Brachos 45- Who can join a Zimun, Making Bracha on forbidden foods, Is Zimun Biblical or Rabbinic - a podcast by Eran Netkin

1. The source for making a zimun
The Gemara seeks the source for the Mishnah’s ruling that three people who eat bread together are
obligated to join in a zimun:
- Rav Assi cites the pasuk יחדיו שמו ונרממה אתי' לה גדלו – Declare (plural) the greatness of Hashem with
me and let us exalt His name together.
- R’ Abahu cites the pasuk לאלקינו גדל הבו אקרא' ה שם כי – When I call out the Name of Hashem, ascribe
(plural) greatness to our G-d.
- The verses describe one person talking to more than one person, implying a minimum of three.
2. Can two people make a zimun?
The Gemara inquires whether two people who eat together are permitted to make a zimun, even if they
are not obligated to.
- Rav holds that two people are permitted to make a zimun, but R’ Yochanan holds they are not. The
verse of גדלוimplies that two additional people are called to form the quorum, but two people alone
lack the requisite number of דעות) minds) to form a zimun.
3. When part of a group wants to make a zimun
When three people eat bread together and two of them finish while the other is still eating, the third is
expected to interrupt his meal to join in the zimun. But when only one of them finishes first, the other
two are not obligated to interrupt their meal to make a zimun on his behalf.
Siman - Monopoly
Two of the three fathers were tired of waiting for their children’s monopoly game to end, so they
forced the third one to join their zimun and declare Hashem’s greatness, and resolved that next time
that only the two of them would eat together so as not to be obligated in a Zimun.
Key Words – source, two, interrupt

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