מנחות טז

After being מסדר קידושין at the wedding of a כהן, the חתן was blessed by רב שמחה מאיר דווינסק, who among other things said: “ה’ יתן ויקויים בך הכתוב: וקמץ ממנו הכהן.”  The wedding guests were surprised to hear this strange ברכה and asked what it meant.  The רב explained:  The גמרא in ברכות says that when a man got married in the West, he would be asked מוצא או מצא?  The question was whether the marriage was one which came under the expression מצא אשה מצא טוב or under the expression מוצא אני את האשה מר ממות.  The difference between the two is how the letter מ is punctuated, with a קמץ or a חולם. Thus, the ברכה that I gave to our חתן, the כהן, is that וקמץ ממנו הכהן should be fulfilled in him and his מצא should be with a קמץ and not a חולם.”

06/10/2021