Birkat haMazon or Minchah?

Hi,

We are taught that one may recite the birkat hamazon blessing after meals only up to 72 minutes after the conclusion of a meal. What if the latest time to recite minchah is arriving, but by the end of minchah the 72 minutes would elapse and he would lose the chance to recite birkat hamazon?

Ideally, one should eat a little more and so extend the 72 minutes. Where that is not possible, one should recite birkat hamazon. First, birkat hamazon is a biblical obligation [if the meal was to the point of satiation - MT]. Second, one who is unable to recite minchah due to circumstances beyond his control is then allowed to recite maariv twice, as a make-up.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:162)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Decided to eat bread mid-meal

Hi,

[I believe there are multiple views on the following:]

One who is eating meat, and who then decides to have bread, should first recite the closing berachah acharonah for the meat, before washing for the bread. This is because he ate the meat independent of his meal, and so the birkat hamazon concluding the meal would not cover the meat eaten before the meal.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:151:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Covering or removing a knife for the blessing after meals

Hi,

There is a practice of covering or removing knives from the table when reciting the birkat hamazon blessing after eating a meal. Various explanations are offered, including the idea that the table is like a mizbeiach [altar] when one gives from his food to the poor, and just as a mizbeiach may not have a blade upon it, so one's table should not.

The reasons that are suggested for this practice do not seem to apply to a snack, and so one would not need to cover or remove knives when reciting the al hamichyah or borei nefashot blessing after a snack.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:136:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Covering bread during Birkat haMazon

Hi,

Magen Avraham (Rabbi Avraham Gombiner; Magen Avraham 180:4) recommends covering the bread on the table during the birkat hamazon blessing after a meal.

It seems that this is specifically where one recites a blessing on a cup of wine after the blessing after the meal, since the bread is of a higher "rank" and is more deserving of a blessing. Therefore, one who is not reciting a blessing on a cup of wine after birkat hamazon need not cover the bread.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:136:1)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

How much pat haba'ah b'kisnin triggers HaMotzi?

Hi,

We have learned that one who eats פת הבאה בכיסנין pat haba'ah b'kisnin, a type of grain-based bread which is not considered 'normal' bread in the eyes of Jewish law, need not wash beforehand and recite HaMotzi and Birkat haMazon. This may apply to pizza, for example.

However: One who eats a volume of pat haba'ah b'kisnin which is equal to the volume of bread consumed in a normal meal - as determined by the general practice in that society - is required to wash and recite HaMotzi and Birkat haMazon.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:32)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bentching by accident

Hi,

One who ate cookies or cake, such that he should recite an "al hamichyah" afterward, but instead recited Birkat haMazon by mistake, has fulfilled his obligation.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:73)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bread from non-grain flour

Hi,

For bread made from a combination of non-grain flour and grain flour, such that the quantity of grain flour is less than an olive-sized amount in כדי אכילת פרס (the amount one normally eats in 8-10 minutes), one does recite HaMotzi beforehand, but the closing berachah is Borei Nefashot.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:70)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Al haNisim

Hi,

All through Chanukah we traditionally include a special paragraph, 'Al haNisim,' thanking Gd for His miracles, in the Amidah and in the Birkat haMazon (blessing after meals).

One does not repeat the Amidah or the Birkat haMazon if he accidentally omits the 'Al haNisim' paragraph.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 682:1; Mishneh Berurah 682:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai