A bentcher, birchon or birkon (pl. bentchers, birchonim, birkonim) is a booklet of prayers based around a particular event such as the Jewish sabbath. The most common form is

Birkat Hamazon Birkat Hamazon ( he, בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוׂן, The Blessing of the Food), known in English as the Grace After Meals ( yi, ; translit. ''bentschen'' or "to bless", Yinglish: Bentsching), is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish ...

often titled - Seder Birkat Hamazon (Order of Grace after Meals) in Hebrew. Some editions actually have the Birkat Hamazon prayer in the back, appearing almost as an afterthought. Bentchers are commonly known as ''birchonim'' in

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the H ...

and Sephardic communities. Bentchers are used widely in the various religious and traditional communities of Jews, such as

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

, Sephardic,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, Reconstructionist,

Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to: *Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...

, Chassidic, Orthodox Feminist, as well as other communities. Bentchers are often decorated with scrollwork, illuminations, pictorial backgrounds on each page, photo pages and by other means. This is in the tradition of ''hiddur mitzvah'', or beautification of the mitzvah. There are several services currently available that customize the bencher using graphics, logos and/or photographs.

Common features

Bentchers, particularly those of the common Birkat Hamazon variety often share in common prayers which are said on a daily, weekly, annual, or intermittent basis, such as * Hadlakat Nerot of Shabbath - Sabbath eve candle lighting * Hadlakat Nerot of Yom Tov - Holiday eve candle lighting * Shalom Aleihem * Eisheth Hayil - Proverbs 31 * Birkath Habanim - Blessing the Children * Sabbath Eve Kiddush * Sabbath Morning Kiddush * Kiddush for various occasions *

Zemirot Zemirot or Z'miros ( he, זמירות ''zǝmîrôt'', singular: zimrah but often called by the masculine zemer) are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino. The best known are tho ...

h for Sabbath Eve * Zemiroth (Songs) for Sabbath Day * Zemiroth (Songs) for Seudah Shelishith (The Third Meal) * Zemiroth (Songs) for Melaveh Malkah * Habdala - Ending the Shabbath or Yom Tob * Birkath Hamazon (

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

) at the banquet of

Circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Top ...

* Birkath Hamazon (

) at the Wedding Banquet * Sheba Berakhoth - The Seven (Nuptial) Blessings * Blessings before all foods * Blessings after foods without bread

Common varieties

Bentchers come in a very wide variety of styles, and types, all of which are based on the

nusach Nusach can refer to: * Nusach (Jewish custom) In Judaism, Nusach ( he, נוסח ''nusaħ'', modern pronunciation ''nusakh'' or ''núsakh''), plural nuschaot () or Modern Hebrew nusachim (), refers to the exact text of a prayer service; sometimes ...

and minhag of the community. Bentchers are generally printed in Hebrew only, Hebrew plus

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

translation, or Hebrew plus vernacular translation and Hebrew

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

for participation by those unfamiliar Hebrew. Common Bentcher
A common bentcher may contain the Birkat Hamazon prayer, as well as the kiddush for Ereb Shabbath (Sabbath Eve - Friday night), Sabbath morning, various prayers after foods and drinks, and Sabbath table songs. Sefer HaKidush
Sefer HaKidush is a special bentcher, which is often hard cover and may be leather bound, and especially decorated. This bentcher contains all of the kiddush prayers for the eves and mornings of Shabbath, and the hagim or yomim tobim, the Jewish holidays, and is most used by the head of the household (usually the father) or a rabbi. It is frequently given as a wedding gift to the groom. Sheba Berahoth / Sheva Brachot
A sefer Sheba Berahoth is a bentcher which is especially printed for the occasion of a wedding and/or the week after a wedding. This bentcher contains the seven blessings recited by family and friends of the bride and groom under the

huppah A ''chuppah'' ( he, חוּפָּה, pl. חוּפּוֹת, ''chuppot'', literally, "canopy" or "covering"), also huppah, chipe, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cl ...

at a Jewish wedding, and after birkat hamazon at the end of special meals in the week following the wedding. The sefer Sheva Brachot may contain special commentary on the meaning of the blessings. Shiron or Zemirot
A shiron is a bentcher with an emphasis on songs. A shiron may typically have extra selections of Sabbath table songs, as well as songs for the Holidays and weddings. A special section, perhaps at the end of the shiron may contain a table of contents introducing extra songs, such as is found in widely popular benchers in the Orthodox and ConservativeB'kol Echad USY Songster, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2001 movements. Simchon
A simchon is a shiron which features prayers and songs specific to a

simcha ''Simcha'' ( he, שִׂמְחָה ; , ) is a Hebrew word that means gladness, or joy, and is often used as a given name. Uses The concept of simcha is an important one in Jewish philosophy. A popular teaching by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a 19th- ...

or happy event such as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, wedding or Brit Milah. The Card Variety
Some bentchers are made to be portable, or are made primarily for use in cafeterias and restaurants. These bentchers are printed on laminated cards that either fold in half, in thirds, or do not fold at all.

Novelties

Bentchers are often printed as souvenirs of special occasions, such as a Bar Mitzvah or wedding. A common practice in North America is to create a specially designed Jewish monogram which is composed of an artistic rendition of the celebrants' names in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

in the shape of something recognizable such as a flame, the trick being to try to make out the actual letters. Some times the names are written in micography. In North America, special "bencher pens" have a pull tab which reveals a scrolled paper containing the text of the

prayer.

References

{{reflist

External links

A Google image search
shows various Jewish Monograms, which are used on Bentchers. Jewish prayer books