We are broadcasting today from our studios in Surfside, Florida, with Rabbi Elmaleh and all the regulars we love seeing whenever we come down here. I am not sure exactly what is happening at the synagogue; it looks as though some sort of work is being done. We have been waiting for someone to come and fix it, so good luck with that.
This is Bikim B'Halakha, the Mizrahi edition, in memory of Haim Ben Mazal. Unfortunately, he recently passed away, but his sons made this dedication while their father was still alive. This is a great elevation of the soul. This is Bikim B'Halakha 7, in memory of Dan Yaqub Eir. Today is Day 57. If you are following along in the books, it is on page 124. Day 57 is sponsored by Emil and Yaffa Efron, and the learning should be in the merit of their parents.
As a postscript to yesterday's discussion: we had finished the subject, but we mentioned the case of drinking grape juice first and then drinking wine. We said that one opinion did not allow that, because it had to be wine followed by wine, while another opinion permitted it.
I said that the matter required a little more research. Last night, Rabbi Yitad emailed me and said that they had found testimony from people who ate with him that he himself would move from wine to grape juice and from grape juice to wine. That settles the matter. Once we have a tradition that he himself did this, and once there is an actual action by a great authority, there is no reason for us to be concerned.
I said that I also do this, but nobody is looking at me. Now that we see that Hacham Ovadia did it, however, it is no longer merely something on which we can rely; it is something we should follow. This is especially important because there is a dispute regarding Rabbi Yashiv's position. Rabbi David Yosef says that Rabbi Yashiv would agree, while others say that he would not. Therefore, there is a question as to what Rabbi Yashiv actually held. Once we have found that he did this himself, you can sleep well.
For example, if you make Kiddush on grape juice and then drink wine during the meal, and all the conditions we discussed are met, you recite the appropriate after-blessing. There is also an easy solution, which I mentioned yesterday and which Rabbi Yitad also mentioned in his email: add a little wine to the grape juice used for Kiddush. Put in a small amount of wine, so that the mixture already has the status of wine. You can fill the bottle three-quarters of the way with grape juice and then top it off with wine. That way, you avoid all the questions.
Of course, then you need a different bottle for the after-blessing, but at least you avoid the dispute regarding moving from wine to wine. You drink the wine, and as long as you drink the required amount and there are leftovers, the other relevant conditions are met.
Now we come to a major subject that arises frequently. Let us say we come home from the synagogue on Shabbat and are waiting for everyone to come to the table. Among Syrians, it is common to serve what they call mazah—various grain-based foods—before Kiddush and before we make the blessing over bread.
Suppose you made the blessing over a grain-based food and ate a little. Now you wash your hands. The question is: do you first recite the after-blessing for grain foods, thereby concluding the earlier eating, and then proceed to make the blessing over bread? Or do you say, “No, I am going to make the blessing over bread now, and the blessing after the meal will cover everything I ate beforehand?” This is a major dispute between Hacham Ovadia and the Ben Ish Chai.
The Ben Ish Chai, in Parashat Nasso, says that if someone ate food made from grain immediately before the meal, he should recite the after-blessing for grain foods. Hacham Ovadia disagrees, for the following reason. We learned that certain grain-based foods are questionable and may actually require the blessing over bread. We had a three-way dispute regarding what is considered a grain-based food for this purpose: some rabbis say it must be crunchy, some say it must be sweet, and some say it must be made in a pocket. Each rabbi disagrees with the others, so what one rabbi calls a grain-based food, another rabbi calls bread.
For example, take some kind of cake—a sponge cake. According to one opinion, it is a grain-based food; according to another opinion, it is bread. We make the grain-food blessing, but there is a doubt. In this case, it might actually be bread. Therefore, if you make the blessing over bread and then make another blessing over bread in the middle of the meal, you have created a problem.
The Ben Ish Chai compares this to a person who is eating bread, decides to recite the blessing after the meal, and then intends to continue eating more bread. Why would he recite the blessing after the meal in the middle of the meal? He agrees that one must recite the blessing over bread, because bread is certainly bread according to all opinions. But Hacham Ovadia says that if a person has cake, pastries, or different appetizers before the meal, even if he ate an olive-sized amount, he does not recite the after-blessing; he relies on the blessing over bread and the blessing after the meal.
There is an exception if the food is unquestionably a grain-based food according to all opinions. That means it is crunchy, sweet, and made in a pocket. The example given is baklava: it is crunchy, it contains nuts, it is made in a pocket, and it is sweet. Another example would be an American wafer—the kind consisting of two thin grain-based pieces with cream in the middle. It is crunchy, sweet, and has a filling between the two pieces.
If someone eats enough of those, one might argue that they should recite the after-blessing, although someone pointed out that the wafers are very thin. Let us take the case hypothetically. That would be an instance in which one recites the after-blessing, because the food is definitely not bread, and one would not then need to recite another blessing over bread in the middle of the meal. Hacham Ovadia would agree in that case.
So, to summarize this point, there is a dispute between the Ben Ish Chai and Hacham Ovadia. The Ben Ish Chai says that one recites the after-blessing for grain foods before the meal. Hacham Ovadia distinguishes between the types of grain-based foods. Regarding most of the foods we eat before a meal—kibbeh, lahmajin, and similar items—he says not to recite an after-blessing. Instead, proceed to the meal, make the blessing over bread, and continue.
Now the question becomes: what about drinking before the meal? This is not a simple matter. Before we discuss drinks, let us discuss fruit, vegetables, and similar foods. Suppose a person eats celery, tomatoes, salad, or other vegetables before the meal. He made the blessing over vegetables, and now he says, “Let us begin the meal.” Does he have to recite an after-blessing?
We encounter this halakhah on the night of Passover. We eat the celery before the blessing over bread, which is why we are told not to eat an olive-sized amount. The reason is that there is a doubt regarding the after-blessing. Some people say that if one can eat an olive-sized amount, one should do so. But imagine a person who has not eaten all day and is very hungry. Finally, he is told to recite Kiddush and drinks wine on an empty stomach. He can barely see straight, and then he is told to wash his hands. When will he eat? Then he is given the bitter herbs? Finally, with the vegetable, he is told, “If you are going to eat this as you normally eat it, you will have to recite an after-blessing.” Therefore, we tell him to eat less than an olive-sized amount, so that he will not enter into a question regarding the after-blessing.
He says that a truly scrupulous person should not eat fruit or cake before the meal at all, because the Ben Ish Chai requires an after-blessing, while Hacham Ovadia does not. Why put yourself into a dispute? Unless a person eats less than the required amount, that is the measure.
Similarly, one should not drink wine before the meal in a way that creates a question. We previously said that, in principle, one should recite a blessing over water before the meal because there is a question as to whether the blessing over bread covers the water. The same applies to liquor, beer, and wine: one should recite the blessing beforehand. But we do not want a person to drink a quarter-measure, because then he may create an obligation to recite an after-blessing before beginning the meal.
What if someone could not control himself? He ate three or four pieces of cake, two pastries, and drank a large amount. He does not listen to us. In that case, we tell him to create an interruption—a mental break. He should go outside, walk around the block, or otherwise separate the earlier eating from the meal. He then recites the after-blessing, but he should not immediately make the blessing over bread. He should create a break in the activity. Take a walk for a moment and do something to interrupt the sequence; that will resolve the problem.
In general, one should be careful. If one knows that he is about to wash his hands for a meal, he should limit how much he eats beforehand. The basic rule is that it is permissible to eat before the blessing over bread; we are not saying that one may never do so. But one should be aware of how much one eats. With food, try to eat less than an olive-sized amount. If you eat the required amount of a grain-based food, the Ben Ish Chai will require an after-blessing, while Hacham Ovadia will not, and you have placed yourself in a dispute. Have one piece and control yourself.
With fruit, if you eat a large amount before the meal, the Rosh will say that you are fine because the fruit whets your appetite and is considered part of the meal. The Rashba will say that you must recite an after-blessing. Again, there is a dispute between the Rashba and the Rosh, so do not eat an olive-sized amount before the meal.
As for water, if you drink a quarter-measure before the meal, some rabbis will say that you must recite an after-blessing, while others will say that the water is part of the meal. Therefore, do not drink a quarter-measure before the meal.
The only special case is Kiddush on Friday night. Friday-night Kiddush is considered part of the meal, because the meal does not begin until Kiddush has been recited. Therefore, the wine is not regarded as wine consumed before the meal; it is part of the meal itself, because the meal cannot take place without the wine.
During the week, however, a person may have some wine before the meal. For example, your wife may tell you, “I need another fifteen minutes to prepare the food.” You can tell the guests, “Let us sit down and have a little wine while we wait.” Whether you are sitting at the table or on the couch, there is no problem, provided you are careful not to drink enough to create the question of an after-blessing.
With wine, this usually does not happen because most people sip it. If you give someone a glass of wine and he drinks it all at once, people will call the police. What kind of person is that? He is drinking like an animal. In the old days, wine was like water to people; it was an ordinary drink. They did not drink it the way people do today, swirling it, smelling it, and pretending to know what they are doing. The French may know what they are doing because they were born with it, but someone who performs all that ritual with a three-dollar bottle of wine is only trying to make an impression.
In any event, when a person sips wine, he generally will not have a problem. On Friday night, as we said, the matter is different because the wine of Kiddush is part of the meal. With water, however, or with beer served before the meal, one should be more careful. We want a person to recite the blessing over the beer beforehand, especially if he knows he will be drinking it during the meal, because there is a question as to whether the blessing over bread covers it. That is fine, but he should drink only a little and wait for the meal.
A question was asked: when we discussed drinking a quarter-measure, does the drinking have to take place in one shot, or is it cumulative? The answer is that it must be in one shot. For example, if you drink a cup of coffee in many small sips, those sips do not combine for this purpose. With food, however, the amount is cumulative. If you eat an olive-sized amount within seven minutes, that is considered the required amount. Drinking is different: the period is much shorter and the amount is smaller, so it has to be consumed in one shot.
In practice, most people are not trying to drink enough to create this issue. It would generally arise only when someone is genuinely thirsty and drinks a large amount at once. Most of the time, people sip their drinks.
The same applies to the olive-sized amount of food. Hacham Ovadia holds not only that the food must reach the required amount, but also that the amount is not necessarily three ounces. I do not think three ounces would be the relevant amount, but some opinions say that even one ounce can create a question. Therefore, it is much easier simply to eat less than that amount.
So, in practice, take small bites and do not eat an olive-sized amount before the meal. With drinks, take small sips and do not consume a quarter-measure all at once. We will stop here and continue tomorrow.
May everything be successful.