New Faces: Sheva Brachot

§ Apropos the source for the blessing of the grooms, the Gemara discusses the matter itself. Rav Naḥman said: Huna bar Natan said to me that it was taught: From where is it derived that the benediction of the grooms is recited in a quorum of ten people? It is as it is stated: “And he took ten men of the Elders of the city and said: Sit you here, and they sat” (Ruth 4:2). And Rabbi Abbahu said that the source is from here: “In assemblies [mak’helot], bless God, the Lord, from the source of Israel” (Psalms 68:27). This verse indicates that a congregation [kahal], which contains at least ten men, blesses God when reciting a blessing related to the source of Israel, i.e., conjugal relations, which will lead to the birth of Jewish children.

§ The Sages taught: One recites the blessing of the grooms in a quorum of ten people all seven days of the wedding celebration. Rav Yehuda said: And that is the case only when new faces who did not previously participate in the festivities came to join the celebration.

The Gemara asks: What blessings does one recite? Rav Yehuda said that these are the seven blessings:

1. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, (8a) Who has created all for His glory.
2. And Blessed are You…Creator of mankind.
3. And Blessed are You…Who made humanity in His image, in the image of the likeness of His form, and out of His very self formed a building (see Genesis 2:22) for eternity. Blessed are You, Lord, Creator of mankind.
4. May the barren city of Jerusalem greatly rejoice and delight with the ingathering of her children within her in joy. Blessed are You, Lord, Who gladdens Zion through her children.
5. Bring great joy to these loving friends, as You gave joy to Your creations in Eden in ancient times. Blessed are You, Lord, Who brings joy to the groom and bride.
6. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has created joy and gladness, groom and bride, delight, exultation, happiness, jubilation, love and brotherhood, and peace and friendship. Soon, Lord our God, may there be heard in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the groom and the sound of the bride, the joyous sound of grooms from their wedding canopy and of young people from their feast of song (see Jeremiah 33:11). Blessed are You, Lord, Who makes the groom rejoice with the bride.
7. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Creator of the vine-fruit.

Together with the blessing over the wine, these are the seven wedding blessings.

New Faces: Every day that [there are new faces] that were not there yesterday.

Provided the new faces came. Rabbeinu Yitzhak rules that the new faces are only those people, for whose sake, the joy is greatly increased. And we consider Shabbat a new face, for we say in the Agadah (Rabbinic tale) of the Psalm for Shabbat, The Holy One, Blessed be He says [to the angels] "new faces (Shabbat) arrived here, let us say a song." There too we add in joy and in the festive meal in honor of Shabbat.

...if the guests were others, who did not hear the marriage blessings at the time of the marriage, they recite the seven blessings for them after the grace after meals, in the manner that they recite the blessings at the time of the marriage, and that is if there are ten, and the groom counts as one of the number. And there are those who say that even if they were there at the time of the chuppah and heard the blessings, if they did not eat there until now, they are called new faces and they recite the seven blessings for them after the grace after meals, and this [is the] custom [that] spread. Hagah (The Rama/R. Moshe Isserles added comments for Ashkenazi customs): And there are those who say that if there were new faces there, even if they are not eating there, they recite the blessings for them day and night (the Ran first chapter of Ketubot).

Some say that only people who increased for them are called "new faces." And some say that Shabbat and Yom Tov one and two are "new faces" at the meals of the night and morning, but not the third meal, and so did the custom spread. Hagah: And now the practice in these countries is to recite the seven blessings at the third meal, and it's possible it's because usually "new faces" come; and some say for the reason that we usually sermonize, and the sermon is like "new faces."

The Gemara relates: Rav Ashi happened to come to the house of Rav Kahana to attend a wedding. The first day he recited all seven blessings. From that point forward, if there were new faces present, he recited all the blessings, and if not, he would say: It is merely an extension of the original celebration, and he would recite the blessing: In Whose dwelling is joy, in the in invitation prior to Grace after Meals, and the sixth blessing after Grace after Meals: Who has created.

The Gemara asks: However, with regard to that which Rabbi Yitzḥak said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: One recites the blessing of the grooms in a quorum of ten all seven days of celebration, and the grooms and bride (in egalitarian spaces) are included in the tally; and one recites the blessing of the mourners all seven days of mourning in a quorum of ten, and the mourners are not included in the tally, is there a blessing recited in the square all seven days? The meal of comfort and the associated blessings take place directly after the burial, not throughout the seven days of mourning. The Gemara answers: You find blessings recited throughout the seven-day mourning period in a case where new faces who did not attend the burial are present. In that case, eulogies and words of comfort are repeated, and the blessing of the mourners is recited again.