The tractate defines the exact periods when the Shema should be said in the evening and the morning, specifies conditions for its recital, and who is exempt from this mitzvah ("commandment").

[4] The Mishnah also mandates the addition of a third section to the Shema,[Bibleverse 3] relating the commandment of ritual fringes and the daily obligation to acknowledge the Exodus from Egypt.

[5] The Mishnah and subsequent discussion in the Gemara consider the designated times for the three services; occasions when the full eighteen blessings, or abbreviated versions should be recited; circumstances in which a person does not have to pray as normally required facing towards the Temple in Jerusalem; traditions about the required state of mind when praying and the role of the Shaliach tzibbur ("representative of the congregation") who leads the repetition of the prayer when a minyan ("quorum") is present.

[5][7] The tractate formulates the berakha m'ayn shalosh ("blessing abridged from the three blessings" of the Grace after Meals), recited for food or drink made from any of the seven species — wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranates, olive (oil), and date (honey) — which are listed[Bibleverse 9] in the Hebrew Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel.

[8] Tractate Berakhot in the Babylonian Talmud has the highest word per daf average due to its large quantity of aggadic material.

[2] An overview of the content of the chapters is as follows: The topics of tractate Berakhot, relating to prayers and blessings, are seemingly quite different from the agricultural laws of the other tractates of this Order and several rationales have been proposed for this placement: According to Maimonides, because food is the foremost necessity for life, the laws concerning its production and use – the Order Zeraim – were placed at beginning of the Mishnah.

[1] The Talmud itself (Shabbat 31a), cites an explanation given by Resh Lakish, who homiletically states that the first six terms in a verse in Isaiah (Isa 33:6) refer to the six orders of the Mishna – and the first word, "emunah" (faith), corresponds to Zeraim.

Only around the fourth century CE does synagogue architecture in the Land of Israel begin to consistently reflect the physical orientation towards Jerusalem required by rabbinic worship.

[11] Around the essential main prayers of the Shema and Amidah, other elements seem to have arisen, probably in the later Talmudic period during the time of the Amoraim.

[1] Many of the Talmudic sages arranged personal petitions that they would say at the conclusion of the Amidah, some of which are cited in this tractate [12] Elohai ("My God"), the private meditation of the fourth century sage, Mar son of Ravina, as recorded in this tractate, has become universally accepted as the concluding meditation of the Amidah in the liturgies of all the Jewish communities.

It begins with the words "My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from deceitful speech" and reflects the opening meditation of the Amidah "O Lord, open my lips so that my mouth may declare your praise" in that, having asked God to guide what to say in his presence, it now asks Him to guide what not to say in the presence of other human beings.

[13] Yehi Ratzon ("May it be Your will"), the personal prayer of the late second–early third century sage, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, as recorded in this tractate (Talmud, b. Berakhot 16b), requesting protection from harmful events, people and temptations, which he recited every day after the morning service, has been incorporated at the beginning of the morning service in both the Ashkenazi and Sefardi liturgies, albeit with minor textual variants in each.

[16][17] The concluding statement of the tractate in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud (BT, Berakhot 64a) is Amar Rabbi Elazar ("Rabbi Elazer said"), "Torah scholars increase peace in the world..." and it is recited at the end of the Kabbalat Shabbat service welcoming the Sabbath on Friday night in the Ashkenazi liturgy, and towards the end of the Musaf service on Sabbaths and Festivals in both the Ashkenazi and Sefardi liturgies.