There is a bakery where the non jewish baker arrives at 4 am and starts making the dough. with each batch of dough, he takes off a small amount for hafrashas challah. the mashgiach arrives at 6 am, and the baker has already made 3 batches of dough with 3 separated pieces.
1) Can the mashgiach say harey zu challah on the dough the non-jew already seperated? if so, does he make a beracha (assuming there is the proper shiur)?
2) If not, can he take off a piece from the already seperated dough, and then make a bracha?
3) If he does make a bracha, does he make 3 seperate berachos (one per batch) or is a bakery considered everything made in one day, one large batch concerning the bracha?
Answer:
I assume that this is a Jewish bakery, and that there is an obligation of hafrashas challah (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 330) — for a non-Jewish bakery, there is no obligation of taking challah.
1) The non-Jew cannot separate challah. The mashgiach should attach the separated pieces, recite a berachah, separate the pieces, and declare “harei zu challah.”
2) This is also possible. The berachah is made, the challah separate, and then the declaration of harei zu challah.
3) If all the doughs are present in one room, and they are not in separate bowls, then one separation (and one berahcah) is made for all the batches. If they are in separate bowls, the bowls should preferably be left open and touch one another (Mishna Berurah 457:7, citing from Biur Ha-Gra, Yoreh Deah 325:8), and one separation is enough for all. This does not help for the rest of the day, and if new doughs are made, challah must be separated again, with a new berachah.
