Halacha requires one to wash his hands before eating food moistened by one of the seven halachic liquids (which include water, milk, wine and honey). The most well-known application of this Halacha is the hand-washing performed on the night of Pesah before eating the celery dipped in salt water. No Beracha is recited over this washing.

The question arises as to whether one must wash his hands before eating cereal with milk. Milk is included among the seven halachic liquids, and thus, seemingly, one should be required to wash his hands before eating cereal moistened by milk.

In truth, however, one does not have to wash before eating cereal with milk. The requirement to wash does not apply if two of the following three conditions are met: one’s hands do not come in contact with the liquid; the liquid has been cooked; and one eats less than a Ke’zayit. In the case of cereal and milk, the first two conditions are met – one uses a spoon, and thus his hands do not come in contact with the milk, and all milk used today has undergone pasteurization, which qualifies as cooking. (Hacham Ovadia Yosef ruled that pasteurization of wine suffices to render the wine halachically "cooked" such that it may be drunk even if it was handled by a non-Jew; this ruling would certainly apply to the laws concerning hand washing, which are treated less stringently than the prohibitions related to wine.) And therefore even though one generally eats more than a Ke’zayit of cereal, he does not have to wash his hands before eating.

This would also apply to a case of one who dips his cake or kaak in coffee. Since the coffee has obviously been cooked, one may eat the moistened cake as long as he is careful to ensure that his hands do not come in contact with the moistened part. And even if his hands do come in contact with the moistened part, he may still eat the cake if it is less than a Ke’zayit. Another application of this Halacha is the case of cooked fruit, like cooked apples, which are generally eaten in liquid. Since the liquid has been cooked, and the fruit is eaten with a fork or spoon, one does not have to wash his hands before eating it.

This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef and appears in several places, including Halichot Olam, Hacham David Yosef’s Halacha Berura, and Yalkut Yosef – Berachot (vol. 2, p. 109; listen to audio recording for precise citation).

Summary: One must wash his hands without a Beracha before eating moistened foods, unless two of the following three conditions are met: one eats less than a Ke’zayit; one’s hands do not touch the liquid; the liquid had been boiled or pasteurized. Hence, one does not have to wash his hands before eating cereal with milk, or before eating cake dipped in coffee.

More lectures from Rabbi Eli Mansour

Must One Wash His Hands Before Eating Cereal in Milk, or Cake Dipped in Coffee?

Introduction to Kohelet PART 2

Introduction to Kohelet

Parashat VaYeseh: The Lesson of Yaakob’s Prayer

Shekalim 19

Shekalim 18