Halakhah su Numeri 7:90

Birkat ha-mazon is recited with at least three adults, as it is said, “Exalt the Lord with me.²³³Ps 34:4: Gadlu la-Shem iti. Gadlu is a plural imperative, so it includes at least two; iti – “with me” adds one more, making it at least three. With three, one says in the zimmun “nivarekh she-akhalnu mishelo” – “Let us bless Him from whose food we have eaten” without mentioning God’s name. And with ten one does mention God’s name: nivarekh eloheynu– “Let us bless our God.”²³⁴B. Berakhot 49b, and so the Tur and Orah Hayim 192. And one does not say “Barekhu eloheynu” – “Bless our God,” in other words, one should not exclude himself from the group. Thus I conclude that “nivarekh” is preferable, but if someone has said “barekhu,” one doesn’t hold it against him.²³⁵B. Berakhot 50a. In other words, it is acceptable to say “barekhu.” Regardless if the number of diners is eleven or 110,000, one says, “nivarekh eloheynu she-akhalnu mishelo,” because ten is the number that includes everything and there is nothing after it, unless it is doubled [?]. If one leading a zimmun of three says, “nivarekh she-akhalnu mishelo” – “Let us bless Him from whose food we have eaten,” the other two reply as if he were beginning with “Barukh she-akhalnu mishelo uv-tuvo hayinu” –“Blessed be the One from whose food we ate and by whose goodness we live.” If one leading a zimmun of ten says, “nivarekh eloheynu she-akhalnu mishelo” – “Let us bless our God from whose food we have eaten,” the rest reply with “Barukh eloheynu she-akhalnu mishelo uv-tuvo hayinu” –“Blessed be our God from whose food we ate and by whose goodness we live.” Those outside of the table answer “Amen,” which is like the matter discussed in tractate Yoma:²³⁶B. Yoma 37a. “For the name of the Lord I proclaim; Give glory to our God!”²³⁷Dt 32:3. When “I proclaim the name ‘Lord,’ You give glory to ‘Eloheynu,’ namely, you should answer “Amen.”

And you need to know that because the sages z”l said, “a bat kol went out and said that a cup of blessing is equal to forty pieces of gold, it is clear from this that each blessing of the hundred blessing equals ten pieces of gold.”²⁴⁰B. Hullin 87a. Since there are four blessings in birkat ha-mazon said over the cup of blessing – you do the math. This is also an allusion to the tradition that one said say at least a hundred blessings per day. And there’s support for this in the verse: “one ladle (kaf) of ten [shekels] of gold filled with incense,”²⁴¹Nu 7:14. that is to say, every “one from Ka”F,²⁴²Ka”F is numerically equivalent to 100. which are the one hundred blessings equal to “ten gold [pieces].” And you will also find in another place, “esreh zahav mishkalam” – “ten gold shekels in weight”²⁴³Gen 24:22, the value of the gold armbands Eliezer gave Rebekah as a present after she gave his camels water at the well. to which armbands Scripture follows with the phrase “Then I bowed low in homage to the Lord and blessed the Lord.”²⁴⁴Gen 24:48, immediately preceded in 24:27 with “And I put the ring on her nose, and the bands on her arms,” i.e., the ten shekel gold bands, which are equal to one blessing. The reason why every blessing is equal to ten shekels of gold is to hint that it is possible to include the 10 sefirot in each and every blessing. And the reason for 100 blessings every day is their correspondence to the 10 sefirot, ten blessings for each and every sefirah. And this what is written, “And now, O Israel, what (mah) does the Lord your God demand of you.”²⁴⁵Dt 10:12. And our sages z”l said, “Don’t read mah – “what,” but rather me’ah –“a hundred,”²⁴⁶B. Menahot 43b. that is to say, “A hundred the Lord your God demands of you.” And there are 99 letters in this verse; adding the letter aleph makes it 100.²⁴⁷That is, adding an aleph to the word mah, making it me’ah, give the verse 100 letters. In his commentary to the Torah R. Bahya brings this interpretation as the sod – “the mystical interpretation” of Dt. 10:12. And we found in King David (peace upon him), who said, “The utterance of the man set on high [‘al],”²⁴⁸2 Sam 23:1. The Hebrew word ‘al is numerically equivalent to 100. because one hundred men of Israel a day used to die in that generation, and deeply moved by this, David instituted [tiken]100 blessings.²⁴⁹Midrash Tanhuma Korah 12. Tiken – “instituted” of course also has the connotation of tikkun – “repair,” as in the sense of a cosmic repair through blessings of a world diminished by the loss of 100 lives. He didn’t institute them per se, but rather re-established them, since they had been forgotten, and David came along and re-established them.²⁵⁰Ibid. According to this midrash, Moses originally established the blessings, and afterwards, whne they had been forgotten, David came along and re-established them, and after David’s era they were forgotten again until the sages of the Talmud re-established them (Chavel). And thus is written, “So [ki khen] shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed [yivorakh].”²⁵¹Ps 128:4. The word yivorakh – “shall be blessed” is spelled without a vav, which means that by the numerical equivalent of K”I Khe”N – 100 – will the person who fears the Lord both bless and be blessed.²⁵²Lacking the vav, the Hebrew word can be read either actively as yivarekh – “he will bless,” or passively as yivorakh – “he will be blessed.” Therefore a person needs to recite 100 blessings and fulfill them each day. And on Shabbat, when it is not possible because the Amidah for Shabbat contains only seven blessings, as it is written, “I praise You seven times on theday,”²⁵³Ps 119:164. the day which is well-known and special, namely, Shabbat, our sages z”l already said, “one completes them with aromatic herbs and fancy fruits.”²⁵⁴B. Menahot 43b, i.e., one enjoys lots of extra snacks and aromas that require blessings to make up for the shortage of blessings.

Each day [of Chanukah] we call up three men [for the reading of the Torah] from the chapter "The Offerings of the Princes" in the weekly portion of Naso. On the first day we begin to read for the kohein, from Vayehi beyom kalos Moshe, [On the day that Moses completed] (Numbers 7:1) until Lachanukas hamizbei'ach, [For the dedication of the altar]; for the Levi, Vayehi hamakriv bayom harishon, [The one to bring his offering on the first day] etc. until melei'ah ketores [Filled with incense]. For the Yisrael, Par echad, [One young bull] etc., until Ben Aminadav. On the second day for the kohein and the Levi, we read, Bayom hasheini [On the second day] etc., and for the Yisrael, Bayom hashelishi, [On the third day] etc. Similarly, on each subsequent day for the kohein and the Levi we read of the current day's offering, and for the Yisrael, the offering of the next day. On the eighth day, for the kohein and the Levi, we read, Bayom hashemini [On the eighth day] etc., and for the Yisrael we begin with Bayom hatesh'i, [On the ninth day], completing the entire parashah, and we continue in parashas Beha'alosecha, until kein asa es hamenorah, [So did he make the menorah] (Numbers 8:4).

The commandment of carrying the Ark on the shoulder: That the priests (Kohanim) are commanded to carry the Ark on their shoulders when the People of Israel move it from one place to another, as it is stated (Numbers 7:9), "for the holy service is upon them, they shall carry on their shoulders." Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), may his memory be blessed, wrote (Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Mitzvot Ase 34) [that] even though this commandment came to the Levites, that was [only] at that time - meaning to say in the wilderness, due to the small number of Kohanim at that time. In [future] generations, however, the Kohanim were obligated in this commandment - and they shall carry it - as is elucidated from the Book of Joshua and the Book of Samuel.

We read of the sacrifices of the [twelve] nesi'im [chieftains], which are in Parshat Nasso (Numbers 7:1 – 8:4), three [cheiftains] each day; and we start reading from the blessing of the priests (ibid. 6:22). Gloss: "And there are those who say that we start from 'on the day that Moses had made an end' (ibid. 7:1) (Tur) and such is our practice." And it [the beginning of the portion] is read with a kohen and a Levite, and an Israelite reads "on the first day" (ibid. 7:12). Gloss: "And there are those who say that the kohen reads the whole portion until 'on the first day' and the Levite and Israelite read 'on the first day', and such is our practice." On the second day [of Hanukkah], the Kohen reads "on the second day" (ibid. 7:18) until "one young bullock" (ibid. 7:21), the Levite reads until "on the third day" (ibid. 7:24), and the Israelite repeats from "on the second day", and the portions are read accordingly, each day. Gloss: "And there are those who say that the Israelite reads the portion of the following day, that is, from 'on the third day', and accordingly each day, and such is our practice (Haggahot Maimuniyyot)." On the eight day [of Hanukkah], we start "on the eighth day" (ibid. 7:54), and we finish the whole portion, and we read the first portion of [parshat] Beha'a lotcha. Gloss: "And it is our practice to finish with 'so he made the candlestick' (ibid. 8:4) (Minhagim)."