DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 724 KB)
If One Ate as He Drove, Must He Recite a New Beracha at His Destination?

It is very common for people to bring a snack with them into the car to eat as they drive. In some cases, one does not finish the snack before he arrives at his destination, and he therefore wishes to continue eating after he goes inside the home (or wherever his destination is). Halacha requires a person in this case to recite a new Beracha over the food before resuming eating inside. Leaving one’s car and going into the home constitutes "Shinui Makom" – a change of location – which requires reciting a new Beracha. Since the individual had recited the original Beracha and began eating inside the car, he is considered as having established himself in that place, such that a new Beracha is required if he continues eating somewhere else. This applies even if the individual had in mind when he began eating that he would continue eating somewhere else.

Therefore, a person who had been eating as he drove should recite a Beracha Aharona before leaving the car (assuming he ate a quantity requiring a Beracha Aharona), and then recite a new Beracha inside, before he resumes eating.

Of course, this would also apply in the reverse case, of one who begins eating at home and then brings his food with him into the car. He should recite the Beracha Aharona before leaving the home, and then recite a new Beracha over the food when he gets into the car.

In fact, this Halacha would even apply to somebody who leaves his car for a few moments. If one had been eating in his car and he must then leave his car for whatever reason, even momentarily, he should recite a Beracha Aharona before leaving his car and then recite a new Beracha over the food when he returns to the car, before he resumes eating.

This is in contrast to a case of somebody who began eating while walking outside. (It is generally considered inappropriate to eat while walking outside, though this is not our topic here.) In such a case, the individual did not establish himself in any specific location, and therefore he would not recite a new Beracha if he goes inside or into a car and continues eating. "Shinui Makom" applies only if one began eating in a specific location, and then changes location. If one began eating while walking about outside, however, he has no established location and he therefore does not recite a new Beracha when he goes indoors.

Summary: If a person began eating in his car and wishes to continue eating at his destination, he must recite the Beracha Aharona before exiting his car, and then recite a new Beracha over the food before he resumes eating at the destination. This applies equally in the reverse case, of one who began eating at home or at work and wishes to continue eating in the car.


 


Recent Daily Halachot...
If a Person Did Not Recite Habdala on Mosa’eh Shabbat
Abelut When Somebody Passes Away on Ereb Shabuot
If Yom Tob Occurs During the Sheloshim Mourning Period
Shiba and Sheloshim When Somebody Passes Away During or Just Before Yom Tob
Which Restrictions Apply to Mourners When Somebody Passes Away During Yom Tob?
Is Hallel Recited in a House of Mourning on Rosh Hodesh?
The Status of the Clothing, Shoes and Hair of a Deceased Person
The Tombstone – When it Should be Erected, and How the Deceased’s Name Should be Written
May a Woman in Mourning During Hol Ha’mo’ed Immerse in the Mikveh?
Which Mourning Practices are Observed During Hol Ha’mo’ed?
May a Mourner Attend a Hachnasat Sefer Torah Celebration?
Does a Mourner Lean at the Seder on Pesah?
Does an Onen Perform the Misvot at the Seder?
The Status of Family Members Before the Funeral on Hol Ha’mo’ed Regarding Aninut and Sefirat Ha’omer
Wearing New or Freshly Laundered Garments During Abelut
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found