Question: Why for zimun to say Elokeinu you need 7 of 10 to eat bread and for shmonei Esrah only 6 is sufficient ,plus 4 more? Answer: This is a… Read more »
Category: Laws of Meals
Eating End Pieces of Bread
Question: Shalom, I’ve been refraining from eating end pieces of bread as קשה לשכחה. What ends up happening in the family is that they gets thrown out (is that בל… Read more »
Talking while eating
Question: Is there a strict halacha that one may not talk while he is eating (specifically in the process of chewing)? This would seem to be difficult during meals with… Read more »
Hefsek between netilas yadayim and hamotzi
Question: When washing netilas yadayim for bread, sometimes there is no bread available near the washing station on which to make hamotzi. For instance, this might come up by a… Read more »
saying a bracha achrona after eating in a car
Question: If someone is eating in his car on the way to work but then needs the bathroom so he doesn’t want to say a bracha achrona. After using the… Read more »
Throwing out bread
Question: After the shabbos meal, there are leftover bread pieces on the table. Am I allowed wrap up the disposable plastic table cloth and discard them, together with the other… Read more »
Mirrors to be mitztaref for bentching
Question: If 2 chaburos are eating in same house and they only see eachother through a mirror can they be mitztaref for a zimun? Answer: The two chaburos are not… Read more »
Throwing up and bentching
Question: Can You bentch if you threw up? Answer: Essentially since the food was thrown up, the person is no longer benifiting from it and there would no longer be… Read more »
When eating wet fruit
Question: Do you need to wash your hands before eating wet fruit? Answer: This idea is brought in Shulchan Aruch, however many (or most) people are not makpid on this… Read more »
Respect for bread
Question: If I see a lot of pieces of bread on the side walk do I have to pick them up because bread is not allowed to be on the… Read more »
Regarding benching and ברכה אחרונה
Question: I know a person isn’t supposed to bench with a medal knife on the the table. Does this apply to על המחיה and בורא נפשות? What if I’m at… Read more »
Mishna Berurah & Minhag
Question: Mishna Berurah (1:2) says the Shlah says to connect day & night with tefillah and llimud hatorah. Mishna Berurah (1:11) says the Shlah says to say ‘al naharos bavel’… Read more »
Saying the birkas baal habayis for spouse
Question: in benching after al yichasreinu there is an option to say a tefilla for the baal habayis. should one say this for his spouse? Answer: It is not customary… Read more »
Rubbing hands after washing for bread
Question: When does one rub his/ her hands after washing for bread? After the washing, but before the Bracha or after the Bracha but before the drying? Answer: The Chayei… Read more »
Feeding my pet before eating
Question: in the morning we give our cat food before we eat. what about lunch? what if the cat eats later at 2 or 3. should we not eat until… Read more »
Birchat hamazon HARACHAMONS
Question: If a person says BIRCHAT HAMAZON alone, can he say the HARACHAMONS out loud like the rest of Birchat hamazon? Answer: As far as I know it is not… Read more »
Feeding fish before eating
Question: Shalom Shalom, Must one feed their fish before eating themselves? Thank you Answer: A person is obligated to feed his fish before eating, as with his other pets. However… Read more »
When do you say “Melech” on Rosh Chodesh?
Question: I’ve noticed in both the Artscroll and the Koren Siddurim, that there’s a difference between “Yaaleh v’yavo” in the Shmonei Esrei and in Birkat Hamazon. In the Shmonei Esrei,… Read more »
Eating breakfast late
Question: Pesachim 12: & O”H 157,1 says if you didn’t eat anything by Chatzos, the eating afterwards will be worthless, unless you tasted something beforehand. Is a drink enough for… Read more »
Zimun when Baal habayis is kohen
Question: A Baal habayis is a kohen and the person he asks to be mzamin is not a kohen, what is the nusach the mzamin should say? Thank you Answer:… Read more »
Nusach of zimun when kohen is present
Question: What is the proper nusach of zimun when kohen is present and the mezamin is non kohen? What is the proper nusach of zimun if the baal habyis is… Read more »
stepping on crumbs
Question: I have heard that one should not step on crumbs. How small of a crumb though should one be concerned with? Also, is the concern specifically with bread crumbs… Read more »
saying amen in bentching
Question: May one answer amen while one is in the midst of bentching, when the one leading the bentching recites out loud in yaalehv’yavo, ‘zachreinul’tova…u’fakdeinivol’bracha…. Answer: We should not answer… Read more »
Shinui Makom from terminal to airplane
Question: If I eat some “sh’hakol” foods or drink in the airplane terminal do I need a new bracha rishona when I get on the airplane? Would there be a… Read more »
The time between netilas yedayim and making hamotzi
Question: Hello, I believe I was taught that the reason we don’t talk after doing netilas yadayim is that we are trying to minimize the amount of stuff going on… Read more »
What do I have to know when cutting bread?
Question: How is one supposed to cut a loaf of bread? Cutting from part that baked first, from the best part? How big of a piece? The side, the top,… Read more »
If I have a bread that when it is picked up will split is it considered whole?
Question: If I have a loaf of bread that if I pick up one side (before making a slice in it), it will fall apart, is that a problem of… Read more »
retzei
Question: The halacha is that a person who has a safek if he said retzei on shabbos needs to repeat benching because we assume that he did not say it…. Read more »
hefsek
Question: One washes for bread at work and says al netilas yadayim. While walking to his desk etc., one is asked a question or approached by a supervisor, coworker, asked… Read more »
zimun
Question: If one goes to a wedding with in mind not to bentch with a “mezuman”, ( in order to leave whenever he wants without needing to wait for a… Read more »
washing for bread
Question: When one is in the middle of washing for bread (having washed one hand already), can he say Amen? What about after having washed both hands, and before the… Read more »
Netilat Yadayim 2
Greetings Rabbi If I wash my hands inside the bathroom do I need to dry them outside, or can I just dry them inside? inside is fine when not washing… Read more »
Netilat Yadayim Questions
Greetings Rabbi, I have a lot of questions regarding Hand Washing and Eating and I hope that you can answer them. Thank you. Washing (Netilat Yadayim) If I enter a… Read more »
Disposing of Old Bread
How should one treat left over old bread or challah? Halachically, how can it be thrown away? Answer: It may be wrapped up in a bag and then thrown away…. Read more »
Answering Amen During Bentching
Can one only answer amen during bentching, if one is inbetween the first beracah and the second beracah and one hears someone finish the first berachah. Answer: Yes, this is… Read more »
Interrupting Birkat Hamazon
May one interupet in the middle of Birkas Hamazon to answer amen to any berachah of Birkas Hamazon he hears from another. What is also the Halacha, for kaddish kedushah… Read more »
Amen After Mayim Achronim
Is one allowed to answer Amein between mayim achronim and starting benching? Answer: One should not answer Amen after Mayim Achronim, unless they can wash again after the Amen. Sources:… Read more »
Al Naharos Bavel
Why do we say Al Naharos Bavel/Shir HaMaalos? Why do few people still say Al Naharos Bavel? Which Poskim/Gedolim did or didn’t say it? Where did the paragraph of Tehillas… Read more »
Shehakol Before Washing
If I make a shahakol or hadama then decide to wash. Do I first make a borei nefoshos or can I wash and be yoitze with bentching Thank you Answer:… Read more »
Mayim Acharonim Alone
Do you have to wash your fingers for Birkat Hamazon if you eat by yourself? Answer: The halachah of mayim acharonim, washing hands before Birkat HaMazon, does not depend on… Read more »
Finished Eating after Nightfall on Rosh Chodesh
Dear Rabbi, If on erev rosh codseh one starts to eat some cake before shkiah and finishes eating the cake after nightfall, should they make the insertion for rosh chodesh… Read more »
Beracha on Food Before Meal
Dear Rabbi I was wondering on the following halacha. If one eats an appetizer in a restaurant before washing for the main meal (say for example they eat some vegetables… Read more »
Eating More Before Benching
Sometimes a person will eat a Kabeiyah of bread at a Sheva abrachos or Shabbos table at the beginning, and then there’s Divrei torah and speakers or talking, etc. for… Read more »
Skipped Berachah in Birkas HaMazon
Dear Rabbi, If one is reciting birkhat hamazon and accidently skipped out וְעַל הַכּל and רַחֶם נָא and only realised after concluding the bracha of בּוֹנֵה בְרַחֲמָיו, (although didn’t start… Read more »
Leaving Zimmun for Minyan
Can you leave a zimmun (10 or 3) to daven with a minyan (no minyan later and there will be zimmun and minyan without you)? Answer: No, it is not… Read more »
Benching After Long Meals
Sometimes on Shabbos or at a simcha one eats a kebeiyah of bread, and one continues eating the meal without bread until benching 2 or 3 hours later. What’s the… Read more »
Benching Before Oneg Shabbos
Is it halachically correct to make an oneg shabbos immediately after the shabbos seudah? i.e. Can one decide to bentch and then bring out dessert and cake which will necessitate… Read more »
Meal that Crosses Over from Hoshanah Rabbah to Shemini Atzeres
On Hoshanah Rabbah someone was eating in the sukkah and wanted to continue his seudah when the shmini etzeres started. He was pores mappah and continued. When he comes to… Read more »
Phone Call in Bread Meal
If someone is eating a bread meal or drinking or a fruit and receives a phone call. Does one need to wash or make a new bracha or bench first?… Read more »
Eating Other Foods for Zimun
Is there any source within the halachic literature that says that if there is a group of people who have eaten a meal together and some did not eat bread,… Read more »