פסחים 104:2 — Soncino English Talmud

But the law is not as he. ‘Ulla visited Pumbeditha. Said Rab Judah to R. Isaac his son, ‘Go and offer him a basket of fruit, and observe how he recites habdalah. He did not go, [however, but] sent Abaye. When Abaye returned, he [R. Isaac] asked him, ‘What did he say [in the habdalah]?’ ‘Blessed is He who maketh a distinction between holy and profane,’ replied he, ‘and nothing else.’ When he came before his father he asked him, ‘How did he recite it?’ ‘I did not go myself,’ replied he, ‘[but] I sent Abaye, and he told me [that he recited] " ‘ . . who makest a distinction between holy and profane".’ Said he to him, ‘Your pride and your haughtiness are the cause that you are unable to state the law from his own mouth.’ An objection is raised: In all blessings you commence with ‘blessed [art Thou’] and conclude with ‘blessed [art Thou],’ except in the blessings over precepts, the blessings over fruits, a blessing immediately preceding another, and the last blessing of the reading of the Shema’; in some of these you commence with ‘Blessed’ but do not conclude with ‘Blessed’, while in others you conclude with ‘Blessed’ but do not commence with ‘Blessed’; and [in the blessing] ‘Who is good and doeth good [unto all]’ you commence with ‘Blessed’ but do not conclude with ‘Blessed’. [^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ

^ᵃnote:A double ending is not employed, and the law is as Samuel.
^ᵇnote:Make this an excuse for staying with him, so that you observe him reciting habdalah.
^ᶜnote:A blessing is recited before the fulfilment of every precept.
^ᵈnote:I.e., which are recited before eating or drinking; ‘fruits’ is employed generically and includes such items as bread, water, vegetables etc.
^ᵉnote:Lit., ‘near to’.
^ᶠnote:The morning Shema’ (v. Glos.) is preceded by two long benedictions and followed by one; the evening Shema’ is followed by two.
^ᵍnote:This is the third blessing (if the three which constitute Grace after Meals; v. Singer's Prayer Book pp. 280-285 for the whole, and p. 283 for the blessing immediately proceeding
^ʰnote:The blessings for precepts and fruits are generally short, and therefore ‘Blessed’ is not repeated at the conclusion. Blessings immediately ‘preceding others: e.g., those of the Amidah (the ‘Eighteen Benedictions’). As each ends with the formula, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who’ etc., the following does not commence with ‘Blessed’. Similarly, the blessing immediately preceding the Shema’ concludes with ‘Blessed’ etc., and the Shema’ together with the blessing which follows it is regarded as one long blessing; hence that too does not commence with ‘Blessed’. (That benediction itself ends with ‘Blessed art Thou’, etc.; hence the fourth one recited in the evening — v. n. 5 — which follows immediately after, likewise does not commence with ‘blessed’.) The third blessing of Grace after meals, though immediately following a conclusion containing the formula, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord’, etc., commence with ‘Blessed’, notwithstanding the above general rule, because it was instituted in memory of the Jews slain at Bethar in 135 C.E. which marked the ‘disastrous end of the Bar Cochba revolt; hence it was regarded as quite distinct and apart from the rest. It is indeed a lengthy benediction, but as much of it consists of synonyms for God it would be unfitting to repeat ‘Blessed art Thou’ in the conclusion.