Daily Prayer

netilat yadayim, hamotzi uvirkat hamazon

נְטִילַת יָדַיִם, הַמּוֹצִיא וּבִרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

417 Bread is not to be taken from the table until after Birkat HaMazon is recited [שו"ע או"ח, קפ: א].

418 Before reciting Birkat HaMazon, one is to cleanse the grime from one's fingers with mayim aḥaronim [שו"ע או"ח, קפא: א]. Certain communities refrain from washing with mayim aḥaronim, since the original grounds for the practice no longer obtain [שם, י; משנ"ב שם, כב], yet a fastidious person who rinses after a meal should employ mayim aḥaronim ahead of Birkat HaMazon [שו"ע: שם].

419 Women are bound to recite Birkat HaMazon [שו"ע או"ח, קפו: א].

420 Birkat HaMazon is to be recited at the place where one dined. Should one have forgotten to recite Birkat HaMazon and gone elsewhere, one must go back to the meal's site to recite Birkat HaMazon. Should return to the meal's site prove impossible, one may recite Birkat HaMazon as soon as the duty is recalled [שו"ע ורמ"א או"ח, קפד: א; משנ"ב, שם:].

421 Should Birkat HaMazon be forgotten at the meal's close, it must be recited afterward, provided one does not feel hungry [שו"ע או"ח, קפד: ד]. Should one wish to dine once more, one may wash hands and recite הַמּוֹצִיא once more; the ensuing Birkat HaMazon then embraces the earlier meal too [רמ"א או"ח, קעח: ב].

422 On Ḥanukka or Purim, וְעַל הַנִּסִּים (page 1035) is inserted into the second blessing. Should וְעַל הַנִּסִּים be forgotten, one need not repeat Birkat HaMazon [שו"ע או"ח, תרפב: א; שו"ע ורמ"א או"ח, תרצה: ג].

423 On Shabbat, רְצֵה (page 1037) is inserted into the third blessing. On Rosh Ḥodesh, Yom Tov and Ḥol HaMo'ed, יַעֲלֶה וְיָבוֹא (page 1039) is inserted into the third blessing; should the day also be Shabbat, one recites רְצֵה, then יַעֲלֶה וְיָבוֹא. Should the required insertion be forgotten on Shabbat or Yom Tov, the whole of Birkat HaMazon is repeated. Alternatively, should recollection come before beginning the fourth blessing, a distinctive blessing honoring Shabbat or the appropriate Yom Tov may be recited [שו"ע או"ח, קפח: ה–ו]. Should the required insertion be forgotten on Rosh Ḥodesh or Ḥol HaMo'ed, one need not repeat Birkat HaMazon [שם: ז].

424 Should a meal begin while it is still Shabbat, Rosh Ḥodesh or other days on which Birkat HaMazon receives added passages, and the meal continue past sunset, those additions to Birkat HaMazon are nevertheless recited [שם: י] (see laws 422–423 above).

425 When three adult males share a meal, they must introduce Birkat HaMazon with zimmun (page 1031). When women are present, they too must take part in the zimmun. Three adult females may likewise constitute a zimmun, yet they are not bound to do so. When ten or more males are present, the word אֱלֹהֵינוּ is inserted into the formula [שו"ע או"ח, קצב: א].

426 Zimmun is obligatory when all three participants ate bread. When merely two participants ate bread, yet a third person either consumes a kezayit (about 1.5 ounces) of any food, or takes a revi'it (about 4.4 ounces) of any drink (save water), the three should recite zimmun [שו"ע או"ח, קצו: ג; משנ"ב, שם: כב].

427 Even when the participants are not seated together, provided some among them can see each other, they may unite in a zimmun [שו"ע או"ח, קצה: א].

428 Should one of the three participants have recited Birkat HaMazon alone, he may yet join the remaining two to form a zimmun, yet if two of them (or all three) recited Birkat HaMazon alone, then zimmun may not be recited [שו"ע או"ח, קצד: א].

429 At a Sheva Berakhot meal, a distinctive insertion is made in the zimmun (page 1097) [שו"ע אבה"ע, סב: יג; ערוה"ש, שם: יח], and the Sheva Berakhot (page 1095) are recited after Birkat HaMazon [שו"ע, שם: ו].

430 At the meal following a Brit Mila, a distinctive zimmun (page 1075) is recited, and a series of prayers (pages 1077–1079) is inserted before the close of Birkat HaMazon.

431 At a meal in a house of mourning, a distinctive insertion is made in the zimmun, and the third and fourth blessings are altered (page 1123) [ערוה"ש יו"ד, שעט: א–ב].

תְּפִלָּה בְּבֵית הָאָבֵל

LITURGY IN A HOUSE OF MOURNING

432 The following prayers are omitted when praying in a house of mourning during the days of shiva: a Korbanot (Offerings) – omitted only by the mourners themselves [משנ"ב או"ח, א: יז] b Taḥanun [שו"ע או"ח, קלא: ד] c Hallel, except when Rosh Ḥodesh falls on Shabbat [משנ"ב, שם: כ]. On Ḥanukka, those who are not mourning should say Hallel on returning home. d אֵל אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם [משנ"ב, שם: לה] e Psalm 20 (לְמַנַּצֵּחַ) [שם] f Pirkei Avot or Barekhi Nafshi on Shabbat – omitted only by the mourners themselves [אשי ישראל, לו: צו] g Birkat Kohanim in Israel (see law 377)

433 In a house of mourning, Psalm 49 is customarily recited after Aleinu; on days when no Taḥanun is recited, Psalm 16 is recited instead (page 1115).