A manual on benedictions for food by R. Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg (Maharam). R. Meir wrote extensively; among his works are compilations of laws for special purposes, such as Hilkhot Shehitah (on the laws of rit­ual slaughter), Hilkhot Avelut (Semahot, on the laws of mourning), and Piskei Eruvin (on the laws of Eruv). Another of these specialized works is on the laws of benedictions, often cited by Mahararn's students, and likely this book, which may have been part of a larger work.

The title page of this small book, it measures about 15 cm., is simple, devoid of any ornamentation and is dated Kislev, 319. The colophon gives the date of completion as Friday, 8 Kislev, 319 (November 28, 1558), indicating that the entire book was set in less than a week. The brief text states that it will enable a person to know when he should make blessings on all manners of food and drink. Similarly, Jacob Marcaria writes in a brief forward, that as Haral (our sages) said, "Whomever derives benefit from this world without [reciting] a blessing commits meilah (equivalent to the misappropriation of Temple property, a capital offense, Berakhot, 35a). We therefore took it upon ourselves to print this book, small in size .... " Birkot Maharam is accompanied by extensive annotations from an unidentified source. The book is completed with the text of several blessings.

Hebrew Description

בו יודע איפה יברך גבר... על כל מיני מאכלו ומשקו...

מעבר לשער: הקדמה "אל עין הקורא", מאת יעקב מרקריאה.

הגהות רבות מפוזרות בספר ולא נזכר עליהן שם מחברן.