CCAR RESPONSA
New American Reform Responsa
79. Grace After Meals
QUESTION: The traditional grace after meals is quite lengthy. While the Reform version has been considerably abbreviated, what is the justification or the rationale for this abbreviation? (Irene Jacob, Pittsburgh PA) ANSWER: As we look at the traditional grace after meals, we will see that it was composed over a very long period and stems from many different times in our past. Actually, it is to a large extent a collection of Biblical and Talmudic verses. The earliest statement about the grace after meals was found in the Mishnah (Ber 6.5 ff). The concern there was not with the text, but over when it is necessary to recite the prayers and how they are to be said with various groupings of individuals. We have some discussion of some possible texts in the next chapter (7.3). In the Talmud, the whole matter is taken somewhat further and we have not only a detailed discussion about the questions raised by the Mishnah, but also of texts and subjects to be included (Ber 48b). The earliest complete text is that of the Sidur Rav Amram and that is somewhat different from ours; it is considerably shorter. Maimonides later presented us with a long and short text. As we review the text we will see that additions were made to each paragraph in the Gaonic as well as the medieval period. It is not possible to find any rationale for these additions except that they reflected favorite Biblical verses of various anonymous individuals. The longer section “harahaman” may reflect the suffering of the Middle Ages, the renewed hope for Elijah and the Messianic Age, as well as a desire to be more specific about blessings for the family. A variety of melodies for the grace after meals exists both in the Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions. An abbreviated version of the grace after meals has always been available for those individuals who did not have the time to recite the longer grace. This included servants and women who were busy with other duties. It was also used during emergencies. The Reform abbreviated version of the grace is, to the best of my knowledge, first found in the earliest edition of the Union Haggadah (1905) and subsequently in pamphlets and other longer liturgical works. Its main emphasis has been to eliminate redundancies, to abbreviate the number of quotations, as a large number no longer appealed or were meaningful, and generally to shorten this prayer into a form into which it was more likely to be widely used. That effort has been successful. Some continue to read the longer version and that number has increased with a broader understanding of Hebrew among our people. The longer version of the grace is appealing, as the Biblical character of the Hebrew text is easy to understand. Except for a few passages, as those which deal with the Messiah, there are no ideological problems with the grace after meals.September 1990
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