ברכת חתנים מנין

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and set out, taking with him all the bounty of his master; and he made his way to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

§ Apropos the source for the benediction 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 men? 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 benediction related to the source of Israel, i.e., conjugal relations, which will lead to the birth of Jewish children.

Then [Boaz] took ten elders of the town and said, “Be seated here”; and they sat down.

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “O sister! May you grow Into thousands of myriads; May your offspring seize The gates of their foes.”

The servant arose early in the morning and saw the angel standing and waiting for him in the street. He said to them: "Do not hinder me, for the Lord hath prospered my way" (Gen. 24:56). For behold, the man who came with me yesterday, he has prospered my way; behold, he is standing || and waiting for me in the street, as it is said, "And he said to them, Do not hinder me, for the Lord hath prospered my way." They ate and drank at Rebecca's (bridal) banquet. Like a precentor, who is standing and blessing the bride in her bridal canopy, so they stood and blessed Rebecca their sister (wedded) to Isaac, as it is said, "And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her, Our sister…" (Gen. 24:60).

All the people at the gate and the elders answered, “We are. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the House of Israel! Prosper in Ephrathah and perpetuate your name in Bethlehem!

“And Boaz¹The word בועז does not appear in our Gemara nor in the verse. took ten men…” The Gemara proves that a beracha is recited even when a widower is marrying a widow from the verse in Rus that describes how Boaz gathered a minyan. Our Gemara initially assumes that the purpose of gathering a minyan must have been to recite the beracha for marrying. Tosfos cites another source for this beracha and attempts to reconcile what appears to be a contradiction.
Nowadays, when we marry at the Chuppah, we actually perform two ceremonies at one time.
A) Airusin - is the procedure of consecrating the Kallah as belonging to her Chosson and thus forbidden to marry any other man. This we do when we give a ring to the Kallah. A special beracha is recited at that time immediately before giving the ring to the Kallah. That is the beracha of Airusin.
B) Nisuin - is the process that allows the Chosson and Kallah to live together as a married couple. This we do by reciting the seven berachos. They are called the berachos of Nisuin. During Mishnaic times there were usually one to twelve months between these two ceremonies.
The Baraisa in Masechet Kallah offers another verse as proof that a beracha is required when marrying. In Bereshit 24, the verse discusses the meeting of Eliezer servant of Avrohom and the family of Rivkah. After all the pertinent negotiations about the marriage, when Rivkah is about to leave with Eliezer, verse 60 tells us that “They blessed Rivkah”. What was the nature of that blessing?
In Masechet Kallah,²See Rashi in קידושין מט': ד"ה ואפילו דמסכת דכלה who describes Masechet Kallah as a Baraisa. It is usually printed in the Vilna Shas together with Masechet Avodah Zarah. the Baraisa cites the verse in (Bereshit 24, 60): “and they blessed Rivkah” as the source for the requirement that a beracha must be recited when marrying. This contradicts our Gemara which cites the verse in Rus 4, 2, as the source for this beracha.
Tosfos seeks to reconcile the contradiction. It can be said that there in Masechet Kallah the Baraisa is speaking about the beracha one recites for Airusin when consecrating the Kallah as the Chosson’s wife as he gives her a ring. Here, we are discussing the seven berachos recited for Nisuin which permit the Chosson and Kallah to live together as a married couple.
The beracha for Rivkah was the beracha of Airusin, because that is the procedure that was done at that time. Airusin can be performed via an agent. Eliezer acted as Yitzchok’s agent in performing Airusin and recited the beracha as he did the mitzvah. We can learn from [that episode] that one is to recite a beracha of Airusin for a woman who is betrothed via an agent, for Eliezer was an agent of Yitchok to perform the Airusin to consecrate Rivkah as Yitzchok’s wife.
Tosfos retracts from his explanation that the beracha of Bereshit 24, 60, was the beracha of Airusin. It appears that the Baraisa of Masechet Kallah is merely offering scriptural allusion to a rabbinic law. For that we need ten people on order to recite that beracha cannot be understood³A simple reading of Tosfos seems to be saying that it is in fact required that ten people be present when reciting the beracha for Airusin. Since this cannot be derived from the beracha of Rivkah in Bereishis 24, 60, that is obviously not the source of this beracha and it was offered in Masechet Kallah merely as an allusion, but not as a source. See Rosh 12, in our Perek and in Tosfos HoRosh who mentions that there are opinions among the Geonim who hold that it is not really required that there be ten people when reciting the beracha of Airusin. Ten people are required only when reciting the seven berachos of Nisuin. See Shulchan Aruch Even Hoezer 34, 4, who rules that preferably there must be ten people. from the verse in Bereshit. Obviously, this verse is not offered as a source, but rather as an allusion of the existence of this beracha.
Another reason why Tosfos holds the verse in Bereshit is merely an allusion. The simple meaning of the verse is not speaking about the beracha of Airusin, rather it is telling us about the personal wishes for a successful marriage that Rivka’s family were wishing her.

עשרה גמלים, “ten camels” to be ridden by ten men who would form the necessary quorum at the engagement and (marriage ceremony). [The bracket is to tell the reader that different manuscripts either have or do not have that word. Ed.]

Abba Guryan of Tzadyan says in the name of Abba Gurya: A person may not teach his son the trades of a donkey driver, a camel driver, a pot maker, a sailor, a shepherd, or a storekeeper. The reason for all these is the same, as their trades are the trades of robbers; all of these professions involve a measure of dishonesty and are likely to lead to robbery. Rabbi Yehuda says in Abba Gurya’s name: Most donkey drivers are wicked, since they engage in deceit, and most camel drivers, who traverse dangerous places such as deserts, are of fit character, as they pray to God to protect them on their journeys. Most sailors are pious, since the great danger of the seas instills in them the fear of Heaven. The best of doctors is to Gehenna, and even the fittest of butchers is a partner of Amalek.