Halakhah zu Ijow 20:31

If one has finished eating, he still should prolong his time at the table. And so our rabbis z”l said: “Whoever prolongs his time at the table, his days and years are prolonged for him.”¹³⁰B. Berakhot 54b. And the reason behind this statement is that the table in the house is like the altar in the Temple. Just as an altar atones, so also a table atones, when one feeds the poor on it. So by prolonging one’s time at the table, it is more likely that a poor person will come and he’ll give him a piece of food so he’ll be provided for.¹³¹Rashi’s commentary on B. Berakhot 54b. And his prolongation of his time at the table with this intention leads to the tzedakah about which it is written, “by way of tzedakah comes life;”¹³²Prov 12:28: Be-oreh tzedakah hayyim – “the road of righteousness leads to life” (JSB).thus his days and years are prolonged for him. And they said in tractate Berakhot: “’A wooden altar three cubits high and two cubits long, with edging; and its length and its walls were of wood. And he said to me, This is the table before the Lord.’¹³³Ez 41:22. This verse opens with an ‘altar’ and ends with a ‘table,’ which means none other than that just as an altar atones, so a table atones.”¹³⁴B. Berakhot 55a. Indeed, we have heard with our own ears, and many have told us,¹³⁵An allusion to Ps 44:2. that among the leading sages of Provence, and the people who owned and ran inns, that they practiced an especially honorable custom, which was prevalent among them from the earliest days. Their tables, upon which they feed the poor, when it was their time to go to the cemetery, were made into the coffins and slabs with which they were buried. And all this is to arouse and fix in their hearts, that humankind, though they reach the tip of the clouds¹³⁶A paraphrase of Job 20:6. and their wealth grows as high as the wealth of King Solomon, will take none of it with them, nothing from all they toiled for under the sun, ¹³⁷Eccl 1:3. except the good they do and the tzedakah they compassionately bestow upon the poor, just as it said, “Your righteousness [tzidkekha] will march before you.”¹³⁸Is 58:8.

One has to be careful when he is about to say birkat ha-mazon not to leave the table without any bread on it, as they said in tractate Sanhedrin:¹⁸¹B. Sanhedrin 92a. “Whoever does not leave bread on his table, about him Scripture says, ‘With no remnant for him to eat, his goodness will not take hold.”¹⁸²Job 20:21. The reason for this practice is so that the blessing about which this was said will take hold; for if nothing is left, in what can the blessing take hold, because no blessing takes hold upon nothing, but only upon something? And the table in the sanctuary, which never was without bread, attests to this. And that bread was eaten by the priests who ministered to the sanctuary, and only a little of it was enough to feed many of them, and so our rabbis said, “Every priest who approached it was made doubly happy,”¹⁸³B. Yoma 39a. R. Bahya seems to allude to double portion of manna in the manna miracle as well as to the two loaves offered to the priests in Lev. 23:17. and through this very bread on the table blessing descended and was dispersed in the food of the world, from the showbread, by way of “something from something” and not something from nothing. For even the prophets who were “capable of serving in the royal palace”¹⁸⁴Dan 1:4. were not capable of producing something from nothing, but rather only something from something. Let me call for myself reliable witnesses:¹⁸⁵An allusion to Is 8:2.Elijah and Elisha, the former through “flour in a jar,”¹⁸⁶I Kg 17:12: “kad ha-kemah,” which R. Bahya used as the title for his famous encyclopedic collection of sermons. the latter “a jug of oil” – all was “something from something,” for no one has the power to make something from nothing but the Holy One Blessed be He, Shaper of creation which He created from nothing, and with all due to respect for Him, we find that even He only did it in the six days of the creation of the world. From then on till now, everything is “something from something.” And thus it is written, “which God created and made.”¹⁸⁷Gen 2:3. The explanation: “which God created” – something from nothing; “and made” – from then on, something from something, not something from nothing. So accordingly, it is necessary that a person about to recite birkat ha-mazon, leave a piece of bread on the table, for even a little of it is enough for the blessing to take hold in, and its power will be distributed through an increase of the small amount, just like the hidden miracles that are done for us every day, without us knowing or being aware of them. Just as our rabbis said: “¹⁸⁸B. Nidah 31a.No miracle-worker is aware of his own miracle.” And you should know that the cause behind the blessing that drops down in the food of the world and in the showbread is explained in the verse: “It [the frankincense] shall be a reminder-offering with the bread.”¹⁸⁹Lev 24:7. R. Bahya seems to allude to the miracle of the manna here in the language he uses about the showbread drawing miracles and blessings down to the earth, and of the priests being “doubly happy” See note 183 above . And later he explicitly associates the covering of bread on the table with cloths above and below with the miracle of the manna. As you already knew that they used to place frankincense on top of the bread, which is what is written just before, “With each row you shall place pure frankincense,”¹⁹⁰Ibid. the showbread and the frankincense used to counteract one another, just like the etrog and the lulav,¹⁹¹B. Menahot 27a. and the blue dye and white cloth (when blue dye could still be found). For the Most High has no share in the showbread, while the ordinary mortal has no share in the frankincense, which they would burn upon the fire. Therefore Scripture said, “It shall be a reminder-offering with the bread,” because by burning the frankincense which is on top of the bread, it becomes a reminder to the power above for blessing to drop down on it and from it into the food for the world. And understand this, that it is for this reason that there were twelve hallot arranged on top of the table. And from there the blessing came, which corresponded to the twelve angels¹⁹²Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 4. surrounding the throne of glory, which are called “four camps of the Shekhinah,” from which the world is blessed to the four winds, and they serve three to each wind, the meaning behind the four banners that were in the desert. Also corresponding to them below were the twelve lions on Solomon’s throne, and they are like these twelve hallot and the twenty-four tenth-measures,¹⁹³Lev 24:5. Each loaf – hallah – was made of two tenth-measures – ‘esronim – of choice flour, i.e., 24 = 2 x 12. and arouse your mind to this!

The root of this commandment is well-known, as falsehood is abominable and vile in the eyes of all. There is nothing more disgusting than it, and malediction and curse are in the house of its lovers. [This is] because God, may He be blessed, is a truthful God, and everything that is with Him is true. And blessing is only found and resting upon those that make themselves similar to Him in their deeds: to be truthful, like He is truthful; to be merciful, like He is merciful; and to be purveyors of kindness, like He is of great kindness. But [regarding] anyone whose deeds are the opposite of His good traits and are masters of falsehood - which is exactly the opposite of His traits - the opposite of His traits will similarly always rest upon them. And the opposite of the trait of blessing which is with Him is malediction and curse; and the opposite of joy and peace and enjoyment which are with Him is worry, strife and pain. All of these are the 'evildoer’s portion from God.' And therefore the Torah warned us to distance ourselves much form falsehood, as it is written, "From a false matter, distance yourself," And behold, it used an expression of distancing, due to it being very disgusting; something it did not mention in all the other warnings. And from the side of distancing, it warned us not to bend our ears at all to anything that is considered falsehood - and even if we do not know with certainly that it is a false matter. And [this is] similar to what they, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 44b), "Distance yourself from what is ugly, and from what is similar to it." And in my saying, "the traits of the Holy One, blessed be He," I am pulled after the words of our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, who related to Him, may He be blessed, the name of traits according to the side of those receiving them (people). But to Him, may He be blessed, from His side - in His greatness and His uniqueness - one cannot ascribe traits. As He and His wisdom and His will and His power and His traits are [all] one, without any combination or division in the world.