DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 1.9 MB)
Does One Recite a Beracha Over a Beverage If He is Thirsty Only Because of Something He Ate?

Rav Meir Mazuz (contemporary) ruled that if a person ate a food which causes thirst – such as couscous, which is often very dry – he does not then recite a Beracha over the beverage he drinks to quench his thirst. The Rabbi’s reasoning is that since the food is what necessitated drinking, the beverage is, in a sense, "Tafel" (secondary) to the food, and so we apply the general rule that a Beracha recited over the primary food in a combination covers the secondary food. Hence, the Beracha recited over a dry or salty food covers the beverage that one then needs to drink to quench his thirst which was caused by that food.

Hacham Ovadia Yosef, however, in his Yabia Omer, disagrees with this position. In his view, the fact that a food caused the need to drink does not make the beverage secondary to the food, and therefore, the beverage requires a separate Beracha. Of course, if one eats bread, then beverages drunk during the meal do not require a Beracha, because they are all considered part of the meal, which is covered by the Beracha of "Ha’mosi" recited over the bread. But in other cases, drinks are not covered by the Beracha recited previously over food, even if it was the food which necessitated drinking. This is, indeed, the accepted practice.

Summary: If a person ate food which caused him to feel thirsty, thus necessitating drinking, he must recite a Beracha over the beverage, and we do not consider the beverage covered by the Beracha recited over the food.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Eating and Drinking After Mayim Aharonim, or After Expressing One’s Intention to Recite Birkat Ha’mazon
Is It Required To Say Shehakol If Birkat HaGefen Is Heard?
Reciting a Beracha Over Medications
If a Group of Ten or More Men Forgot to Recite “Elokenu” in the Zimun
Does One Answer Amen to a Beracha Which is Unwarranted According to His Custom?
Is There a Beracha That One Recites During an Earthquake?
The Berachot Recited Over Thunder and Lightning
Does Halacha Treat Ice Cream as a Food or a Beverage?
The Proper Sequence of Berachot When Eating an Apple and a Banana
Must One Recite the Beracha of Mezonot Over Dessert?
Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel After Being Released From Prison
Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel After a Trip That Violated Halacha
Using a Small Amount of Water for Mayim Aharonim
Asher Yasar – The Importance and Basic Interpretation of the Beracha
Should One Interrupt His Beracha Me’en Shalosh to Answer to Kaddish or Kedusha?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found