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Meaning in Mitzvot -
Lesson 29

The Summons to Grace

21.09.2014
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The Kitzur Shulchan Arukh summarizes the rules of the "summons to grace," or "zimun" in Hebrew.  Anytime three or more men eat a bread meal together, one should invite or summon the others to recite the grace after meals with him.  This seemingly minor custom is actually treated in halakha with great gravity, and it is the subject of an entire chapter of the Talmud (chapter four of tractate Berakhot), ten chapters of the Shulchan Arukh (Orach Chaim 192-201) and 23 seifim in the Kitzur!

The Talmud gives two separate verses as sources for this practice.  One is "Magnify Hashem with me, let us exalt His name together!" (Tehillim 34:4). The other is Moshe's exhortation, "When I call the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our God" (Devarim 32:3 - where "ascribe" is in the plural).  Both of these verses entreat the listener to "enlarge" Hashem - to grant Him "gedula" (the word translated as "magnify" in the first verse and the one translated as "greatness" in the second are both from the root "gadal" - to make great). 

This seemingly puzzling call to give "greatness" to the Infinite One recalls the commandment we studied in the previous chapter to "bless" God, as "blessing" has the meaning of encouraging growth and flourishing.  We explained that man DOES have the ability to bless God, not in the sense of increasing His infinite magnitude but in the sense of augmenting His presence, the extent to which He dwells among us in the nether world.  Manifestations of His presence include our own subjective sense of God-consciousness; the unfolding of worldly events in accordance with Divine rules of cause and effect as opposed to natural or human ones (for instance, miracles being performed for the righteous and retribution to the wicked); and the Holy Spirit as expressed in prophecy.

Each of these two verses begins with the INDIVIDUAL'S encounter with God, which others are then bidden to join.  "Magnify Hashem WITH ME;" "When I call the name of Hashem." These verses exemplify an important principle in God's service - that it requires leadership.  While all of mankind are called to God's service, this call begins with the spiritual leadership - the Patriarchs, the Prophets (especially Moshe), the Sages, down to the Torah scholars and saints of our own day.  Other people call on God's name only by following the lead of the righteous.

Likewise, in the zimun one of the people eating acts as leader and calls the others to join him in the blessing.  This explains the Kitzur's ruling (seif 5) that ideally the "inviter" should be a Torah scholar or Kohen.

However, "zimun" is a requirement even among equals.  Even Jews at a similar spiritual level will not succeed in growing spiritually if they stubbornly insist on excessive equality.  Each time we bless, ONE must be the leader, the others followers (though of course it is possible to take turns).

Nonetheless, even though one is the leader and the others followers, each is necessary for the spiritual growth of the others.  Just as the followers will not progress without the leader, the spiritual leader owes his attainment to the souls who are backing him up.  We see that when the PEOPLE sinned with the golden calf, MOSHE was forced to descend from Mount Sinai - his own spiritual ascent was only in the merit of his leadership of the Jews, as Rashi explains (Shemot 32:7).  This debt owed by the leader to his followers is expressed by the important custom of referring to them as "Rabotai" - my masters (seif 6).

SUMMONS TO GRACE FOR WOMEN

Rav Ganzfried does not mention this, but the Shulchan Arukh (199:7) writes "Women may have their own summons to grace" - may, not must.  If the men at the table already have a quorum of three, the women should join them.  However, the Shulchan Arukh explains, men and women can NOT together form a quorum for zimun. 

In chapter 7 and following chapter 18, we offered some ideas on the difference between men's and women's approaches to God's service and their respective obligations in the commandments.  In chapter 7 we explained that men tend to SEE the world more analytically, experiencing their world through categories rather than essences.  And following chapter 18 we explained similarly that  men tend to EXPRESS themselves more through externalities (uniforms, conventions), whereas women are more inclined to express their inner selves.  (Of course, someone with a well-balanced personality will display a combination of these traits, but there is an unmistakable gender correlation.)

It follows that it is easier for men to relate to groups.  If we take disparate individuals and unite them in  their external appearances and actions, we will have formed a group by male criteria.  However, according to feminine criteria we have not united people unless they are allied in their essences.  As we explained following chapter 18,  "positive time-bound mitzvot" which women perform only optionally are generally mitzvot with a PUBLIC character.

The summons to grace also has an obvious public character, and so it is natural that it too should be optional for women.

A MIXED QUORUM FOR GRACE

Men and women cannot together form a quorum for a zimun.  The main reason is modesty.  It is unrealistic to think that if men and women assemble together for a SPIRITUAL gathering that this will be able to nullify our SOCIAL instincts.  These instincts can not be wished away.  Furthermore, spiritual leadership itself is actually closely intertwined with romantic attraction.  We indicated in the chapter on Purim (141) that even debauched men are attracted by a woman's spiritual side; conversely, a Talmudic Midrash (Sanhedrin 110a) indicates that the men in the desert were jealous of Moshe, suggesting that his spiritual leadership carried with it a potential for romantic attraction on the part of the women.

SAYING GRACE OVER A CUP OF WINE

Much of the chapter is devoted not to the summons to grace per se but rather to the practice of saying the grace over a cup of wine.  Wine is of great importance in Judaism, and in fact the principle way we bestow importance and dignity on a blessing is by saying it over a cup of wine.  A cup of wine is required for evening and morning kiddush on Shabbat and Yom Tov, as well as for havdala after the holiday; the blessings on a circumcision and on a wedding are likewise always said over a cup of wine.

In Jewish as in Western culture, wine has a deep and powerful symbolism.  Wine releases our inhibitions and reveals our hidden selves.  This is expressed in the Hebrew proverb, "Where wine goes in, secrets come out" (niknas yayin, yotze sod), as in the ancient Latin proverb "In wine is truth" (in vino veritas).  For this reason, wine was the center of pagan orgies such as the Bacchanalia, where people sought to free themselves from the strictures of custom; and conversely pious people have been known for their abstinence, as we see in the Moslem (and Mormon) custom to refrain from alcohol entirely so as not to risk freeing up precisely these dangerous human impulses.

By paradoxically connecting our happiest and holiest moments to the revealing power of wine, we make a  most powerful testimony to our faith in the inherent goodness of man.  We demonstrate that we are not afraid of exposing our innerness but on the contrary we are anxious to do so, and we are sure that when our innermost selves come to the surface, they will be perfectly suited to moments of sanctity.

BLESSING OVER A CUP WHEN THERE ARE THREE

Many Rishonim require a cup even when an individual says grace, but the Kitzur rules like the Rambam who says that grace is said over wine only when there are three people who have a "zimun." Blessing over a cup of wine shows that there is holiness in our inner most being, in our impulses.  But even holiness requires balance.  When three people are present, each unique human being expresses holiness in a different way, and among all of them our inner sanctity will find expression in a constructive way.  (See Zohar Chadash 87:3.) Just as social drinkers don't drink alone so as to release base impulses in a controlled way, we also prefer that our sanctified drinking takes place in a group so that holiness is balanced and measured.

ABUNDANCE - NOT ABANDON (Seifim 3 and 4)

Halakha demands that the contents of the cup be intact (that no one has drunk from the wine), that the cup itself be intact, without cracks or blemishes, and that the cup be elevated.  This continues the theme mentioned above of holiness expressing itself in a balanced, constructive, and elevated way.  Wine DOES symbolize the unleashing of our normally inhibited impulses.  But how do we conceive these impulses?

We are used to thinking of the freeing of our impulses as the unleashing of some wild and uncontrollable force which destroys everything in its wake.  A drinking custom which gives expression to this paradigm is throwing the glasses into the fire.  But we have just pointed out that the halakha sees the freeing of our impulses as the unleashing of the force of holiness in a constructive way.  Overcoming our inhibitions doesn't mean overthrowing order and opening the door to chaos; on the contrary, it means overcoming order which is merely conventional, and creating a higher perfection.  This motif is expressed by requiring that the contents and body of the cup be full and perfect, and by raising up the cup.

CUP OVER GRACE TODAY

Today is it unusual for people to say grace over a cup of wine - even when there are three.  Perhaps as we get farther and farther from the Holy Spirit - as more and more generations pass from the immediate experience of God's presence merited by the Patriarchs, by the prophets, and in the Temple while it stood - it becomes less realistic to expect that the freeing of our inhibitions will unleash a flood of holiness.  Conversely, the danger of freeing negative influences grows.

Despite the waning of this custom, it is still appropriate and ideal to say the grace over a cup of wine - to testify to our belief in ourselves.

 

 

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