DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 944 KB)
What is the Beracha on a Calzone

Calzone, a food sold in many pizza shops, is baked dough stuffed usually with cheese or spinach. Does calzone require the Beracha of "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon, like regular bread, or does it require the Beracha of "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya"?

The Shulchan Aruch (168:17) addresses the similar case of a "Pashtida," or casserole, which is prepared as baked dough filled on the inside with meat, fish or cheese. According to the Shulchan Aruch, one must recite "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon on a "Pashtida" just as we do on ordinary bread. The commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch note a seeming contradiction between this ruling and the Shulchan Aruch's earlier comment (168:7) concerning the category of "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin." The Shulchan Aruch includes under this category of food, which requires the recitation of "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya," breaded pastries with pockets filled with other ingredients. Seemingly, a "Pashtida," baked dough filled with meat or cheese, accurately fits this description. Why, then, does the Shulchan Aruch require that one recite "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon on a "Pashtida," which meets the criteria of "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin," upon which one recites "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya"?

The Magen Avraham (commentary to the Shulchan Aruch by Rabbi Avraham Gombiner, Poland, 1637-1683) explains that "Pat Ha'ba'a Be'kisnin" foods require "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya" only when they are eaten as a dessert or snack. However, foods in this group that one eats as a meal require "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon like ordinary bread. Therefore, since people generally eat a "Pashtida" as a meal, and not merely as a dessert or snack, the Shulchan Aruch ruled that it requires "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon just like ordinary bread.

Calzones are generally quite large and filling, and people thus usually eat calzone as a meal, and not as a light snack. It therefore has the same status as the "Pashtida" discussed by the Shulchan Aruch, and one who eats calzone must recite "Ha'motzi" before eating and Birkat Ha'mazon afterward. The exception to this rule would be a case of calzone prepared with dough that does not taste like bread, such as if it consists of large amounts of sugar or margarine. In such a case, one would recite "Mezonot" before eating and then "Al Ha'michya" afterward. The dough in standard calzone, however, tastes like ordinary bread, and it therefore requires "Ha'motzi" and Birkat Ha'mazon. This is indeed the conclusion of Rabbi Moshe Halevi, in his work Birkat Hashem (vol. 2, pp. 222, 226), where he cites this ruling in the name of Chacham Ovadia Yosef, as recorded in Yalkut Yosef (vol. 3).

Summary: One who eats calzone must recite "Ha'motzi" before eating and Birkat Ha'mazon after eating. In the rare instances where the calzone's exterior does not taste like bread, due to the addition of sugar, margarine and the like, then one recites "Mezonot" and "Al Ha'michya."

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Is It Permissible To Ask A Goy To Perform A Task During Twilight On Friday Night and Saturday Night
Covering The Bread During Kiddush
Is A Button That falls Off A Shirt On Shabbat Considered Muktze
What Is The Proper Time For Ladies To Dip In The Mikveh On A Friday Night or Yom Tov Night
Spraying Insect Repellent on Shabbat
Asking a Non-Jew to Turn on One's Oven on Shabbat
Placing Roses in a Vase on Shabbat
Nursing or Expressing Breast Milk on Shabbat
Eating or Cutting Food With Lettering on Shabbat
Adding Personal Requests to One's Prayers on Shabbat
Laws of Sovea -Is It Permissible To Use A Napkin To Wipe Strawberries or A Similar Coloring Item From Your Face on Shabbat
The Laws of Tzoveia- Is It Permissible for Ladies To Wear Make-Up On Shabbat
Is It Permissible For A Chazan To Use A Tuning Fork On Shabbat
May A Person Make Netilat Yadayim On Shabbat if There Is Written Ink On His Hands That May Become Erased
The Various Stages of Accepting the "Neshama Yeteira" ("Additional Soul") During the Friday Night Prayer Service
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found