DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 1.19 MB)
Leaving Leftover Bread on the Table for Birkat Ha’mazon

The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 180:1) writes that it is not proper to recite Birkat Ha’mazon at an empty table, and one should therefore leave the leftover bread, and crumbs, on the table for the recitation of Birkat Ha’mazon. If all the bread was finished, one should not bring another full loaf to the table, as this was the practice of the pagans. If one has a partial loaf of bread, it may be brought to the table for Birkat Ha’mazon. A complete loaf that had been on the table during the meal may be left on the table for Birkat Ha’mazon.

The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) writes (in Parashat Shelah) that it is customary also to leave the bones, shells and peels on the table for Birkat Ha’mazon. These oftentimes have "Nisosot Kedusha" (sparks of holiness) within them, and reciting Birkat Ha’mazon with these on the table can have the effect of extracting the sparks. If one finds it uncomely to leave these things on the table, he may collect them onto a plate and move them to the side, but they should be left on the table.

Summary: It is proper to leave leftover bread on the table for Birkat Ha’mazon. If all the bread was eaten, one should not bring a new, complete loaf for Birkat Ha’mazon, but one may bring a new piece of bread. It is also proper to leave on the table bones, shells and peels for Birkat Ha’mazon.


 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Are Women Obligated to Recite Musaf?
Shaving, Showering and Immersing in the Mikveh Before Shaharit
Kedusha: Proper Intention Before Beginning Kedusha; Lifting One’s Heels During Kedusha
Laws of the Daily Viduy (Confessional)
The Recitation of Alenu Le’shabe’ah
The Recitation of Alenu After Shaharit
May a Person Standing Near the Doorway be Counted Toward a Minyan?
Answering Kaddish, Barechu or Kedusha During “Asher Yasar” and Immediately After Using the Restroom
The Procedure for Bowing and Stepping Back After the Amida Prayer
Facing Toward the Temple Site During the Amida
Reciting the Nighttime Shema After Daybreak; Proper Intentions and Pronunciation While Reciting the Word “Ehad”
If One Recited the Wrong Musaf on Shabbat Rosh Hodesh
If One Forgot to Recite Ya’ale Ve’yabo in Birkat Hamazon on Rosh Hodesh
The Proper Intention While Reciting the First Verse of Shema
Halachot Pertaining to the Beracha of “Yoser Or”
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found