Siman - Berachos Daf 50

• Discerning how a person makes berachos

The Gemara teaches that we can tell whether a person is a talmid chacham or an ignoramus from the way he makes berachos.

If he does any of the following, he is considered an ignoramus:

-Instead of saying ובטובו חיינו (and through Whose goodness we live), he says ומטובו חיינו (and from Whose goodness we live), which minimizes Hashem’s bestowal of goodness.

-He says ובטובו חיים (…and through Whose goodness they live), since he is excluding himself.

-Instead of saying נברך שאכלנו משלו (Let us bless [He] of Whose we have eaten) he saysלמי שאכלנו משלו  (to the One of Whose we have eaten), since it implies that he is blessing one of many possible providers.

- Instead of saying ברוך שאכלנו משלו (Blessed is [He] of Whose we have eaten) he saysעל המזון שאכלנו (…for the food we have eaten) since it appears as if he is blessing the food and not its Provider.

• Joining a zimun retroactively

If a group of three ate bread together and one of them recited Birkas Hamazon on his own without a zimun, he may join the other two in a zimun so they can fulfill their obligation, but he does not fulfill his own obligation, because there is no such thing as a retroactive zimun (זימון למפרע).

• Forgot to make berachah

If one mistakenly put food in his mouth without reciting a berachah:

-If it’s a liquid, he should swallow it.

-If it’s a food that won’t be made repulsive by being spit out, he should spit it out, make the berachah and then eat it.

-If spitting it out would make the food repulsive, he should shift it to the side of his mouth, make the berachah and then eat it.