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Halachos of Brachos


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#1 Chaim613

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 02:03 PM

I have always had trouble understanding clearly the difference of the defining qualities that make something a "mezonos" bracha or "hamotzie." Along the same lines, what is the controversy about "mezonos bread" ?

thank you for clarifying,
Chaim

#2 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 05:18 PM

I have always had trouble understanding clearly the difference of the defining qualities that make something a "mezonos" bracha or "hamotzie." Along the same lines, what is the controversy about "mezonos bread" ?

thank you for clarifying,
Chaim

In short:

According to the Mechaber, if dough is kneaded with a liquid other than water, such as juice, milk or honey, the Bracha is Mezonos - provided the juice is recognizable in the bread. According to the Rama, the juice also has to be a majority of the mix. If the juice is not a majority of the mix but still a significant amount, there is a Machlokes what the Rama would hold.

Therefore, if you cannot taste a difference between the Mezonos bread and regular bread, it would not be Mezonos bread at all. Especially if you are being Koveah Seudah on the Mezonos bread.

#3 Chaim613

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Posted 25 August 2011 - 08:13 AM

When educating children in saying brachos before food, you say the blessing with them (for them) and then they eat. Can you say Hashem's Name in the bracha even when they are 1 or 2 years old, (i.e. too young to get the idea of a bracha) ?

#4 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 25 August 2011 - 06:34 PM

No. And you cannot answer "Amen" to their Bracha either.

#5 FS613

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Posted 05 September 2011 - 08:48 AM

What about Brochos on Pizza?

1) Is it true that:

on the 1st 2 slices, one makes a Mezonos and then Al Hamichya;

but if he decides afterward that he wants to eat a 3rd slice, he washes Netilas Yadayim, instead of making an Al Hamichya, and then later Bentches;

or if he decides beforehand that he's going to eat at least 3 slices, he washes Netilas Yadayim and then later Bentches?

2) Is there any difference between Brochos made on the type of Pizza made fresh in a Pizza place, where you can sit down to eat it;

and Brochos made on a frozen Pizza that one buys in a grocery store or supermarket, that one has to bake at home

(Meaning, is there any difference in the contents of the Pizza itself, which would necessitate a different type of Bracha) ?

Thank you.

#6 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 11 September 2011 - 06:12 PM

1) You would make Mezonos on two slices of pizza, but it is better not to eat only two slices. Eating a side dish or a third slice will eliminate a safek here. Whether you wash on pizza depends on whether the pizza is being eaten as a snack or a meal. One slice is generally a snack; three slices is generally a sit-down meal. Two slices is questionable. The Star-K did a survey of sorts, and they found that the typical customer buys 2 slices and a side dish if they want a meal. But it's still not muchrach and so I go along with the Star-K on this that it is best not to eat just 2 slices without a side. If you do, however, yes, I tell people not to wash.

2) Sometimes. Some frozen pizzas (such as Macabee) are made from already-baked dough with raw cheese placed on top of it after it was baked. When you heat the pizza up in the oven the cheese melts. Such pizzas are Hamotzi no matter how many of them you eat. The reason is, once I bake regular bread, its Bracha is Hamotzi even if I later add juice or eggs or butter on top of it and toast them together. Once the bread is Hamotzi it does not change no matter what you toast it with. Therefore, when these pizzas were baked, they were baked without the cheese on it, making them Hamotzi. Now when you add the raw cheese and heat it all up, the Bracha does not change. Mezonos bread is only possible if the cheese and sauce etc. were there when you first baked the bread.

Other frozen pizzas were made like regular pizza, with the cheese melted at the time of the original baking, and then frozen. Those have the same Halachos of store pizza. You can tell which is which by looking at the cheese on your frozen pizza. If the cheese is not melted, it was put there after the baking and you have a definite Hamotzi.

Of course, all of the above changes if the pizza was made with apple juice instead of water. Then the regular Halachos of Mezonos bread that I discussed above (7/8/11) would apply.

#7 achasshoalti

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Posted 12 September 2011 - 12:36 PM

What if you eat 2 slices as meal - or 1 slice and salad as meal. What about teenage girl who basically never eats 3 slices. Same question for kids.

#8 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 16 January 2012 - 07:35 PM

If you eat 2 slices as a meal then wash. Teenagers and kids included.

#9 achasshoalti

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Posted 08 June 2012 - 12:49 PM

Is davening a hefsek for a shehakol? e.g. If I have a coffee before shachris & it's practically a given that I will have one after shachris as well, can I rely on the original shehakol
  • if I had only stam daas
  • if I had b'feirush daas (for the 2nd coffee)


#10 Rabbi Shapiro

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Posted 07 October 2012 - 01:18 PM

Davening is not a hefsek.

#11 Morgenstern

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Posted 05 December 2013 - 02:38 PM

Why is it that there are poskim who say ( Ohr l'Tziyon 14:21, among others) that rice cakes are borei pri ha'admah? I need someone to explain why its not borei mine mezonot, across the board.



#12 taon

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Posted 10 December 2013 - 04:35 PM

They don't consider them to be cooked.