After-Blessings

One of three different blessings is recited after eating, depending on what was eaten:

1. Birkat Ha-mazon (Grace After Meals, or Bentching in Yiddish). This is the most important of all the blessings. It is recited after a proper meal with bread. We will discuss it at length below in sections 8-9.
2. Me’ein Shalosh. At its core, this is an abridged version of Birkat Ha-mazon. The principal words are slightly tailored to cover a variety of foods. After eating baked goods or cooked grain dishes (from barley, wheat, oats, spelt, or rye), we thank God “for the nourishment (Al Ha-miĥya) and the sustenance.” After eating fruits from the seven species the Land of Israel is known for (listed above in 19:11), we thank God “for the tree (Al Ha-etz) and the fruit of the tree.” After drinking wine, we thank God “for the vine (Al Ha-gefen) and the fruit of the vine.” One who eats all three types of food at one sitting, mentions them all in the after-blessing. On Shabbat, holidays, and Rosh Ĥodesh, a line is added honoring the day.
3. Borei Nefashot. This is a brief after-blessing recited after eating or drinking any food or drink not covered by the previous categories.

Those eating even a small amount must make a blessing beforehand, because they are benefiting from the food. In contrast, an after-blessing is said only if a person eats or drinks an amount considered substantive. For solids, this is defined as eating the volume of half an egg (25 cc or .85 oz.) within seven minutes at most. For liquids, it is defined as drinking the volume of an egg-and-a-half (75 ml or 2.5 fluid oz.) in the amount of time it usually takes to finish such a drink. Ideally, an after-blessing should be said immediately after consuming the food or drink. However, if this was not done, a person may say the after-blessing as long as he or she is still feeling satiated from having eaten .