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 Proper Way to Hold the Sefer Torah When Receiving an Aliya
Customs Observed by One Who is Called to the Torah
Purchasing an Aliya to Express Gratitude for a Loan
Preparing the Sefer Torah in Advance; Receiving Two Aliyot to the Same Sefer Torah
Exceeding Three Aliyot on Monday or Thursday; Making Up a Missed Torah Reading
Concluding the Torah Reading on a Positive Note
Preparing Before Reading the Torah; The Different Customs When Calling Someone For an Aliya
Where May an Aliya Begin and End?
The Status of Someone Praying Outside of the Minyan
May One Recite Birkat Ha’Lebana When the Moon Becomes Concealed?
Should One Recite the Beracha of “HaNoten La’Yaef Koach”?
Explanation of the Word “Maftir”; The Preferred Aliya for a Yahrtzeit
Background and Explanation of the Maftir Reading
The Berachot Before and After the Haftara
The Bedtime Shema
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found