DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 746 KB)
The Beracha Aharona Recited Over Cheesecake and Pies

A basic rule in Halacha requires reciting the Beracha of "Bore Mine Mezonot" before eating foods containing flour. So long as the flour is added for the purpose of taste or nourishment – and not merely as a binding agent – one recites the Beracha of "Mezonot," even if the flour constitutes a small proportion of the food.

When it comes, however, to the "Beracha Aharona" – the Beracha of "Al Ha'mihya" recited after eating grain products – then the obligation indeed depends on the proportion of flour to other ingredients. If the flour constitutes one-sixth or more of the food product, then one who eats a Ke'zayit of that product must recite "Al Ha'mihya." If, however, the flour constitutes less than this proportion of the food, then one would not recite "Al Ha'mihya" unless he ate a Ke'zayit of flour.

In most grain products such as cake and cookies, flour indeed comprises a majority of the food, and thus one would recite "Al Ha'mihya" after eating a Ke'zayit of the cake or cookies. The exception, however, is a product like cheesecake or pies, in which flour is used only to form a thin crust beneath or surrounding other ingredients. In the case of cheesecake, the cake consists mainly of cheese and has a thin crust below or somewhere in between the cheese. In such a case, one would certainly recite "Mezonot" before eating the cake, but, in most instances, he would not recite "Al Ha'mihya" after eating. Since it is very unlikely that a person would consume a full Ke'zayit of crust in one sitting, he would recite "Bore Nefashot" over the cheese, rather than "Al Ha'mihya."

This would also apply with regard to pies, such as pecan pie, lemon meringue pie or apple pie. In all these cases, one would recite the Beracha of "Mezonot" before partaking of the pie, but very rarely would one recite "Al Ha'mihya" after eating the pie. Since the flour constitutes less than one-sixth of the overall food, the recitation of "Al Ha'mihya" is warranted only if one eats a Ke'zayit of crust, which is very unlikely to occur. Therefore, in most cases, one would recite "Bore Nefashot" over the pecans, lemon meringue or apple filling, instead of reciting "Al Ha'mihya." This is indeed the ruling of Rabbi Moshe Halevi (Israel, 1961-2001), in his work Birkat Hashem (vol. 2, p. 169).

Summary: If one eats a piece of cheesecake or a pie with a thin crust, he recites "Mezonot" before eating and a "Bore Nefashot" after eating. Since flour constitutes a very small proportion of the food, one does not recite "Al Ha'mihya" unless he partakes of a Ke'zayit of crust, which is very unlikely to happen. He therefore recites "Bore Nefashot" over the cheese or pie filling, and recites no Beracha Aharona over the crust.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
If One Counted the Wrong Day of the Omer, or Had the Wrong Day in Mind While Reciting the Beracha
Praying for the Bet Hamikdash After Counting the Omer
Reciting “Lamenase’ah Binginot” After Birkat Kohanim During the Omer Period
Buying New Clothes or Other Items During the Omer
Omer- In The Event A Person Knows He Will Be Unable To Count The Omer
When are Haircuts Allowed During the Omer?
Sefirat Ha’omer – Guidelines For One Who Travels to a Different Time Zone
Omer, The Sefira Period – Reciting She'he'hiyanu, Purchasing New Garments, Moving into a New Home, Renovating, and Hosting an Engagement Party
Sefirat Ha'omer – Reciting the Beracha Only After Determining Which Number to Count
Omer- May One Count the Omer with a Beracha After Correcting Somebody's Erroneous Counting?
If a Person Remembered to Count the Omer Only During Ben Ha'shemashot
Sefirat HaOmer- Can One Fulfill the Obligation of Sefirat Ha’omer by Listening to the Hazan’s Counting?
Sefirat Ha'omer – May a Person Count the Omer for Friday if He Had Already Recited Arbit?
Sefirat HaOmer- May One Count the Omer with a Beracha After Asking, "Is Today Such-and-Such Day"?
The Chazan's Counting of the Omer
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found