Shavua Tov to all our members. We are studying Beki’im BaHalakha, the Viggo Mizrahi edition, dedicated in memory of Chaim ben Mazal. May the spirit of Hashem guide him in Gan Eden, amen. This is also dedicated to Dania Koel, may Allah grant him peace. Today we are on day 61.
That brings us to our daily sponsor: a man whose life was devoted to strengthening Jewish education through the distribution of religious books. The sponsorship was dedicated by his wife, Sarita, and his children, Yosef, Esther, and Lina—the Frasco family.
We will continue with day 61, on page 132. The issue is very simple. Fruit that is served in the middle of a meal as dessert requires a separate blessing. Obviously, one must recite a blessing over the fruit. However, since one plans to recite Birkat Hamazon, Birkat Hamazon will cover the fruit.
For example, if you finish the meal and are served baked apples or something similar, you must recite a blessing, because the fruit is no longer part of the meal. You are not eating it as part of the meal; it is being served as dessert. Therefore, you recite the blessing for fruit. The same applies to compote. However, Birkat Hamazon covers it afterward.
If you look at page 56, at the bottom, it says that the Ben Ish Hai ruled that it is necessary to recite a separate blessing over cooked fruit, since cooked fruit is not a food that accompanies bread. We understand that this disputes the opinion that no separate blessing is necessary for cooked foods, such as the compote commonly served at banquet meals. Hacham Ovadia took issue with that ruling and essentially says that one must recite a separate blessing. He does not distinguish between cooked and uncooked foods.
Now we come to another item, and this is a major controversy. If you are here today, you are finally going to hear the controversy concerning ice cream—or, let us say, an ice-cream bar.
Let us take Friday night as an example. You recited the blessing over bread and ate your meal. Very nice. Then they bring out dessert. If they bring you a piece of candy, the blessing is unquestionably the blessing for foods other than bread. Whether it is hard candy, a piece of jelly, sour belts, or anything else they bring for the children—all the things that make the dentist money—you recite a blessing. There is no question about that.
But what if they bring you ice cream? How should we view ice cream? Clearly, ice cream is not part of the meal. When it is served as ice cream, it is dessert. But we do not even know how to classify it, because ice cream melts. Perhaps ice cream is considered a liquid. If so, all liquids were covered when you recited the blessing over bread. You do not recite another blessing over iced tea during the meal. This is frozen iced tea; leave it there for a while, and it will melt. Therefore, perhaps it should be considered a liquid.
On the other hand, perhaps we consider it a food. If it is considered a food, then this food is not part of the meal, and we have to determine how to classify ice cream and ices.
As we discuss whether a separate blessing should be recited, I suspect that we will ultimately be left with a doubt. We do not know how to classify it, and therefore we will probably be told not to eat ice cream until after Birkat Hamazon. This is one of those cases in which the matter remains unresolved. It can go either way, and therefore the recommendation will probably be to avoid the issue and eat dessert after Birkat Hamazon when it comes to ice cream.
Let us read the discussion inside. Eating sweets at the end of a meal is very common. At the end of the meal, the dessert is served, and obviously one must recite a blessing over desserts.
I mentioned ice cream on Friday night, but during the week it could be regular ice cream. For example, suppose you had a dairy meal during the week and they now bring you ice cream for dessert. Regarding ice cream, the poskim disagreed. Some say that it should be considered a doubtful beverage. What does that mean? Leave the ice cream in the dish, even with all the chemicals in it, and eventually it will melt. Therefore, perhaps we should view it as a drink, in which case one would be exempt from reciting another blessing.
Why would one be exempt? Suppose you were drinking milk at the end of a meal. Would you have to recite another blessing over the milk? Of course not; you already recited the blessing over bread. What if the milk has some sugar in it? It is still just chocolate milk. Do you have to recite another blessing over chocolate milk at the end of the meal? No. So what is ice cream? It is chocolate milk, strawberry milk, or vanilla milk. It is milk.
Although it is not in the form of liquid milk, it is frozen. Nevertheless, perhaps it is still considered a beverage, because if you leave it there, it will eventually turn into milk. The suggestion is that this may be the best way to view it.
However, one can argue the other way. Even if ice cream is considered similar to chocolate milk, chocolate milk served at the end of the meal is not necessarily part of the meal. Only drinks that assist with digestion or satiation are considered part of the meal. An aperitif served at the end of the meal may not be considered part of the meal. It is a sweet drink, and perhaps that type of drink is not covered. According to this approach, even if ice cream is considered a beverage, one would recite the blessing for foods other than bread.
There is another way to avoid the issue, and this is what I do. At the end of a meal, I always ask for a hard candy or another piece of candy. When they bring me a candy, I recite the blessing for foods other than bread, and I avoid the entire question.
Now look at page 57, where Or LeZion presents one of the classic opinions. Hacham Ben Zion states that dairy ice cream is definitely not a beverage. Therefore, one must definitely recite a separate blessing before eating it as a dessert. The same applies to pareve ice cream based on whipped eggs.
What is his reasoning? He considers it a type of food. Since it is a food, and this type of food is served as dessert, it does not become part of the meal. One must therefore recite the blessing for foods other than bread. The same applies to ice cream made with other ingredients. However, he says that ices made from other liquids are considered beverages. They are more like juice, and therefore no blessing is recited over them during the meal. Popsicles are likewise considered beverages.
Hacham Ben Zion therefore distinguishes between ice cream and ices.
These rulings are based on the Rambam. Consider the practical application Hacham Ben Zion draws from the Rambam. Who would have thought that when learning the Rambam’s laws of ritual impurity, one would say, “These laws have no application”? Yet Hacham Ben Zion takes the Rambam’s rulings regarding the laws of ritual impurity and applies them to ice cream.
Regarding the laws of ritual impurity, the Rambam discusses whether frozen milk is considered a food. We are learning in the daily Talmud study that food substances are subject to the impurity of food. A cup of milk, however, is not considered a food; milk is considered a beverage, and beverages have different laws. Maimonides says that frozen milk is considered a food.
Hacham Ben Zion says that we have a modern term for frozen milk: ice cream. Therefore, if frozen milk is considered a food, any food eaten at the end of the meal that is not part of the meal requires a blessing.
It is likely, however, that Hacham Ben Zion would agree that most commercial dairy ice cream today is considered a beverage, because it is produced from water and powdered milk. They no longer necessarily use fresh milk. That makes sense, because fresh milk spoils, and it would be difficult to transport and process it. Instead, they use powdered milk and essentially add water.
If that is the case, then the ice cream is really just frozen milk. Not all ice cream today is frozen milk, however, so perhaps Hacham Ben Zion would agree that some of it is a liquid. Therefore, he would agree that no separate blessing is necessary when eating ice cream for dessert, unless one knows that it was made from genuine milk.
The first opinion cited in the halakhic discussion is that of Yalkut Yosef. It states there that Maran Hacham Ovadia ruled that there is no difference between different types of ice cream. In every case, no separate blessing may be recited. Eating ice cream is actually an act of drinking a cold beverage bit by bit.
What do you mean, “drinking” ice cream? You cannot drink it in one shot. You eat it, it melts in your mouth, and then you swallow it as a beverage. It is like a milkshake. It cannot be considered solid food, because people do not chew it before swallowing it. Of course, there may be an individual who chews ice cream, but we are discussing normal behavior. Normally, you put it in your mouth, it melts, and it is swallowed like a milkshake. According to this approach, it is a drink, and one does not recite another blessing over drinks during the meal.
The second opinion is that of the Chief Rabbi, who disagrees with his father. He states that even if ice cream has the status of a beverage, a separate blessing is necessary when it is eaten as dessert.
The blessing over bread covers beverages because they are considered an integral part of the meal. People drink them to help wash down the food and for similar reasons. Ice cream, however, is not eaten for that purpose; it is dessert. Therefore, even if we grant that it is a beverage, not every beverage is necessarily covered by the blessing over bread. Beverages that are part of the meal are covered, but a beverage served as dessert may require its own blessing.
There is another distinction concerning Shabbat and Yom Tov meals, when Kiddush is recited. On Friday night, when you recite the blessing over wine, that blessing covers all beverages. The blessing over bread may not cover every beverage; it may cover only beverages that are part of the meal. The blessing over wine, however, covers all beverages.
Hacham David makes the following distinction. Even if you say, as I do and as Hacham Ovadia maintains, that ice cream is a beverage, and even if you say that it is a beverage that is not part of the meal and therefore requires a new blessing, that applies only when no blessing over wine was recited beforehand. If you recited the blessing over wine, the blessing over wine covers all beverages.
For example, if you recited the blessing over wine during the meal and then had iced tea, lemonade, or any other beverage, the blessing over wine covers all of them, including the beverage called ice cream. Therefore, it depends on which night you are eating the ice cream. If you are eating it on an ordinary night, when you did not drink wine, then a separate blessing may be required because it is not part of the meal. If it is Friday night, however, and you recited the blessing over wine, you are covered during the Shabbat meal.
Everyone tastes some wine on Friday night. All beverages that a person might drink afterward are covered. Since the blessing over wine covers them regardless of the purpose for which they are consumed, ice cream may also be covered if it is considered a beverage. Therefore, in the case of ice cream, no separate blessing may be required, since the matter is uncertain.
Are you prepared to swear that ice cream is a beverage? Hacham Ben Zion says that it may be a liquid, but it may also be a food. Not everyone agrees, and therefore we have to be careful. The best course is not to become involved with the question and to postpone eating the ice cream until after Birkat Hamazon.
Rabbi Levi discussed the matter at length and concluded that ice cream is considered a food. Accordingly, after eating an olive-sized portion of ice cream, if one has not eaten bread, one is obligated to recite the after-blessing for foods and beverages. If you ate an olive-sized portion within seven minutes, then if ice cream is considered a beverage, perhaps you would have to consume it in one shot in order to recite an after-blessing. Since you cannot gulp it down in one shot, there would be no after-blessing if it were considered a beverage. If it is considered a food, however, then eating an olive-sized portion within seven minutes requires an after-blessing. Rabbi Levi therefore says that one must recite the after-blessing because ice cream is a food.
Rabbi Auerbach, Rabbi Eliashiv, and Rabbi Shimon Tanvi, as well as Rabbi Yosef Fisher, all concurred with the ruling of Halakha Berurah that ice cream is a liquid. Nevertheless, the logic of that opinion is not completely conclusive.
Hacham David points out that no one can guarantee that when a person eats ice cream as dessert, his intention is not to wash down the food. When they bring ice cream to the table, who is thinking about all these intentions? Do you have a specific intention when eating it—whether you are eating it to wash down the food or whether you are eating it as dessert?
If one does not have the intention of using it to wash down the food, then ice cream is considered a beverage and no separate blessing may be recited. Therefore, it is not possible to establish an absolute rule that one must recite a separate blessing.
Now comes the crucial point. What did Maran Hacham Ovadia himself do? Let us put all the theoretical discussion aside. Did he eat ice cream? The answer is yes. What happened when ice cream was served at the Friday-night meal? His personal practice may tell us more than a thousand words.
Hacham Ben Zion testified that Maran Hacham Ovadia did recite a separate blessing over ice cream served as dessert. Hacham David says, “You see, I am correct. I saw my father recite the blessing for foods other than bread over ice cream.” Why? Even if it is a liquid, it is a liquid that is not part of the meal, and therefore it requires a blessing.
Then his brother, as recorded in Yalkut Yosef, testified that when his father was served ice cream for dessert, he set it aside until after Birkat Hamazon. Here we have a disagreement between the two brothers about what their father did with the ice cream before Birkat Hamazon.
It is therefore impossible to rely decisively on either testimony. The testimonies cancel one another out. One brother saw his father recite a blessing, while the other saw him set the ice cream aside. To determine what really happened, we would need a security camera and forensic evidence.
The general rule is that one should try to avoid situations in which the halakha is uncertain. Therefore, the best practice is to postpone eating ice cream until after Birkat Hamazon.
There is a rabbi named Hacham Avraham Dayan who dealt with this issue at length and concurred with the poskim who ruled that one must recite a separate blessing when eating ice cream as dessert. Nevertheless, it is best to leave the ice cream until the end.
In Maran Hacham Ovadia’s personal copy of his responsa, Yabia Omer, there were handwritten notes in the margins. They went to his library and found his personal annotations. He had written a note in the margin refuting the position of Ma’asim Nissim, Hacham Kachuri, and Hacham Ben Zion, who distinguished between dairy ice cream and ice cream made from other liquids.
Hacham Ovadia maintained that everything should be treated as a liquid. He insisted that the principle of doubt must be applied in every case. Therefore, he wanted people to refrain from eating ice cream as dessert until after Birkat Hamazon.
That is the conclusion. We are now dealing with a practical rule: when it comes to dessert, one should wait until after Birkat Hamazon before eating ice cream or ices. The matter is significant because we do not know how to classify them. If they are liquids, they are covered by the beverages already consumed. If they are foods, then they may require a separate blessing. Hacham Ovadia does not distinguish between milk-based ice cream, sorbet, and ices. When frozen, they may be considered food substances, and therefore a blessing may be required—but perhaps not, because they may still be considered liquids.
Now let us discuss chocolate-covered ice cream. Nowadays, many people serve ice-cream bars covered with chocolate candy. Since chocolate is certainly not a beverage, one might think that a separate blessing must definitely be recited over the dessert.
However, the chocolate is considered subordinate to the ice cream. It is attached to it. Therefore, if the ice cream itself does not require a separate blessing, the chocolate does not require a separate blessing either. You cannot separate the two.
This can be compared to the ruling of the Hatam Sofer regarding someone who drinks coffee after reciting a blessing over wine and eats a sugar cube together with the coffee. He ruled that the sugar is subordinate to the coffee, which means that one does not recite a separate blessing over the sugar. Ashkenazim sometimes place the sugar cube between their teeth rather than putting it into the coffee, but according to the Hatam Sofer, one still does not recite a separate blessing over the sugar because it is subordinate to the coffee.
Similarly, the chocolate coating is subordinate to the ice cream.
Instant pudding and gelatin are different. According to this reasoning, one must definitely recite a blessing over these desserts. These desserts are considered foods rather than beverages. They do not melt at room temperature; they remain solid. Therefore, it would seem that all the poskim can agree that a separate blessing is necessary.
Even if Hacham Ben Zion considers ice cream a food because it is frozen milk, pudding and gelatin would be considered food substances even according to the opinions that view ice cream as a beverage. They do not melt in the same way.
Yalkut Yosef, however, records that he asked his father about this issue, and his father replied that the proper course of action is the same one I follow: take a candy and recite a blessing over it. Alternatively, one may first eat the pudding and then recite the after-blessing.
He asked his father about the underlying classification, and his father replied that any food that one cannot drink is considered a solid. The brothers therefore provide confusing testimonies. If someone eats or consumes an olive-sized portion within the required time span, it sounds as though he must recite the after-blessing, because it is a food. That would apply to gelatin or chocolate pudding as well.
It is remarkable, but he asked his father and was told that the safest approach is simply to recite a blessing over a candy and eat it afterward. In any event, dairy puddings are considered foods.
The same discussion applies to all types of pudding, including milk-based puddings. Yogurt, however, might be considered a beverage and therefore might not require a separate blessing, even when eaten as dessert.
The poskim who rule that a separate blessing is necessary over ice cream would certainly rule that a separate blessing is necessary over mousse and meringue. They would say that even if ice cream is a liquid, it is a liquid that is not served for digestion as part of the meal. Hacham Ben Zion would consider it a solid food. Mousse and meringue are not ices or liquids; they are foods.
The opinion of Maran Hacham Ovadia, as presented in Yalkut Yosef, seems to be that no separate blessing should be recited even over these desserts. According to the testimony of Halakha Berurah, Maran Hacham Ovadia ruled that any food one cannot drink has the status of food. These desserts are therefore considered foods. Ice cream is different because it may have the status of a beverage. That distinction remains unresolved.
If you are eating meringue, you certainly recite the blessing for foods other than bread. Who eats meringue during a meal? The same applies to pudding. It is solid food, and there is no question about it.
What if you eat bread together with the first spoonful of ice cream? Perhaps one might think that this would avoid the doubt. You put some bread together with the ice cream and eat them at the same time, thinking that the bread will cover the ice cream.
That does not work. Since the ice cream is being eaten as dessert and not as a side dish, one would have to eat bread with every single spoonful. You cannot eat bread with the first spoonful and then eat the rest of the ice cream by itself. There is a reason to say that even if one eats bread with every spoonful, a separate blessing would still be required. Therefore, this is not a practical solution and is not even worth discussing further.
So what is the bottom line? Ice cream is one of the biggest unresolved questions. No one has made the matter completely clear. If you wait until after Birkat Hamazon, that is the best practice.
But suppose the person did not wait. Suppose it is Friday night and they bring you ice cream before Birkat Hamazon. What should you do?
It depends. Suppose it is an ice pop served on Friday night. According to Hacham Ben Zion, an ice pop is not made from milk but from various other ingredients and chemicals. Therefore, one might classify it as a liquid. If it is considered a liquid, then, like sorbet and popsicles, it is covered by the blessing over bread. If you recited the blessing over wine, the blessing over wine will cover all liquids, even if they are not part of the meal, and you recited that blessing on Friday night.
Technically, if they serve it to you, I would still not eat it until they bring you a candy first. According to some opinions, such as Hacham Ovadia’s, it is a liquid and is already covered. Others may say that it is a food. If there is uncertainty, it is better to stay away from it.
The best solution is that if they bring you dessert before Birkat Hamazon, you ask for a candy, a piece of chocolate, a hard candy, or something similar. You recite the blessing for foods other than bread and have in mind that it should cover the dessert. The question is simply too significant to ignore.
There is more room to say that if you recited the blessing over wine, you are covered according to the view that ice cream is a liquid. If it is a liquid, the blessing over wine covered it. If it is solid food, however, it is not part of the meal, and a separate blessing would be required. Therefore, no matter how you analyze it, it remains a doubt.
The practical options we discussed today regarding ices and ice cream are as follows: the best option is to eat them after Birkat Hamazon. Alternatively, before Birkat Hamazon, recite a blessing over a piece of candy or sugar so that the various opinions are satisfied.
Let us stop here. May Hashem bless you. Amen.