What was the meaning of breaking bread in 1st century Judaism and Christianity?

Question

Why did they always "break the bread" before eating it?

I can see the symbolism of it in regard to communion, but even before that, Jesus and others in the NT are said to "break bread" before eating it.

Answer 1

According to Sefer Yohassin written by the Zacuto, the tradition of breaking bread came from King Hezekiah, possibly this ties into 2 Chronicles 30.

So, obviously Judaism had been "breaking bread" for a long time prior to that other religion springing up and since the earliest members of that religion were all practicing Jews it is not surprising that they would continue to hold to the practices and tradition which they had grown up with. They really didn't invent anything new, they just took what they already had from Jewish practice and tradition and added new meanings to why they were doing it.

Bread was very important in Judaism. When Israel was instructed to build the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting or "Tabernacle") in the wilderness, we were told to put in the Holy Place the Shulchan HaPaniym "Table of Faces" on which the Lechem HaPaniym "Bread of Faces" or Lechem HaTamiyd "Continual Bread" was to be set. This is usually called the "Table of Showbread". There were 12 loaves for the 12 Tribes placed upon this table. And likewise, the table where we eat in our house is looked upon as being a place of holiness, and the bread that we break is a reminder of Temple Times, when that bread would be in the Holy Place. We say a blessing over the bread, and we spiritually elevate it. We take something that has a mundane physical existance and say a blessing over it and eat it to feed our physical existance to continue our life so that we can continue to pray and praise the L-rd for His Goodness. So the bread is no longer seen as having only existence in physicality to feed our body, but as having a spiritual dimension to feed our Neshoma (spirit) as well.

Blessing the bread before breaking it is mentioned in Talmud Tractate Berachot 39b where it also mentions that at the beginning of Sabbath we should break two loaves rather than 1 loaf, because of the double portion of manna given on the day before the Sabbath when we were in the wilderness.

Likewise, at Passover we break the middle matzah in half and wrap up half of it to be hidden away as the Afikomen which is then eaten at the end of the Seder.

I would personally suspect that the tradition of breaking the bread came about primarily just as a method of breaking up the loaf so that it could be distributed to those at the meal. But here are some of the traditions:

The host at the meal is to make the HaMotzei (blessing) upon the bread and then break it once the guests have responded 'amen'. (Berachot 47a) However, he can't say the blessing until there is salt or relish at the table. (Berachot 40a). Salt is used with the bread because the table is seen as being the parallel to the altar in the Temple, and Torah commands that the sacrifices be salted. A secondary interpretation is that the salt is to remind us of sweat (which is salty) and the statement in Genesis 3:19 that "with the sweat of your brow will you eat bread until you return to the ground..."

If the loaf should break before the blessing, it is permissible to use a toothpick or something similar to "stitch" it together until after the blessing. It should be broken first where the loaf is most beautiful. But he shouldn't break it for the guests if he isn't going to eat with them but he can break it for his children to train them even if he isn't eating with them (Tractate Rosh Hashannah 29b). He should not make the pieces too small so that he won't appear to be miserly and he shouldn't make his piece too large so that he won't appear overly hungry. Another tradition is that the host should hold the tray containing the loaf out to his guests and let them take it by their own hand. This eliminates any appearance of stinginess on the part of the host since he is offering it freely, and it serves to remind us that our bread comes by our own hand rather than through the hand of another. (That is to say that we should not seek to rely upon hand outs, but we should strive to make a decent living so that we can provide food for our own family and to provide hospitality to guests.)

While it is not currently the tradition, there is evidence that at one time there was a custom to break bread at Havdalah (which is performed at beginning of the first day of the week right after the Sabbath has ended). See Rabbi Mayer Berlin's Talmudic Encyclopedia in the article on Havdalah for his documentation of this practice. It may be that Judaism dropped the practice of saying a blessing over bread at Havdalah, because the Christians had taken Havdalah and redefined it as the time for their "communion" (see Acts 20:7 and following). But obviously after 2000 years or so, it is difficult to know the exact reason why the tradition of Havdalah was reduced to just the blessings of the fruit of the vine, spices and fire. It is easy to assume that it was a reaction, but the tradition may well have changed for some other reason.

Answer 2

Bread was broken off in chunks and given to people to eat with their meal. You see this discussed with particular reference to the bread that was kept on the alter in the temple- where it was broken into chunks of a specified size and each of the Kohanim on duty that week got to share in it. In a more general fashion, it was the way bread was eaten. Most frequently their bread was not the loaves we have today but the flat bread of the mediteranean region. It was eaten most frequently by dipping chunks into other foods as the staple and bulk of most meals. So "breaking bread" is a descriptive term for the way the bread was broken up into chunks and distributed to those at the meal.

Answer 3

I'm very curious what you might mean by 'Abrahamic in nature'. The fact that all three link themselves to Abraham and his journeying from Ur etc says precisely nothing about the *nature* of each of the three religions. I don't disagree with your basic outline (other than noting that the 'New Testament' wasn't codified until a few centuries AFTER 45 CE!!), but it misses out a huge amount and thus fails to grasp the enormous differences between the three. Judaism and Islam have a bit more in common than either do with Christianity, but really, if Abraham didn't get mentioned, you'd never have thought they had anything to do with each other. It's like suggesting that Shinto and Zen Buddhism are the same because they both originate in Japan.... Just to note some of the extremely major differences between Christianity and Judaism, that make it completely impossible to consider them different denominations of the same religion: 1. Judaism regards the divine as something completely abstract and non-human. Christianity believes the divine to be present in a real man. 2. Judaism is completely focussed on the here-and-now and trying to live a good life and doing good in the world in order to make life better for everyone. Christianity is focussed on being good and submissive in order to get to heaven after death. 3. Judaism believes that it is just one covenant, a covenant that all Jews are bound by, but that others have their own covenant with G-d and are equal before the divine. Christianity believes that those who don't believe in Christianity are condemned to an everlasting hell. 4. Judaism believes we are born good and have the capacity to do good. Our relationship with G-d is direct. [Most of] Christianity believes we are born with original sin and need a 'saviour' to act between us and G-d. Is this enough to convince you that we are so utterly different that to consider us as one religion is absurd?

Answer 4

The meaning of BREAKING BREAD is A sacrament and the central act of worship in many Christian churches, which was instituted at the Last Supper and in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in remembrance of Jesus's death; Communion.

Christian rite commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. On the night before his death, according to the Christian scriptures, Jesus consecrated bread and wine and gave them to his disciples, saying "this is my body" and "this is my blood." He also commanded his followers to repeat this rite in his memory, and the Eucharist traditionally involves consecration of bread and wine by the clergy and their consumption by worshipers. Although celebrated spontaneously when the first Christians gathered to share a meal, the Eucharist quickly became a central part of the formal worship service and remained that way despite the many controversies over its nature and meaning. Intended as a means of fostering unity in the church, it has also been a source of division because of differing interpretations of its nature. In Roman Catholicism the Eucharist is a sacrament, and the bread and wine are thought to become the actual body and blood of Jesus through transubstantiation. Anglicans and Lutherans also emphasize the divine presence in the offering and recognize it as a sacrament, while others regard it as a memorial with largely symbolic meaning. Also controversial has been the belief in the Eucharist as a sacrifice, the renewed offering of Christ each time the rite is celebrated at the altar.-

Answer 5

In the scripture, this is a euphemism for eating a meal since bread was and is a staple of every meal in that part of the world.

Ever heard the expression, "best thing since sliced bread?" In biblical times, there was no such thing, so people simply literally broke off pieces.

Incidentally, someone above wrote that God ordered people to eat bread with poop in it. This is not true! God ordered Ezekiel to COOK his bread over a fire made from human dung. He refused on the grounds that he didn't want to defile himself, so God allowed him to COOK his bread over cow dung.

Tom

Answer 6

Eating together.

Have you ever shared a hunk of artisan bread at a restaurant? The small loaf dipped in olive oil. They ate bread like that. It was broken apart, as we would do in the restaurant, rather than cut. In other words, "share a meal together."

Answer 7

"Breaking bread," is simply indicating an intent to consume, like breaking the seal on a bottle of wine, bread lasts longer with its tough outer crust intact, but it also means to share by passing it around...on another level it symbolizes destruction of the individual to be reborn, the old ways must be broken to begin anew...

Answer 8

They had to break the bread coz it didn't come ready sliced in those days

Answer 9

Peace !!

Manners, you should not bite into bread. Instead ,break off a bit that will fit nicely into your mouth.

Don't bite off more than you can chew !!!!

Answer 10

I think it's very similar to breaking the shells of nuts, personally.