Siman 192

The sages taught in the Mishnah (45a): Three who ate as one are obligated to perform zimun. That is to say: to bless together and to add another blessing, and that is the blessing of zimun. And we derive this from the verse, "And you shall bless Hashem your God"—this is the blessing of zimun (48b). And it is written: "Magnify Hashem with me, and let us exalt His name together." That is to say, this is when there are three, for one says to two, "Magnify Hashem with me" (Gemara). And so our teacher Moshe said: "When I call out the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our God" (ibid.). And this is also that one says to two: "ascribe greatness." And they did not institute the mention of the Name and Sovereignty in the blessing of zimun because it is not a fixed blessing, as one or two are exempt from it. And they only commanded to mention the Name with ten, for then they say "Let us bless our God," as will be explained. And so it is written: "In assemblies bless God," that is to say: when there is a congregation and an assembly, for then they shall mention "our God." For an "assembly" is not less than ten (Levush). And even though any blessing that does not contain the Name and Sovereignty is not a blessing, as I wrote in siman 214, the blessing of zimun is different since it is a preparation and invitation for several blessings, and therefore they call it the blessing of zimun, and therefore it is as if it also contains the Name and Sovereignty. And this is why they say in the blessing of zimun, "Let us bless Him of whose food we have eaten," that is to say: let us bless with the Name and Sovereignty; even though the primary intent is that they should answer "Blessed is He of whose food we have eaten," nevertheless, this too is included in it (so it appears in my humble opinion).

In Pesachim (103a) it is implied that before the birkat hazimun they would say "bring [the cup] and let us bless," see there. And perhaps from this stems our custom that we say beforehand "Gentlemen, let us bless," and they respond "May the name of Hashem be blessed from now and forever." And so it is in the Zohar "Devarim" that an invitation is required for this, so that they say they are preparing themselves. And in the Zohar before us it is in Parashat "Balak" (page 186b), see there. And the matter appears to me: for behold, it is a great matter that when one intends to act—one makes a preparation and invitation beforehand. And in the generation of the dispersion who wanted to rebel against Hashem, it is written: "Come (havah), let us build ourselves a city." And Pharaoh, when he wanted to destroy Israel, said: "Come (havah), let us deal wisely with them." And "havah" is a term of invitation. And so too regarding sanctity, as the verse says: "Ascribe (havu) to Hashem glory and strength." And our teacher, Moses, when he was commanded to appoint judges and magistrates, said: "Provide (havu) for yourselves men." Therefore, every mitzvah requires an invitation. And behold, regarding all practical mitzvot there is a blessing beforehand, and that itself is the invitation. But regarding birkat hamazon, where the mitzvah is the blessing itself—one requires preparation before the blessing; therefore we say "bring (hav) [the cup] and let us bless," which is from the language of "havah," which is an invitation. (And this is the wording of the Zohar: See that David required an invitation, and said "I will bless..." and if you say regarding other blessings why is there no invitation? Rather, that matter of the blessing is the invitation... so too for birkat hazimun... "bring and let us bless..." Thus far his words, see there. Examine it and you will find it simple.)

How is the zimun blessing performed? The one leading the blessing says, "Let us bless Him of whose food we have eaten," and those reclining respond, "Blessed is He of whose food we have eaten and through whose goodness we live." The leader repeats and says this as well, and they respond "Amen," for it is the end of a blessing. There are those who doubt this, but it is not the primary view (see Magen Avraham and Eliyah Rabbah). And why does he not say "Bless" as in the prayer and the reading of the Torah? Because one does not say "Bless" for fewer than three, as is explained from the verses of "Magnify" and "When the name," as I have written. Therefore, he must include himself with them by saying "Let us bless." According to this, when there are four reclining, he could have said "Bless," and certainly when they bless with ten. However, in order to make all zimun blessings uniform, they ordained to always say "Let us bless." Furthermore: in order that he not exclude himself from the collective. And as for why in prayer and Torah they do not say this, it is because there, since he says "Who is blessed," he has not excluded himself. Furthermore: there, even though he has already fulfilled his obligation, he can perform "Bless" to fulfill the obligation of others, and he does not need to include himself further; but for Grace After Meals, he only blesses if he himself ate and is obligated in the blessing, therefore he is not permitted to exclude himself from the collective (Magen Avraham subsection 2). And post facto, with four or more, if he said "Bless" – he has fulfilled the obligation (ibid. subsection 1). And so wrote the Tur.

And why does he not say "and by His goodness we live" beforehand? Because beforehand it is only a command to all those seated that we should bless Hashem for having fed us in this meal, and it is also like a preparation and invitation, and one should not mention more. And they, when they respond, say "and by His goodness we live," meaning: not only in this meal have we eaten of His, but we live always by His goodness, may He be blessed. Therefore, the one reciting the blessing is obligated to repeat and say "Blessed...", because he had not yet said "and by His goodness we live." And there were those who used to practice that the one reciting the blessing, at the time he said "let us bless Him of whose we have eaten," would also conclude "and by His goodness we live," and their words were rejected (see Bach and Taz). And now this custom does not exist in any place. And if they are ten, he shall bless with the Name, which is to say he shall say "let us bless our G-d," and they respond also "blessed is our G-d," and he also repeats and says "blessed is our G-d...". And he should not say "let us bless to our G-d" with a lamed, for regarding a blessing a lamed is not written, as it is written: "Bless, O nations, our G-d; in assemblies bless G-d" (Tari).

And immediately they begin with the blessing of "ha-zan." And there are those who say beforehand "Blessed is He and blessed is His name"; but it is not so, for we have not found this in the Gemara nor in the poskim. And even though in the Tur this wording exists, they wrote that it is a printing error, as there is no relevance to this at all, and it is an interruption between the blessing of zimun and the blessing of "ha-zan." However, this is also found in the Rokeach (in siman 284), and similarly in the Abudraham. And there is one who wrote that this is when they bless with ten, for since he mentions the Name, they give Him a blessing, as it is written: "When I proclaim the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our God" (Bach). But it is more correct not to say it; and such is the simple custom in our lands, and so it appears from most of the poskim. And there is no difference between ten, a hundred, a thousand, or more, for one says no more than "let us bless our God" (as the halacha follows Rava according to Rabbi Akiva in the Mishnah 49b). And why in zimun do they say the name "Elokim" and in Torah and prayer the name Havayah? Because regarding the sustenance of creatures—judgment dictates that He, may He be blessed, should give sustenance to all creatures, and therefore he mentions the name "Elokim," which is the attribute of judgment. But the Torah is a Torah of kindness, therefore they mention the name Havayah (Eliyah Rabbah, subsection 6). Furthermore: He prepared sustenance at the time of the creation of the world, and all the works of creation are with the name "Elokim," for so it was established from the time of creation; whereas the Torah and prayer are above this world, and emanate from the hidden treasures of the heights. Therefore they mention the name Havayah, blessed is He. And why do they mention the Name with ten and not with fewer? Because upon every ten people the Shekhinah rests. Furthermore: because of the verse "in assemblies," as I wrote in section 1.

And anyone who changes from the coin that the sages minted and from the formula they established is nothing but an error. For example, if one says "let us bless on the food that we have eaten," which implies that he is blessing the food. Therefore, with ten where he mentions the Name—he may say this, of course, as he is blessing the Name for the food that we have eaten. And likewise, he should not say "let us bless to Him of whose we have eaten," for this implies as if he is blessing the master of the house. And even with ten one should not say this, for even though it does not imply the master of the house as I have written, nevertheless it implies, Heaven forbid: to this god of whose we have eaten, as if there are two authorities, Heaven forbid (Bach and Magen Avraham). And likewise, he should not say in place of "and in His goodness": "and from His goodness," for that implies a portion, and diminishes from the kindnesses of the Holy One, blessed be He. And only in a request and a petition should one say this, such as "and satisfy us from Your goodness," for it is not proper conduct to ask for much, but not in His praises, may He be blessed (Gemara). And likewise, he should not say "in the place of our lives, life"; and one who says this is an ignoramus, for he has excluded himself from the collective (Rashi 50a).

If there were ten, and the one reciting the blessing and those responding erred and did not mention "our G-d" – they cannot go back and recite the blessing with the Name, for they have already fulfilled the obligation of zimun, and it is a "crooked thing that cannot be made straight." But if they have not yet responded after him, since the mitzvah of zimun has not yet been fulfilled – the one reciting the blessing shall repeat and respond with the Name, and afterwards they shall respond after him.