DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 582 KB)
Is It Permissible To Eat Bread Made By A Non-Jew

Halacha forbids partaking of "Pat Akum," or bread baked by a gentile in his own home. Even if all the ingredients and utensils were Kosher, one may not eat bread baked by a non-Jew in his personal premises. (Shulchan Aruch, Yore Deah, siman 112:1-2)

The authorities debate the question of whether this Halacha extends to bread that a gentile bakes in a bakery. The Shulchan Aruch (ibid) brings that by "Pat Pattar" (bakery bread), there are some places that are lenient provided of course that the bread was baked under proper Kashrut supervision.

Those who follow the lenient position should nevertheless refrain from partaking of "Pat Akum" on Shabbat, particularly when fulfilling the obligation of Lechem Mishneh (using two loaves of bread at each of the three Shabbat meals) (Mishna Berura, siman 242, seif kattan 6.) Many pita houses in Brooklyn and leading brands of pita are run by gentiles, and thus even those who partake of this bread generally should refrain from doing so on Shabbat. It is perhaps for this reason that the custom developed for women to bake Chalot on Erev Shabbat, to ensure that all the bread consumed on Shabbat had been baked by a Jew.

If, however, the only bread available on Shabbat is bread that had been baked in a gentile bakery, one may and must use that bread to fulfill the obligation of partaking of bread on Shabbat.

Summary: One may not partake of bread prepared by a gentile in his home. Many people follow the view allowing the consumption of kosher bread baked in a gentile bakery, but on Shabbat one should be stringent in this regard, unless he has no access to bread baked by a Jew.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
May a Woman Recite Minha After Lighting Shabbat Candles?
Is It Permissible To Squeeze Grapes and Other Similar Foods In One's Mouth on Shabbat
Weighing and Measuring on Shabbat
May a Woman Drink After Lighting the Shabbat Candles?
Lighting Shabbat Candles in an Illuminated Room
Allowing an Internet Business to Run on Shabbat; Requesting a Wakeup Call in a Hotel on Shabbat
Is a Husband or Wife Bound by the Other’s Acceptance of Shabbat?
Public Transportation and Air Travel on Shabbat
Allowing a Gentile to Voluntarily Perform a Melacha on Shabbat; Making an Indirect Request to a Gentile on Shabbat
Using Electric Lights as Shabbat Candles
Asking Somebody Who Has Yet to Accept Shabbat to Perform Melacha
If One Mistakenly Began Reciting "Ata Honen" During the Amida on Shabbat
One Who Comes Late to the Synagogue on Friday Night
Is It Permissible To Carry In An Apartment Building Hallway On Shabbat
Asking a Non-Jew to Perform an Action on Shabbat That Will Result in a Melacha
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found