For donations Click Here

Throwing Away Bread

Bread that is no longer fresh or in some way is no longer edible. How must it be thrown away? Does it need 1 wrapping? 2? None at all maybe? What’s l’maseh in this…

Answer:

Bread that is no longer edible can be thrown away without any wrapping, because there is no longer a requirement to show respect to the bread (Sharei Ha’beracha 3:50:footnote 109).

If the bread is edible, and the piece(s) are larger than a kezayis, some are careful to wrap the bread separately before discarding it in the garbage (Vezos Ha’beracha, page 18, quoting the opinions of Rav Elyashiv zt”l, Rav Sheinberg zt”l, and Rav Fisher zt”l).

Some say this should also be done for bread which is smaller than a kezayis, for treating even crumbs without due respect can lead to poverty (see Vezos Ha’beracha page 18; Eitz Hasadeh 19:2).

Join the Conversation

3 Comments

  1. You wrote only “some are careful”…Who are they makilim then in this?

    1. I don’t know, but I know that some are stringent.
      The point is that the wrapping is not an ‘eitzah’ that we find in early poskim, so that there is room to debate whether this makes a difference. However, it does have symbolic meaning, and therefore poskim recommend this rather than throwing the bread away directly.

  2. Symbolic meaning…Interesting. “Hilchos Symbolic Meaning” might be sold outside of Shteibelech next week….

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *