שבע ברכות | Sheva Brakhot, the seven blessings following the Birkat Mazon at a wedding meal

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Unknown Author(s)

Shared on:

28 January 2020 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Engagements & Weddings

Tags:

blessings, ברכות brakhot, eros, Prayers in the Babylonian Talmud, wedding blessings, nisuin

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהַכֹּל בָּרָא לִכְבוֹדוֹ׃	Blessed are you YHVH our elo’ah Cosmic Majesty, Who has created everything in divine self-honor.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם יוֹצֵר הָאָדָם׃	Blessed are you YHVH our elo’ah Cosmic Majesty, Who created the Adam.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶֽלֶם דְּמוּת תַּבְנִיתוֹ וְהִתְקִין לוֹ מִמֶּֽנּוּ בִּנְיַן עֲדֵי־עַד. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ יוֹצֵר הָאָדָם׃	Blessed are you YHVH our elo’ah Cosmic Majesty, Who created the Adam as an image of the divine, in the image of the divine likeness, and prepared for him, from the divine-self, an infinite structure. Blessed are you YHVH Who created the Adam.
שׂוֹשׂ תָּשִׂישׂ וְתָגֵל (נ״א: הָ)עֲקָרָה בְּקִבּוּץ בָּנֶֽיהָ לְתוֹכָהּ (נ״ס: בִּמְהֵרָה) בְּשִׂמְחָה. ‏בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ צִיּוֹן בְּבָנֶֽיהָ׃	Let her be extremely joyful and exultant, (the) barren woman, at the gathering of the children into her midst, (speedily) in happiness. Blessed are you YHVH Who brings happiness to Tsiyon through her children.
שַׂמֵּֽחַ תְּשַׂמַּח רֵעִים הָאֲהוּבִים כְּשַׂמֵּחֲךְ(ךָ) יְצִירָךְ (נ״א: יְצִירְךָ) בְּגַן עֵֽדֶן מִקֶּֽדֶם. ‏בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ חָתָן וְכַלָּה׃‏	May you bring intense happiness to beloved companions as you made joyful the one you formed in Gan Aden from primordial times. Blessed are you YHVH Who brings happiness to groom and bride.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה חָתָן וְכַלָּה גִּילָה רִנָּה דִּיצָה וְחֶדְוָה אַהֲבָה וְאַחְוָה (נ״א: וְ)שָׁלוֹם וְרֵעוּת. מְהֵרָה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יִשָּׁמַע בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחֻצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָםִ קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה קוֹל מִצְהֲלוֹת (נ״ס: חֻפּוֹת) חֲתָנִים מֵֽחֻפָּתָם וּנְעָרִים מִמִּשְׁתֵּה נְגִינָתָם. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ (נ״ס: הֶֽ)חָתָן עִם הַכַּלָּה׃	Blessed are you YHVH our elo’ah Cosmic Majesty, Who has created the joy and happiness of the groom and bride, rejoicing, song, delight and gladness, love and fraternity, (and) peace and friendship. May it speedily be heard, YHVH our elo’ah, in the cities of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim, the sound of joy and happiness, the sound of grooms and brides, the sound of (ḥupah) merriment of grooms from their wedding canopies and of the youth at their song-filled feasts. Blessed are you YHVH Who brings happiness to (the) groom along with the bride.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגֶּֽפֶן (נ״א: הַגָּֽפֶן)׃	Blessed are you YHVH our elo’ah Cosmic Majesty, Who creates the fruit of the vine.

Sheva Brakhot (Hebrew: שבע ברכות‎) literally “the seven blessings” also known as birkot nissuin (Hebrew: ברכות נישואין‎), “the wedding blessings” in Jewish law are blessings that are recited for a bride and her groom as part of nisuin (establishing the full marriage). It is not certain who composed the benedictions; the text is recorded in the Talmud Bavli Ketubot 7b-8a, but its origin is probably several centuries earlier.

Under the ḥuppah the blessing over wine is read first while at the wedding feast the blessing over wine is read last, as above.

The translation follows after the translation that Honi Sanders and I published in the birkon for his wedding, Siman l’Vanim (Dimus Parrhesia Press 2019) with some minor changes. That translation followed from the translation found in Siddur Zekhut Yosef (ed. Isaac Azose 2012). –Aharon Varady

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“שבע ברכות | Sheva Brakhot, the seven blessings following the Birkat Mazon at a wedding meal” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Unknown Author(s)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17