#4

(The brocha said after a meal with bread is usually Birkas Hamozohn.) How do we know if we should say Birkas Hamozohn after eating a meal with bread? As you can see in the picture, the people around the table are eating their bread quickly. It is not necessary to eat this way. However, it is important to eat a "k’zaiyis", at least a quarter of a slice of bread, within four minutes. We may eat this amount at any time during the meal.

Before Birkas Hamozohn there is a custom to say "Al naharohs Bovel" - "By the waters of Babylon" (T’hilim 137) in order to remember the destruction of the "Bays Hamikdosh". On Shabbos and Yom Tov and days when we do not say "Tachanun", we say "Shir hama-alohs" - "A song of spiritual rising" (T’hilim 126). This psalm describes the joy which we will feel when Hashem takes us out of exile. (See the explanation of "Migdohl")

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