Maimonides, the great twelfth-century theologian and philosopher, had an explanation for why tractate b’rakhot is the first in the Talmud. He suggested that to be in good health one must eat and that before eating one must recite the appropriate b’rakhah. It follows, therefore, that the subject of the b’rakhot needs to precede all else. In any case, the b’rakhot are at the heart of Judaism. The rabbis have taught that one should not undertake anything of worth without first making the appropriate