Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 186 - Whether Women and Minors are Obligated [to Recite] Grace after Meals

SECTION 186 Whether Women and Minors are Obligated [to Recite] the Grace after Meals. (1–4)

1 Women are obligated in the recitation of Grace.1 It is uncertain whether they are obligated according to Scriptural Law,¹ since [Grace] is a positive commandment [whose observance] is not dependent on a specific time,2 or they are obligated only according to Rabbinic Law, since the verse [which obligates the recitation of Grace mentions blessing G‑d for] “the good land that He gave you,”3 and the land was not apportioned among women, only among men.4 [True,] the daughters of Tzelafchad received [a portion in the land. They, however, did not receive their own portion, but rather] the portion of their father who was one of those who departed from Egypt.5 [There is no question, however, regarding the obligation of] kohanim and Levites, because they were granted cities [together with their] surrounding areas [as an inheritance].6

Also, [this obligation extends to] a convert7 who enters the Jewish faith and [thereby] becomes associated with [the Jewish people] and is an adjunct to them, to the extent that he is considered as one of them with regard to all the mitzvos in which they are obligated. [Hence, since] the land was given to [the Jews] as an ancestral heritage, the convert is also obligated [in the recitation of Grace], because it is as if [the land] was given to him, because he and they are one nation with regard to all matters.8

This is not true with regard to women; they are a nation unto themselves.9 Similarly, kohanim and Levites are considered as an independent tribe. They are not [considered] as an ancillary part of the Jewish people, [as reflected in their] distinction in many mitzvos.10 Thus, had they not [been granted] cities [together with their] surrounding areas, they would not be obligated in the mitzvah [of Grace]because the land was given to the Jewish people [as a whole].

Bondmen that have yet to be freed, even males, are not considered as comparable to converts, but rather to women. [The basis for this ruling]: since the term לה is used both with regard to women11 and bondmen,12 our Sages13 derived a general principle,14 [equating bondmen to women]. Thus, [even male] bondmen are exempt from all the mitzvos from which women are exempt, as stated in sec. 46[:4].

2 Whenever there is uncertainty with regard to Scriptural Law, we rule stringently. Thus, [a woman] may not fulfill the obligation of Grace for a man, for he is [definitely] obligated [in this recitation] according to Scriptural Law,15 for perhaps [women] are exempt according to Scriptural Law. Whenever a person is not obligated in a practice, he or she cannot fulfill the obligation of one who is so obligated.16

When, however, a man is not obligated [in the recitation of Grace] according to Scriptural Law, e.g., he did not eat to the point of satiation,17 he may fulfill the obligation of women who ate to the point of satiation,18 just as he may fulfill the obligation of men who ate to the point of satiation, for the reason to be explained in sec. 197[:6].19

3 Similarly, a woman may fulfill the obligation [of reciting Grace] for a man who did not eat to the point of satiation, even if she also did not eat to the point of satiation, for she, like he, is obligated [in the recitation of Grace] according to Rabbinic Law. She may also fulfill the obligation for a minor who is obligated according to Rabbinic Law, so that he be trained in [the observance of] mitzvos.

A minor may not, however, fulfill the obligation [of reciting Grace] for a woman who ate to the point of satiation, for perhaps she is obligated according to Scriptural Law. [A minor] may, however, fulfill the obligation [of reciting Grace] for someone — even a man — who did not eat to the point of satiation, since that person [— like the minor —] is not obligated according to Scriptural Law, only according to Rabbinic decree. [This ruling applies] even if the minor also did not eat to the point of satiation, for he is obligated according to Rabbinic Law20 as the adult is.

[The rationale:] The Grace after Meals is not comparable to [the reading of the] Megillah,21 Hallel,22the blessings of the Shema, and other mitzvos that are fundamentally Rabbinic institutions. [In such instances,] a minor who has reached the age when he is being educated [in the observance of mitzvos] cannot fulfill an obligation on behalf of an adult, because he, individually, is entirely exempt [from this mitzvah until he reaches the age of majority]. He is being trained23 so that he will be accustomed to [the observance of] this mitzvah and habituated to its practice when he reaches maturity, [i.e., the age of Bar-Mitzvah]. Therefore, he does not have the power to fulfill the obligation of one who has already attained maturity, even though that person’s obligation is only Rabbinic in origin. [The rationale: In these mitzvos,] the minor is obligated only so that he will be trained for the time when he will reach maturity, at which time, he will become obligated in this Rabbinic requirement.24 With regard to Grace, by contrast, the minor is being trained so that when he attains maturity, he will recite Grace after eating to the point of satiation, [thereby fulfilling] a Scriptural obligation.25 Therefore, just as a minor who ate to the point of satiation may fulfill the obligation of an adult who did not eat to the point of satiation, so too, [even] if the minor did not eat to the point of satiation, he may fulfill the obligation of [such an adult]. For the training process he undergoes when he did not eat to the point of satiation is equally effective in habituating him [to recite Grace] as it would be, had he eaten more.

4 The above statements — that women and minors can fulfill the obligation of others — apply when that other person does not know how to recite Grace by himself. If, however, a person knows how to recite Grace by himself,26 he does not have license to fulfill his obligation by listening, even [to the recitation of Grace] by a person who is as obligated as he is.27 [The only exception is] through listening to a zimun comprising at least three men.28 Women and minors are not included in a zimun; as stated in sec. 193,29 they do not recite Grace with a zimun.