table right away and say the blessing. This is to ensure that he does not touch or say anything between washing and praying. The reason for this is not only that no evil may come to you during the meal, but also because the Chachámim have found a proof in the Psalms of David, and taught it from this saying Ps. 134.2: Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and thank the Lord. From this the wise taught two things. First, when you wash your hands before you eat, you should lift them up, so that the unclean water does not run back to your fingers, and make them unclean. Secondly, right after you wash your hands and make them holy, you should pray and say the blessing over the food.
When people sit down at the table, there should be salt, and a whole loaf of bread on the table. The Baal habbais, the master of the house, or the most respected Rabbi takes the loaf of bread, cuts in on the side which is baked best, but does not cut all the way through. He puts it down, covers it with both hands, and says the Beráchah, or blessing, with these words: Praised be you, Lord our God, King of the world, who produced this bread from the earth. He then breaks off the piece where he cut it, puts it in the salt, or dips it in sauce if there is any, eats it right away, and speaks nothing in that interval. If he should speak, he would have to pray again. He makes a big cut, and takes a big piece, so that he may not be looked on as a Tzar ajin, a miser, who is economical in good deeds. There must be three or more together at the table, otherwise each one makes the Berácha, or blessing, by himself.
After this, he cuts a piece off for each one at the table, and puts it before them, so each one can take it and eat it. Under no circumstances does he put it in their hands or mouth.
Likewise he makes also a Berácha, and thanksgiving over the wine, especially in countries where everybody drinks wine, and also if there is a Minjan, a right count, namely ten, or even if there are less, three or more. He has a special cup for the wine. He grasps it first with both hands. After that, he keeps it in the right hand, but if it becomes too big and heavy, he may support it with the left, but beneath the right hand. He lifts it a few inches from the table, looks steadily into the cup, and raises it up for a little while to honor it. He says: Praised be you, Lord our God, King of the world, who produced the fruit of the vine. Generally, if there is no special occasion, each one says the blessing alone over his cup when he drinks the first time. If there is beer or cider with the meal, they also say the blessing over that, but rich Jews take a cup of wine for the blessing, even though they may drink beer with their meal. No blessing is said over water.
After that, the man of the house says the twenty-third psalm of David. Then
everybody eats well, if they are able. All the others must say a loud and
clear
"Amen" to all the blessings. This is because you read in the
Talmud that the one who says "Amen" with devotion is more honored than the
one who says
the prayer. The Chachámim and wise men compare it to
writing a letter for
another person. After a while, that person comes, and puts his seal on it;
only
then is the letter valid and complete. The "Amen" after the
prayer has the same value; it seals it and makes it valid.
There must be salt on the table in remembrance of the sacrifices
in olden times. The table is compared to an altar, and the food to the
sacrifice. It
is written Lev. 2.13: On all your sacrifices you shall offer
salt. Therefore no
table should be without salt.
The reason why they do not make the cut all the way through the bread is
found in the
teaching of the Chachámim who say: Whoever does so makes
God
angry thereby, as it is written Ps. 10.3: Ubozéah
bérech
nietz adonai, that is: He who cuts all
the way through, and says a blessing, makes God angry. The Hebrew
word Bozeah
means sometimes cut, or cut through, but not here. They
did not interpret it correctly in
the psalter either. But according to the Rabbis' understanding, it should be
interpreted according to the German Orach chajim. This is a little
book
which contains interpretations for
women and children, in which it is described how a person should behave
throughout his life.
They put both hands on the bread, with the ten fingers spread out,
in memory of the Ten Commandments which God has given, because of the wheat
from
which bread is made. I will not go into that now, but will give a few
sayings
regarding this. Ps. 104.14: You let the grass grow for the
animals,
and you let people use seed, so that you bring bread the earth.
Ps.145.15:
All eyes are waiting for you, and
you give them their food in its time. Deut. 8.8: A land that
has in it
wheat, barley, vines, figs and pomegranates and other thing amounting in
Hebrew to
just ten words. In the same way the prayer [before eating bread] has only
ten words.
Four things are of importance when the blessing over the wine is said; these
are
recalled by the Hebrew word Chamischah [="five." The word
consists of four letters.] They prove that you should
lift up the cup with both
hands from the saying Ps. 143.2: Lift up your hands as a
holiness, and thank
the Lord. During the meal, everyone should be well-mannered, and consider
that he is sitting
before God's countenance, as it is written concerning the harvest
Deut.
14.23: You shall eat it before the Lord
your God. Also Ezek. 41.22: This is the table, which stands
before the Lord.
The master of the house should stay longer at the table, to wait for some
poor
people to whom he might give from his table; such is a very precious good
deed, and whoever
stays longer after the meal and gives to the poor, will have his life
prolonged, as you read in the Talmud. Of such the Prophet said Is.
58.7:
Break your bread for the hungry, and if they are poor and miserable, bring
them
home. You should not eat too much, as the most wise Rabbis teach in
Talmud, since
they say: There should always be poor people in your house; that is to
say, you shall not eat too much, like the poor people who do not have enough
to eat.
You should keep the bread clean and holy, as you read in the Talmud: The
bread deserves three
different honors: You should not put any container on top of it;
you should not put it under a bowl; you should not throw it.
The one who despises bread, and looks disdainfully on it, will come to great
poverty, as
it is written Job 15.23: He looks here and there for bread.
The most wise
ones write in the Talmud Hullin, 105b that there is a special
angel who pays attention to those who drop bread on the ground, with the
result that people
tread it underfoot, and he brings such people into poverty. His name is
Nabel.
There was once a man who was constantly followed by this angel, who
wanted him to be poor, and wished him to drop bread on the ground, so that
it might be
stepped on. One day the man sat in his fields in the green grass, eating
his
bread. The angel thought: Now will be the right time, because he cannot
pick up the
breadcrumbs from the grass, and he will have to step on them. When the man
was
done, he took his shovel, and dug up the grass with the breadcrumbs, and
threw it
in the water, so that the fish might eat the bread crumbs. Then the man
heard a
voice in the air saying: Woe is me, that this man took me out of my
dwelling in vain, and I can gain nothing from him!
You should not speak while you have food in your mouth, says the Talmud,
because some of it could get into the wrong pipe, and make you choke. Even
when
someone sneezes you should not say Assusa, that is, Salus,
God give you
health. The wise and holy men write that the prophet Elijah is always at your
meal, and each
person has a special angel at the table, and he hears when you pray, when
you
talk, and when you behave in any other way. If you talk about God's word
and the holy
Thorah,
he stays with you, and the meal will do you good. But if you engage in idle
talk, then the
angel will go away, and a bad angel will replace him, and he will provoke
quarrels,
fighting, and disease after the meal. They will not eat their fill, even
though they
may eat much, as it is written Prov. 13.25: The stomach of
the godless
suffers a lack, and never has enough.
For this reason nobody should throw bones or fishbones next to or
behind himself, lest he hit the invisible creatures. Sometimes the dogs
fight over them, and someone may be bitten in the leg.
Therefore you should never leave a knife at your back, so that the angelic
and spiritual creatures
do not get hurt.
You should not knock out the bone-marrow on your plate, because the evil and
unclean spirits might wake up, and think that you are having a fight and they
might come and do harm. You may put a piece of bread under it.
Formerly, it was required to wash the hands and the mouth between meat and
fish,
but today this is no longer considered necessary. Although you should not
eat fish and meat at the same time, but rather one following the other, you
should
remove the meat that is between your teeth by eating a piece of bread, and
have a drink, so
that fish and meat will be separated.
A knife which was used for meat is not used for butter or cheese or
other
milk products. Milk dishes and meat dishes are not put on the table at the
same
time or at least they should not touch each other. They have many laws and
regulations regarding that matter, which will be discussed in a different
chapter.
While a pious, upright man eats, he should consider the fact that men and
eating alike are transitory, that only some of the food stays with you, but
most of it is expelled again by human excretion as is discussed in the
Talmud. Mar Zutra discusses this saying of the prophet David
Ps. 32.6:
Therefore all upright men will beg you leés metzo, that is,
in a good Jewish interpretation, at the time of
extraction. [The word metzo meaning here "auspicious" is
midrashically connected
with the word tzo'ah, excrement.] The Rabbis
opinion is: An upright man is one who considers when he eats and drinks,
that he
has to lose it again by the process of his body's normal elimination.
The two words have
generally the meaning at the time of finding, i.e., at the right
time, when God
is found, or at a time when fear and need comes over you. These thoughts
should
move you to moderation, so that you do not show off with large meals. This
will save you money and make you rich.
If you put a better quality wine, or any other drink on the table while you
eat,
besides the regular drinks for the meal, then the first one who drinks from
it
has to say a prayer, which declares: Praised be you, Lord our God, King of
all the
world, who are good, and do good.
The same goes for special dishes that are not eaten daily. One
says: Praised be you God, who made many different dishes.
If one eats fruit which grows on trees like grapes, figs, pomegranates,
olives, almonds, chestnuts, apples, pears, walnuts, strawberries [Erdbeere
-- this appears to be erroneous], one says: Praised
be you God, who made the fruit of the tree. What does not grow on
trees, but just on the ground, one says: Praise... who made the
fruits of the earth.
Other things that grow neither on trees, nor on the ground, like cheese,
butter, fish,
meat, milk, honey, one says: Praise...through whose word everything has
been made.
If he takes a fruit, and says the blessing, and then it falls from his hand
before he puts it in his mouth he says: Praised be the name and glory of
your
Kingdom from now till eternity. This is because he said the name of God to no
purpose, which is a great sin. If he drops the fruit before he is
finished with
his prayer he says: O Lord, teach me your commandments.
If one forgot to pray, and puts something in his mouth, if it is a drink
he should swallow it, and say the prayer right after it. If it is food he
should
put it on one side [of his mouth], say the blessing and then swallow it.
However, if it is still whole, he should he should take it out again, and
say his blessing.
Just as you should not eat or drink without saying your blessing, you
should not enjoy a smell without a blessing to God. Over a good smell that
comes from rosewood, incense, cinnamon, you should say: Praise... who
gave a good smell to the wood of this species.
Over the good smell of fruits like apples, pears, pomegranates, lemons,
nutmeg, one says: Praise... who gave a good smell to this fruit.
Over balsam or other sweet smelling oil or water one says: Praise...
who made sweet and good smelling oil.
Over good smelling herbs you say: Praise... who made spicy and
good smelling herbs.
If you enter an apothecary's store, or a room with many spices and sweet
smells, you
say: Praise... who made all kinds of good spices.
In sum, they take great pains, and they write very seriously about the fact
that
whatever they enjoy and use in this world, should never be taken without
praise
and blessing to God. And if somebody uses something and does not thank God
for
it, he is called a robber, who robbed God unfairly of gifts and goods. This
custom they have is praiseworthy, if it is done with the right intention in
the heart, but
they pay more attention to the outward deed, and place their reliance on
words.
They always leave a piece of bread on the table, and one who does not do so
will not be blessed, as is discussed in the Talmud. He who leaves
nothing over from his meal can never hope for anything good. Cf. Job
20.21
It is written in the book of Chronicles II Chron 31.10 that
you should leave something over:
– We have eaten our fill, and there
was much left over. But Rabbi Eliezer said: You shall not leave a whole
loaf of
bread over, because it may look as though you are using it for idolatry, as
happened
some time ago, and the prophet Isaiah lamented over it when he said : And
you set
a table for Gad and pour a drink offering for Meni.
[Fortune and Destiny, the Syrian gods of fate.]
However, a table is not set and prepared with just a piece of bread, but
with a whole loaf.
Previously they set and prepared a table for the gods after they had eaten
their fill, to
thank them. But now that have finished, they leave a piece of bread that
something blessed might be left. If you eat up all the bread there is no
blessing left on the table.
Before they leave the table, they hide their knives, or each one puts it in
its sheath. This is because they read in the Gemara that once all
the knives were left
on the table, and when the man who said the prayer came to the place where
it says in their Gratias or table-prayer: Rebuild the holy city of
Jerusalem
again very soon in our days. Praised be you God, who will build the city of
Jerusalem again -- he thought of the destruction of the city and the Holy
Temple, and he became so depressed and despondent that it was not yet built,
that he took a knife, thrust it into his heart and killed himself.
Some time ago it was also the custom to sweep together the breadcrumbs under
and around the table. Then you washed your hands and mouth in a hand-basin
at the table, not on the floor or oven of the room because such a thing is
witchcraft, and
dangerous. This was done before you said your prayers after the meal, so
that you could say the
name of God and the prayers with a clean mouth. But today it is not done,
probably because of laziness, and everybody does it after the prayer when
you get up from the table.
After you have eaten your fill, the Baal bajis, or man of the
house,
a Rabbi, or visiting guest has to pray the thanksgiving prayer. It is a
long prayer, in
which they praise and thank God that he takes care of them and all
creatures,
that he feeds them and gives them to drink, and keeps them through his
kindness; that he led their fathers from Egypt, that he let them have the
land
of Canaan, that he made a bond with them, gave them the commandments, and he
will
always keep them. They beg him to show mercy towards the city of Jerusalem,
and the Holy Temple, and that he should rebuild the Kingdom of David soon in
their days; that he should send them Elijah and Messiah to save them from
this
lengthy misery. He should keep them from poverty, so that they do not have
to
borrow to relieve themselves from poverty, or have to borrow or receive alms
from the Christians, whom they call people who are nothing but body and blood.
They mean that the latter are poor, mortal, corrupt creatures who have no
communion
with God, but are cursed, and mortal, and die like animals. But they
themselves are a holy
people, the property and heir of God. May he keep them by the abundance of
his
hand and not let them be ashamed. He should break the yoke of the
Christians
which hangs on their necks, and he should lead them again openly back to
their
land. He should bless the table, the house in which they had eaten, the man
of
the house and the woman, the children and all descendants. After that
everybody
says with a loud voice "Amen" and then they say quietly by themselves
Ps.
34.10: Fear the
Lord you holy one, because those who fear God have no lack. The young lions
suffer
hunger, but those who look for the Lord have no need of anything. This all
they have to say with nothing in their mouth, there should be no breadcrumb
or
meat between their teeth, because it is written Ps.
71.8 : My mouth shall be full of
praise daily. The prayer has to be said at the place where you eat. The
Chachme hakkabálah write: Those who do not pray at the same
place as they have
eaten do not come to Kebhúrah, that is, they will die such a
death as
they will not be buried in a grave, namely they will be hanged or drowned.
Some time ago a
pious, god-fearing, Jew ate out in the fields and forgot to pray. After he
had
walked away he remembered the prayer, he turned around and said to his
fellow
traveller that he had to go back where he had eaten, because he had
forgotten a
precious gem there. When he came there and said his prayers, God sent a
Nes,
or miracle, and gave him a golden pigeon, which the pious Jew took home as a
reward for his obedience of the law. In Schlauraffen land [a children's
fairy
tale] it would not have been surprising if a fried pigeon flew into his
mouth,
but this miracle was probably not far away from the Indian goldmines from
which the
golden pigeon must have come and fallen down here, too tired to go on.
The Chachámim and wise pious Jews forbid too many banquets
and feasts
during the week, and they act as though it were Friday all week, [preparing
constantly for the
Sabbath, and not celebrating on weekdays.] On the other hand, some
constantly
have company and feasts; they say: Today you shall drink in my house,
tomorrow we will do it at your house, after that in the third etc. From
this the
Chachme Hakkabálah, the Kabbalists, write that at such
Súdos
or feasts, the evil spirit Samael eats with his
chabrúsah, or
company, and he tempts the guests to all kind of sins. R. Levi says
on account of
Rabbi Abben [Abin] in the name of Rabbi
Jehosua: All those who eat and drink and make Súdos,
or feasts,
during the week, three days after they die, their bellies will burst open,
so that all
the rotten mass of their intestines will run over their panim or
faces, as it
is written Mal. 2.3: See I will throw the Peres or
refuse of your
feast days in your face.
Then the Schedim or devils come and mock and say: Eat what you
gathered for so
long. With this meal I will let the Jews sit, and I will further report how
they
behave after they eat.
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