Grace after Meals i Qumra Author(s): Moshe Weifeld Source: Joural of Biblical Literature, Vol. 111, No. 3, (Autum, 1992), pp. 427-440 Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3267260 Accessed: 15/04/2008 01:24 Your use of the JSTOR archive idicates your acceptace of JSTOR's Terms ad Coditios of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ifo/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms ad Coditios of Use provides, i part, that uless you have obtaied prior permissio, you may ot dowload a etire issue of a joural or multiple copies of articles, ad you may use cotet i the JSTOR archive oly for your persoal, o-commercial use. Please cotact the publisher regardig ay further use of this work. Publisher cotact iformatio may be obtaied at http://www.jstor.org/actio/showpublisher?publishercode=sbl. Each copy of ay part of a JSTOR trasmissio must cotai the same copyright otice that appears o the scree or prited page of such trasmissio. JSTOR is a ot-foprofit orgaizatio fouded i 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We eable the scholarly commuity to preserve their work ad the materials they rely upo, ad to build a commo research platform that promotes the discovery ad use of these resources. For more iformatio about JSTOR, please cotact support@jstor.org. http://www.jstor.org
JBL 111/3 (1992) 427-440 GRACE AFTER MEALS IN QUMRAN MOSHE WEINFELD Hebrew Uiversity, Jerusalem 91905 The so-called Bdrdki apsi hyms, foud i the fourth cave of Qumra, to be published soo i the DJD series, cosist of six scrolls: 4Q434 to 439. Usually they ope with the phrase bdrdkt apsi, "Bless, 0 my soul," ad they cotai praises to God for the salvatio of the pious ad for givig them a pure heart that will keep them away from temptatio ad eable them to uderstad the divie secrets. Compare, for example, 4Q434: "Bless, 0 my [soul], the Lord, for all his woders..., ad let his ame be blessed because he saved the poor... ad did ot forget the trouble of the eedy... he opeed their eyes to see his ways... ad circumcised the foreskis of their heart... ad revealed to them the message of peace ad truth... " costitutes meal a at blessig the after mourer's the house. [exist] The ece of such has Qumra a liturgical bee practice suggested at by o me a All 8:5-10, Souls which scroll) cotaiig metios Det blessig od after... 0m 15 11y 51po Amog separate uit the ext to frameg. Deut 5:-6:-that is, Decalogue ad 2 [PAM 43.513]) that has othig to do with hyms ad i fact, as we shall see, costitutes a blessig after the meal at the mourer's house. The existece of such a liturgical practice at Qumra has bee suggested by me o a previous occasio i a aalysis of a passage from 4QDeut (the so-called All Souls scroll)' cotaiig Deut 8:5-10, which metios blessig God after eatig from the bouty of the good lad. The appearace of this passage as a separate uit ext to Deut 5:1-6:1-that is, the Decalogue ad its frame, so ofte copied at Qumra-has ot foud ay explaatio. It seems therefore 1 See S. A. White, "A Critical Editio of seve Mauscripts of Deuteroomy: 4QDta; 4QDtC; 4QDtd; 4QDtf; 4QDtg; 4QDti ad 4QDt" (diss., Harvard Uiversity, 1990; see also her article "4QDt: Biblical Mauscript or Excerpted Text?" i Of Scribes ad Scrolls: Studies o the Hebrew Bible, Itertestametal Judaism ad Christia Origis, Preseted to Joh Strugell o the Occasio of his Sixtieth Birthday [ed. H. W. Attridge, J. J. Collis, ad T H. Tobi; New York/Lodo: Uiversity Press of America, 1990] 13-20). 427
428 Joural of Biblical Literature that the fuctio of this passage, like the fuctio of the Decalogue ext to it, is liturgical, sice it serves as the basis for the grace after meals i Judaism. What we have, the, i 4QDeut is a scroll for a liturgical purpose: the recital of the Decalogue, ext to the blessig after meals. The affiity of the Decalogue (ad Shema) with the blessig after meals may be explaied by the commo meal (agape) which followed the prayer.2 This custom is reflected i the epistle of Pliy the Youger to Traja (10.96) about the group of Christias who used to get up before daw (like the Essees; see Josephus, J.W 2.8.5?128-29); after their sigig of hyms (a kid of pesuke de-zimra),3 they recited a sacrametum (that is, the pledge of the Decalogue) ot to steal, ot to commit adultery, ad so o, ad the assembled to partake of food.4 At ay rate, the morig prayer, which cotais the Decalogue with the Shema ad the blessig after meals, represets the liturgical order of the day, ad this is reflected i the All Souls Scroll (4QDeut). Aother scroll of the same ature is 4QDeutJ, recetly ivestigated by J. Duca5 There we fid material from Deuteroomy 5-6 (= Decalogue ad Shema); 11; Exodus 12-13; Deut 8:5-10; ad Deuteroomy 32. Now, all this material belogs to Jewish liturgical practice. The phylacteries foud at Qumra6 cotai the Decalogue (Deuteroomy 5), the Shema (Deut 6:4-9), wehdya 'im samoa' (Deut 11:13-21), sectios that cotai ijuctios about educatig childre, ad the phylacteries i Exodus 13-the so-called parashiyot of Qaddesh (vv. 1-10) ad wehyda kt yeb'adkd (vv. 11-16).7 Deut 8:5-10 reflects, as show above, the grace after meals, whereas Deuteroomy 32 is kow as a liturgical text used to be recited by the Levites i the Temple o the sabbath (b. Ros Has. 31a; y. Meg. 3:6, 74b). Deuteroomy 32 was also recited at the Temple service of the Ma'mddot.8 The so-called ma'mdd 2 For the coectio of agape with the commual religious meals i Pharisaic Judaism, see G. Alo, Studies i Jewish History: I the Times of the Secod Temple, the Misha ad the Talmud (Israel: Hakibutz Hameuchad, 1957) 1. 288 (Hebrew). 3 The recital of Psalms i the morig prayers ca be traced back to Be Sira ad the Qumra sect; see M. Weifeld, "Traces of Kedushat Yoser ad Pesukey de-zimrah i Qumra Literature," Tarbiz 45 (1976) 16-26. 4 See M. Weifeld, "The Uiqueess of the Decalogue ad its Place i Jewish Traditio," i The Te Commadmets i History ad Traditio (ed. B. Z. Segal ad G. Levi; Jerusalem: Mages, 1990) 31-32. 5 J. Duca, "A Critical Editio of Deuteroomy Mauscripts from Qumra Cave IV: 4QDtb, 4QDte, 4QDth, 4QDti, 4QDtk, 4QDt1" (diss., Harvard Uiversity, 1989). 6 See J. T. Milik, Qumra Grotte 4: II. Tefilli, Mezuzot et Targums 4Q128-4Q157 (DJD 6/2; Oxford: Claredo, 1977) 48-85; see also Y. Yadi, Tefilli from Qumra: (XQ Phyl 1-4) (Jerusalem: Israel Exploratio Society & Shrie of the Book, 1970) 44, pl. XX. 7 See Mechilta D'Rabbi Ismael: Pesha (ed. H. S. Horovitz ad I. A. Rabi; Jerusalem: Wahrma, 1970) 66 sec. 17; Sifre o Deuteroomy (ed. L. Fikelstei; New York: Jewish Theological Semiary, 1969) 63 sec. 35. 8 See E. E. Urbach, "Mishmarot ad Ma'amadot,' Tarbiz 42 (1973) 304-27. The Sog of Moses i Deuteroomy 32 was divided ito seve sectios for the seve days of the week. These
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 429 costituted a group of represetatives desigated to accompay the daily services of the Temple with prayers. For our purpose it is ow clear that Deut 8:5-10 stads out as a autoomous text i two scrolls of Qumra, 4QDeut ad 4QDeuti, udoubtedly because of its liturgical fuctio: the blessig after meals. That Deut 8:5-10 served a liturgical fuctio may be leared from the vacat lie betwee v. 8 ad v. 9 i 4QDeut. H. Stegema, who first edited this text, was surprised by the vacat betwee the two verses (see photo appeded here) ad did ot kow how to explai it? A explaatio ca ow be give i the light of rabbiic divergeces cocerig the duty of the blessig after meals based o the readig of these verses. There existed a divisio of opiio amog the Taaim whether oe should recite the three madatory beedictios after food (for the food, for the lad, ad for Jerusalem ad the Davidic dyasty) oly after eatig bread, or whether it was ecessary to recite the beedictios also after eatig the fruits with which the lad of Israel was blessed (m. Ber. 6:8). Accordig to R. Gamaliel, the commadmet "ad you shall eat ad be satisfied ad you shall bless" (w'klt wb' t wbrkt (Deut 8:10) refers to all of the seve species of the blessed lad metioed prior to it i 8:8 ad ot oly to "bread" (Ihm) metioed i v. 9. But accordig to the sages, the word "lad"('rs) i v. 9 iterrupts the sequece (hypsyq h'y), ad therefore the beedictio metioed i v. 10 refers oly to the word "lad,' which is coected to "bread" i v. 9 (cf. b. Ber. 44a). Now the space of oe lie betwee the words "a lad of wheat ad barley, of vies etc" (v. 8) ad the verse "a lad where you may eat bread without stit" (v. 9) ca be explaied oly agaist the backgroud of this differece of opiio amog the sages. The scribe of this scroll wished to make it kow that the blessig i v. 10 beloged to the sectio i which bread is metioed ad ot to the fruits metioed i v. 8. Accordig to the covetioal halakah, after wie ad the other fruits of the lad oe has to bless God with a short blessig (m'y?l1) but is ot obliged to recite the full blessigs as after the meal cotaiig bread. But the discovery of fragmet 4Q434, frag. 2 (PAM 43.513) adduces clear evidece about the existece of the grace after meals at Qumra, ot oly i geeral cases but eve i the specific case at the house of the mourer. As is well kow, the blessigs after meals were supplemeted with special liturgies i both cases: the mourer's house (b. Ber. 46b) ad the bridegroom's house (b. Ketub. 8ab). Ideed, i frag. 2 of 4Q434 we fid ot oly the elemets of the grace after meals that accordig to the rabbis are formed a acrostic-hzyw lk = "the glory is yours": h'zyw (v. 1), zkr (v. 7), yrkbhw (v. 13), wyr' (v. 19), lw (v. 29), ky (v. 40). 9 H. Stegema, "Weitere Stiicke vo 4Q Psalm 37, vo 4Q Patriarchal Blessigs ud Hiweis auf eie uedierte Hadschrift aus Hohle 4Q mit Exzerpte aus Deuteroomium,' RevQ 6 (1967) 193-227.
430 Joural of Biblical Literature
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 431 6 rp rr. -..? _ r a z. r r E r E h i & L P r o0?, r r r r a o r r;^ r 0 l 0 o N F 0 *- r 0 I-
Traslatio 1. 2. 3. 4. [ ]?kh[ ]kh to be comforted for the poor i mourig h?[ to [de]stroy peoples ad cut dow atios ad wicked?[ the works of heave ad earth ad let them rejoice, ad his glory to fill[ all the ea Ad the oe aboudig i goodess (God) will comfort. Goodess hs?[ 5. its fruit ad goodess. vacat 6. as a mother comforts her so, so will he comfort them with Jerusal[em 7. will dwel[l forev]er [ fo]r his throe forever ad util his glory yo[ 8. [ ]lw ad it was bw sb[ ]ym 9. ]'d glor[y] s[ ]d I wil 10.. [ ]Blessed be the ame of the highe 11. [ ] Bless[ 12. 13. [ [
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 433 madatory but eve the specific formulas applyig to the mourer. The text is fragmetary, but sufficiet phrases were preserved i order to idetify its ature. Notes to the Text Lie 1.,1IY?,I15-R 5) Dm,:7. Cf. Isa 54:11; 'yh... 1' hmh. The term 'blh applied to Jerusalem, ot foud i the Bible, is attested i the prayers of mourig for the ith of Ab i y. Ber. 4:3.8a: rhm... '1 yrwlym... w'l h'yr h'blh, "have mercy... upo Jerusalem... upo the city i mourig" Lie 2. For the parallel of gwym ad l'mym, see Isa 34:4; 43:9; Ps 2:1; 44:3, 15; 149:7. Lie 3. lt l.rl D"=W? "W 1Z1. Cf. Isa 65:17-18: R'I3, ' " 'y v1y *); 1... riwi p1l Dv- D'lr, "for behold, I am creatig a ew heave ad a ew earth... rejoice forever." Lies 3-4. - D:: Q1[V 'It]. Cf. 1QS 9:4: 2DO ri ^ ' IS ; 1QM frag. 2:13: 711R b5. Lie 4. i::zr '1t 3I1. The word rb i the expressio 3lt 1' appears i the Bible as a attribute of 3t = vast bouty (Isa 63:7; Ps 31:20; 145:7; Neh 9:35). Here, however, it is applied to God, the possessor of bouty: "great i goodess,' like ti1-1, "great i kidess" (Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; ad parallels). Lies 4-5. 31M,I 51D R. Cf. Jer 2:7; Neh 9:36. Lie 6.,1)D 53 [r'l]. Cf. Isa 62:5; cf. 61:10. Lies 6-7. [ ]W D[],715. Cf. Deut 33:12: ydyd YHWH ysk lbth 'lyw, "beloved of the Lord, he dwells securely o him"; other istaces have: "dwell i" (sk b... l'wlm, Ezek 43:9; 1 Chr 23:25, wysk byrwslm l'wlm). Lie 7. f3'i id?: 1 R. Cf. 2 Sam 7:16; Ps 45:7; Prov 29:14; 1 Chr 17:14 i referece to the kig; cf. Ps 93:2; Lam 5:19 i referece to God. Lie 10. [1]Dt5 DW T'M. Cf. sm 'I 'lyw i HQBer 1-2; see A. S. va der Woude, "Ei euer Segesspruch aus Qumra (llqber),' i Bibel ud Qumra (ed. S. Wager; Berli: Evagelische Haupt Bibelgesellschaft, 1968) 252-58. See the review by J. Strugell i RB 77 (1970) 267-68. Lie 12.,'1l:1 7,?Tt. The verb hky i Qumra literature implies creatio; see 1QH 1:14, 20; 1QS 3:15-16. The text opes with cosolatio of the poor mourer (,153R 5t. Dl1r'l...,I;1T), havig i mid Jerusalem i its mourig. The most importat commo elemet i the Qumra fragmet ad i the covetioal Jewish grace after meals i the mourer's house is the verse from Isa 66:13: "as a mother comforts her so so I will comfort Jerusalem" This verse appears both i the covetioal Jewish blessigsl? after meals at the mourer's 10 See Seder R. Amram Gao (ed. D. S. Goldschmidt; Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1971) 187-88 par. 158 (Hebrew).
434 Joural of Biblical Literature house ad i the Qumra passage discussed here. I the Qumra text the cosolatio of Jerusalem is juxtaposed with the joy of the bridegroom with his bride. Similarly i the Jewish covetioal liturgy, the Beedictio of Jerusalem at Blessigs of Marriage overlaps the Beedictio at the Blessig of the Mourer's House. I both cases the coclusio of the third blessig was "Blessed be YHWH... who cosoles his people i his city."' This is rooted i the prophecies of Deutero-Isaiah (49:19-21; 61:2-3; 62:4-5; 65:19-20; 66:10-11). The ext lie (2) i the fragmet of 4Q434, which metios the destructios of peoples ad atios ('l Dv'tibl r[w]i Di ), also belogs to the patter of grace after meals. It seems to be associated with the lad take away by the Lord from other atios ad give to Israel. This may be reflected i the Palestiia Talmud (y. Ber. 1:9, 3d) i coectio with lad ad Torah, which are to be metioed i the secod beedictio of the grace after meals. There we read: "Rabbi Simo said i ame of Rabbi Yehoshua be Levy: 'Whoever did ot metio Torah i the Beedictio for lad has to read [the Beedictio] agai. What is the reaso for this? (it is writte) "he gave them the lads of atios (wyt lhm 'rswt gwym), they iherited the wealth of peoples (w'ml l'mym yyrsw) that they might keep his laws (hqyw) ad observe his teachigs (wtwrtyw)"'(ps 105:44)." Ideed both huqqim ad Torah are metioed explicitly i the fragmet from Qumra (lies 12-13; see below). However, sice the ext setece speaks about the reewal of creatio (lies 2-3), there is a possibility that the destructio of peoples ad atios ad the wicked is to be associated here ot with the iheritace of the lad but with the messiaic future, whe peoples ad the wicked will be judged ad puished. The ext setece i the Qumra fragmet (lie 3) brigs up the idea of the reewal of creatio, a idea that is widespread i the Secod Temple period, begiig with Isa 65:1812 (cf. 66:22) ad cotiuig with 1 Eoch 45:4; 91:16; Jub. 1:29; 1QH 13:11-12; 11QTemple 29:8-10; 2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:1; etc. Messiaic expectatios are icluded i the third beedictio of the grace after meals (see especially the phrase "the kigdom of the house of David, your Messiah" ad the wish "that Elijah, the prophet ad the Messiah come soo")13 but are also metioed at the ed of the grace after meals, where all kids of persoal wishes occur: See S. Lieberma, Tosefta Ki-Fshutah (New York: Jewish Theological Semiary, 1955) 1. 52. 12 Note the juxtapositio of rejoicig (gyl) with the ew creatio i Isa 65:17-18 ad i the Qumra fragmet uder discussio (lies 2-3). 13 See Seder R. Amram Gao, 45; see also E. D. Goldschmidt, O Jewish Liturgy (Jerusalem: Mages, 1978) 161 (Hebrew).
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 435 May the merciful sed us Elijah, the prophet,... who shall brig us good tidigs, salvatio ad cosolatio... May the merciful make us worthy of the days of the Messiah ad of the life of the world to come.14 This is to be compared with the Didache (Teachig of the Twelve Apostles) chap. 10 i coectio with the grace after meals: "Gather it [the church] together... to your kigdom which you prepared for it. Let grace come ad let this world pass away. Hosaah to the God of David."15 The ext phrase i the Qumra fragmet (lies 3-4) is MD[VR '~T] 'D, "he will forgive for their guilt" This udoubtedly refers to the deceased, whose sis are expiated by their death. This is also reflected i the Jewish blessig after meals for mourers: "Blessed be YHWH our God.. the God of truth, who judges truly... ad takes away souls i justice" (dyy 'mt... lwqh pswt bmspt) (b. Ber. 46b). This actually costitutes a ackowledgmet of divie justice (siddfq haddf), which is recited at the Jewish burial service ad wheever oe sees graves (see b. Ber. 58b; t. Ber. 7:6). A saliet motif of the covetioal grace after meals is the goodess of God (tubo6) by providig food to all his creatures: "who feeds the world with his goodess" (hz 't h'wlm... btwbw). Actually a separate beedictio was established for God "who is good ad does good" (htwb whmytyb) with all, ad as has bee show by C. Albeck ad A. Buchler this is a old blessig from before the destructio of the Temple.'6 There were, however, disputes amog the Taaim whether this beedictio should be said i the mourer's house. Oly after the great disaster at Bethar (i Bar Kokhba's time), whe the very possibility of buryig the dead was cosidered a miracle, it was decided by all to preserve this blessig eve at the mourer's house. Hattob wehammetfb was the iterpreted: hattob ("is good") that the bodies of the slai were ot decomposed, ad hammetib ("does good") that they were give for burial. Hattob wehammetib occurs also i the short blessig after eatig fruits of the seve species (b. Ber. 44a). This formula, hattob wehammetib, is actually reflected i the Qumra fragmet discussed here. Thus i lie 4 we read "ad the oe great i goodess ('10t '1I) will cosole them... the good oe" (]~W... :It2).17 The motif of goodess i coectio with the lad is actually metioed i the prayer of Nehemiah: "they ate ad were satiated... by your great goodess (betubekd haggddol, Neh 9:25); "Ad with your great goodess (betubekd 14 The Stadard Prayer Book (ed. Rev. S. Siger; New York: Block, 1943) 429-30. 15 K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uiversity Press; Lodo: Heiema, 1977) 1. 325. 16 C. Albeck, "Die vierte Eulogie des Tischgebets,' MGWJ.F. 42 (1943) 430-37; A. Buchler, "The History of the Beedictio Hatob we-hameytyb i the Grace after meals,' i Abhadluge zur Erierug a H. P. Chajes (Viea: A. Kohut Memorial Foudatio, 1933) 137-67 (Hebrew). 17 The twb hs... i lie 4 may reflect the formula of hatt6b wehammetib.
436 Joural of Biblical Literature hdrdb) that you gave them, ad the ample ad rich lad ('eres hdrehdba wehassemd) that you put at their disposal" (9:35). There we also fid the phrase "to eat its fruit ad goodess" (le'ekol 'et pirydh we'et tubdh, 9:36), which occurs i the Qumra fragmet (lies 4-5) as well as i the covetioal shorteed blessig after eatig the fruits of the lad of the seve species (Deut 8:8); see b. Ber. 44a. The words i lie 7 D IW) D'1 0153tIN W ~l... [fl7]w: 1[057[3], "dwell forever... his throe forever ad his glory" refer either to David's throe or to God's throe. I fact both should be take ito accout here, as stated i b. Ber. 49a: "sice he metioed David's kigdom it is iappropriate ot to metio the kigdom of heave" Ideed, the kigdom of God is metioed thrice i the fourth blessig: mlk h'wlm, mlkw, hmlk htwb. The messiaic elemet is idispesable i the grace after meals, as stated i b. Ber. 48b: "Whoever did ot metio the Kigdom of David i the Beedictio over Jerusalem did ot fulfil his obligatio" Aother elemet that must be metioed i the grace after meals is 'rs hmdh twbh wrhbh (b. Ber. 48b), "the pleasat, good, ad ample lad" This is reflected i the Qumra fragmet i lie 8: T"1'M DiS[], "their pleasat lad" The same applies to the obligatio to cite berit ad tord, "coveat ad Torah,' metioed i b. Ber. 49a. This is foud i lies 12-13 of our fragmet: Y:3T lt5, "You have established for the Torah" ad 'p1'l, "the book of your laws." The laws ad the Torah are metioed i the passage from y. Ber. 1:9, 3d, quoted above. We fid the i the Qumra fragmet all the elemets of the blessigs after meals practiced i Judaism, although ot i the covetioal order, that is: (1) food for all creatures, (2) the lad, (3) Jerusalem ad the messiaic lie, (4) the good oe who does good. The fixed order of these blessigs is apparetly of later times. This may be deduced from the grace after meals i early Christiaity. I the Didache (secod cetury BCE) we read about the prayer after meals (chap. 10)18 (I do ot quote the christological material iserted ito this prayer): 1. "We give thaks to you... for the kowledge19 ad faith... etc." (lad is omitted). This parallels the blessig for Torah ad coveat i the covetioal Jewish blessig. 2. "You created everythig... ad gave food to me... ad blessed them with spiritual food ad drik ad eteral light" This parallels the first blessig. 3. "Remember, Lord, your commuity (ekklesia) to deliver it from all evil.. ad gather it together from all the corers of the earth to your 18 See Alo, Studies i Jewish History 1. 286-91. 19 O d 't = "kowledge" i the sese of divie istructio (twrh), see my article "The Prayers for Kowledge, Repetace ad Forgiveess i the Eightee Beedictios,' Tarbiz 48 (1979) 186-200.
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 437 Kigdom. Let grace come ad let this world pass away. Hosaah to the God of David" This overlaps the metio of Zio ad the Davidic-messiaic kigdom i the covetioal grace after meals (see above). The "kigdom of God" metioed here is actually prescribed i b. Ber. 49a as a madatory elemet i the grace after meals. "The God of David" metioed here is promiet i the Palestiia form of the third blessig i the grace after meals (see y. Ber. 4:5.8c; y. Ros Has. 4:6.59c).2 The Qumra fragmet cotais all of the basic elemets of the grace after meals that were also commo i rabbiic Pharisaic Judaism. Although we do ot fid i the Qumra fragmet the commo liturgical-hymic formulas such as brwk 'th YHWH foud at the ed of each blessig i the covetioal Jewish beedictios after meals, there are traces of them here. Thrice we fid i the fragmet the root brk: "I will bless" (711:N, lie 9); "Blessed be the ame of the most high" (11'5Y DV II:l, lie 10); "Bless, 0 [my soul]" ([fsd] ":)-, lie 11). The secod phrase, 11:5^1 DV 1'1, is close i form to the covetioal Jewish formula brwk ('th) YHWH. Furthermore, the blessig of the "Name" i the Qumra fragmet is a characteristic feature of postexilic biblical prayers as well as of the Qumra prayers.l The same applies to the epithet 'lyw, which was itroduced i postbiblical prayers.22 The differece betwee the two traditios is i two thigs: (1) the order of the blessigs ad the lack of formal rigidity i the Qumra fragmet ad (2) that the Pharisaic beedictios were ot permitted to be writte (b. Sab. 115b) whereas the Qumra beedictios exist i a writte form. This applies, of course, to the otio of oral Torah, which has ot bee adopted by the o- Pharisaic traditio.23 20 Cf. Seder 'Abodat Israel Rodelheim 1868 (ed. S. Baer; Tel Aviv: Or Torah, 1957) 96-97 (Hebrew). 21 See A. Hurvitz, The Trasitio Period i Biblical Hebrew (Jerusalem: Bialik Istitute, 1972) 97-100 (Hebrew). 22 See A. Hurvitz, "Observatios o the Laguage of the Third Apocryphal Psalm from Qumra" RevQ 5 (1965) 225-32. 23 This study has bee prepared at the Istitute for Advaced Studies of the Hebrew Uiversity of Jerusalem durig my stay as a member of the Qumra Research group i 1989-1990. I am idebted to the Istitute for the help give to me for the preparatio of this study. I am thakful to Professor Joh Strugell (also a member of the group at the Istitute) for makig available to me the photocopies ad the trasliteratio of the mauscript discussed here.
438 Joural of Biblical Literature Appedix Grace after Meals i the Mourer's House The Jewish Traditio ad Rabbiic Sources.Irlm Imiui 15w 15:)Nw m-1 omm= II-i Blessed be (our God) who comforts the mourers, he of whose bouty we have partake ad through whose goodess we live.(5t: >p5,i: 1-il:i,m11^) 7?m r (who feeds) with his goodess... with his great goodess, who does good to everybody... (we thak you)... for you gave us a iheritace to our fathers a good, a desirable ad ample lad as well as for the coveat... ad for the Torah which you taught us mli 0.( 11p. :-Iow,O D^lTO rp :rq1 mt -rr 05w - 5,", p "I)"Is3" i*ii TP M.1 "t t lt^ D'^h ae D"' whoever did ot metio Torah i the Beedictio for lad has to read (the Beedictio) agai, for it is writte: "he gave them lads of atios, they iherited the wealth of peoples that they might keep his laws (hqyw) ad observe his teachigs (twrwtyw)" (Ps 105:44; y. Ber. 1:9, 3d)..1Ow m: l 15 5r (1- T: pv p1' 5.V) : mm^r 1i give grace... to Israel... Jerusalem, Zio the abode of your glory, ad the kigdom of David your aoited.( 3m i -1i) il 'V t? whoever did ot metio "the good desirable ad ample lad" i the Blessig for the lad or the Kigdom of David i the Blessig for buildig Jerusalem did ot fulfill his obligatio (b. Ber. 48b)..(N vo ili) irl "" NS at p^ 11 mi i-imr tw 5: whoever did ot metio coveat ad Torah i the Blessig for the lad did ot fulfill his obligatio (b. Ber. 49a). ts
Weifeld: Grace after Meals i Qumra 439 I the mourer's house: Comfort you, Y. our God, the mourers of Jerusalem ad the mourers who mour this mourig, cosole them... as it is writte: "as a mother comforts her so so I will comfort you, you shall fid comfort i Jerusalem" (Isa 66:13). Blessed be you Y. our God... the livig God, the good, who does good... the God of truth, who judges truly... ad takes away souls i justice... (b. Ber. 46b) Grace after wie ad fruits of the seve species (Deut 8:8): Blessed be... fo r the good desirable ad ample lad which you gave as a iheritace to our fathers to eat of its fruits ad to be satiated with its goodess. Give grace... to Jerusalem ad Zio the abode of your glory because you are good ad do good for all... (b. Ber 44a).
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