DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 3.89 MB)
The Proper Sequence When Eating Different “Mezonot” Foods, and When Eating a “Mezonot” Food With Fruit

If a person is eating a standard "Mezonot" item, made from wheat flour, along with rice, then he recites the Beracha over the product made from wheat flour. Although rice also requires "Mezonot," nevertheless, since rice is not one of the five main grains (wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt), it is considered less significant than products made from wheat flour. Therefore, the Beracha should be recited over the product made from wheat flour, which covers the rice, as well.

Furthermore, baked "Mezonot" items – such as cake – are considered more significant than boiled "Mezonot" items, such as pasta. Since baked "Mezonot" items require "Ha’mosi" if they are eaten in very large quantities, they have a higher status than cooked products like pasta, which can never require "Ha’mosi." Therefore, if a person eats both cake and pasta, he should recite the Beracha over the cake.

If one is eating a "Mezonot" food and a fruit – even a fruit from among the special species of Eretz Yisrael (grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates) – then he should first partake of the "Mezonot" food before eating the fruit. If one eats rice together with a fruit from the special species, then, according to the Shulhan Aruch, there is no required sequence, and one may partake first of whichever food he prefers. However, Hacham David Yosef (contemporary), in Halacha Berura (vol. 10, p. 545; listen to audio recording for precise citation), writes that according to the Rashbatz (Rav Shimon Ben Semah Duran, Algiers, 1366-1444), the Beracha of "Mezonot" always precedes "Ha’etz," even if the Beracha of "Mezonot" is being recited over rice. Therefore, although the Shulhan Aruch does not require any specific sequence in such a case, it is preferable to first partake of the rice, in order to satisfy the view of the Rashbatz.

Summary: If one is eating a "Mezonot" food made from wheat flour, and rice, he recites the Beracha over the product made from wheat flour. If one eats a baked "Mezonot" food (such as cake) and a boiled "Mezonot" food (such as pasta), he recites the Beracha over the baked product. If one is eating a "Mezonot" food and a fruit, he first partakes of the "Mezonot" food before partaking of the fruit, even if the fruit is among the special species of Eretz Yisrael (grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates), and even if the "Mezonot" food is rice.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Prohibitions of Misleading or Insulting Another Person
Is it Permissible to Study Secular Philosophy?
When is it Appropriate or Inappropriate to Report Bad Tidings?
Is It Permissible To Wear A Wool Tzitzit Under A Linen Shirt or Is It A Violation of Shatnez
Announcing a Fast Day in the Synagogue on the Preceding Shabbat
Barech Alienu for Travelers to and From Israel
Traveling on Ereb Shabbat
Maintaining Peace in One’s Financial Dealings
Birkat Ha'gomel: The Meaning of the Words, and Whether a Child Recites the Beracha
Reciting Tefilat Ha’derech
Hanukah – If One Does Not Have Enough Oil For All the Candles
Hanukah – Lighting a Menorah That Has a “Back”
Is Birkat Ha’gomel Required After Taking a Cruise on the Kinneret?
Synagogue Decorum and The Prohibition Against Speaking During Torah Reading – In the Wake of the Har Nof Tragedy
The Status of Pasteurized Wine
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found