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00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Everyday Judaism Podcast.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (00:01.13)
All right, welcome back everybody. It is so wonderful to be here. Good Sunday morning to everyone. We are live from the Torch Center and we are now continuing Semin 39 in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. And the Kitzur teaches us about blessings. Now we have to understand that before we eat, we have to recite a blessing. After we eat, we recite a blessing as well. Before we eat.
and after we eat. There's different blessings before, different blessings after. Now, just to make things very simple, there are six different categories of food that have six different forms of blessings. We're not gonna get into all of it. We're gonna deal with that in a few more chapters. We're gonna deal with exactly the blessings. But we don't know that there are six different, let's call it introductory blessings and three different types of blessings after we eat.
There's one which is called Birkat HaMazon, which is the grace after meals. There's one which is Baracha HaChorona or Me'en Shalosh, which is an abbreviated Birkat HaMazon. And then a very, very short blessing, which is the third of the different types of after blessings. Okay, so we have these three blessings that are after. We have six blessings that are before. We're going to have a chart here for everyone so everyone will know exactly, those of you who are online will also be able to
find this in the description. We're going to link to it and whoever would like will be able to join us while reading through when we get there. We're to get there right now. I don't want to jump in advance, but there's also a priority list. There also a priority list to all of the blessings. So for example, if someone is eating bread, bread is takes
it takes precedence over other things. So if you recite the blessing on the bread, will already.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (02:06.4)
Suffice for other foods. For example, if you're eating fruits and vegetables, you don't have to recite another blessing for the fruit and vegetables after you recited the blessing on the bread. There's an exception to that. What's that exception? Wine. Wine needs a independent blessing, even if it was after the meal. Even if you're sorry, even if it was during the meal. After you recited the blessing on the bread, you still need to recite a special blessing on the wine.
Okay, it's clear, it's easy. But if you have cakes, pastries, you have fruits, you have vegetables, you have other foods like meat and chicken, that is all considered part of the meal of the bread, and you don't need to recite extra blessings for that. Again, we're going to deal with this in a few more chapters. We're gonna talk about the blessings. Okay, but now we're talking about something different. What are we gonna talk about? Just to summarize what we did the past few weeks, we learned about
the preparation of food. talked about Yainesseh, wine that was handled by Enanju, otherwise known as an idolator. We had pots and pans that we purchased from Enanju. We had bread that was baked by Enanju, et cetera, et We talked about that. And for those of you who are online, you're welcome to listen to our previous episodes where we discussed these matters. So now that Allah is talking about
What happens before you eat a meal? So let's say I'm about to eat in an hour or 20 minutes, but I'm hungry right now. I just want to eat some foods. So I'm, I'm, I'm noshing around in the kitchen before I sit down to have my bread. I want to eat a few carrots. I want to have a, you know, a fruit, whatever it is. So the Gemara, the halacha now is going to deal with those specific scenarios. There are only three.
There are only three parts, paragraphs in this chapter and it's not that long. The kitsur begins the siman by addressing the law with regard to bracha acharona, where bracha acharona is the after blessing.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (04:20.021)
in a case in which before one's meal, one eats a type of food that will be eaten during the meal as well. So for example, let's say you're about to eat your meal with bread, you're gonna have a whole feast. Part of that meal is something you wanna eat beforehand, but not bread. So you wanna just have some of the soup. You wanna have a little taste of the fish, whatever it might be, not the bread, okay?
According to some authorities with the type of foods that one eats before the meal if it will be also eaten during the meal the two acts of eating are considered to be one in the and The birka samazon the grace after meal at the end of the meal at the conclusion of the meal Exempts even that which was eaten before the meal from its own after blessing so you don't have to make two separate after blessings
Okay, because what happens, I eat now, I recite my pre-blessing, but now my after blessing, and then do another pre-blessing for the bread. It's not required to do the after blessing. Accordingly, one would not have to recite an after blessing on whatever food he eats before the meal if he is planning to eat the same type of food during the meal. Other authorities maintain that this factor alone is not sufficient.
to connect the two acts of eating and a separate after blessing is required before he begins the meal. So let's go in now after these introductory, it's only two pages here so we can do this in no time and then we're gonna get straight into the ask away segment of today's class. Okay, let's go. One who wishes to eat before washing his hands for Certain foods
of the type that he will also be eating during the meal itself, of whether they are foods that are eaten
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (06:29.634)
During the meal, one would be required to recite a blessing upon them, such as fruits, or whether they are foods that do not need a blessing within the meal, types of condiments, and different types of legumes and potatoes, they do not need another blessing.
And likewise if one wants to drink any beverage except for wine like we mentioned previously Before washing his hands for the meal and he plans to drink during the meal as well There is a disagreement among the halachic authorities regarding such a case
There is a dispute among the halachic authorities regarding whether those items that he ate or drank before washing his hands are exempted from the obligation of the after blessing by the recitation of the barakah of the mazon at the conclusion of the upcoming meal. Just as those foods that are eaten during the meal are exempted from the after blessing,
and do not require their own after bracha hachorna, their after blessing? do we say, she'elu she'achlan kodim netilat yedayim, eyn neftar me b'kat ha-mazon? So there's a discussion here the halacha brings whether or not if you eat something before your meal do you have to recite an after blessing for it on its own or does it suffice with the after blessing that you're going to recite after the meal again?
Let's understand something as introducing this concept. The Talmud says something very, very interesting. Talmud says that if a person takes pleasure from this world without a blessing, they're considered a thief. Okay, considered a thief. Now that's very disturbing because what do mean I'm a thief? I paid my taxes.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (08:53.974)
I did everything I needed to do. I earned my livelihood honestly and now you're telling me I'm a thief? What's this, right? I say just tell us you're stealing from yourself the opportunity to be happy. Because if you don't say thank you, you become ingrateful. And when you're ingrateful, you're not gonna feel fulfilled. It's like the children today. Children today have...
smartphones and they have computers and they have social media and they have all the food they can imagine. They have all the clothes that they can imagine. They can shop, shop, shop, shop all day. And yet we see that the children today are more medicated for depression, for anxiety than any other generation in the history of the world. How does it make sense? It makes all the sense in the world. Our sages teach us this. The more grateful you are, the happier you are.
The more you have doesn't make you happier. The more grateful you are, you're happier. And that's why we have the laws of blessing. Because our sages understood that when we give thanks for every single pleasure that we have, we're never going to be sad. We're never gonna be, we're never gonna feel anxious. We're gonna feel happiness every day of our lives. Let me give you an example. One of the great pleasures
that we don't even realize how incredible of a miracle this is that we have every single day.
Anybody go to the bathroom today? We all went to the bathroom, right? You wake up, you go to the bathroom. First thing you do, right? Do you know what a gift that is? Do you know what, God forbid, the pain is if someone cannot properly go to the bathroom?
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (10:44.664)
we suddenly realize the gift of life. There's a blessing for that. Every time we leave the restroom, thanking God for a functioning body. Don't take it for granted. You take it for granted, you're missing out on some really great pleasure. The pleasure of feeling how gifted you are. This is the secret of blessings. So now what we're talking about,
Do you recite another blessing or not? Who cares? What does it make a difference? It makes all the difference. Why does it make all the difference? It makes all the difference because it's our expression of our thanks. It's our expression of realizing how gifted we are with every single pleasure we experience in life. So now, if we eat something, we want to make sure we recite a blessing before.
We wanna make sure we set a blessing after. There's a rabbi who once had a following story, true story. He was teaching a group of executives in Manhattan and he comes to the office and he sees they're still sitting in the boardroom before his class. says, you know what, I have some time. I'm gonna go and I'm going to quickly wash my hands, eat my sandwich. And by the time I'm done with this sandwich, they'll be done with their meeting. We'll be able to start the class.
The rabbi asks the secretary, he says to her, is there a washing station, a place I can wash my hands? She says right in the hallway over there, there's next to the bathroom, there's a washing station. So he goes out, washes his hands, comes back in, he says the blessing of, he says the blessing of, on the bread, and he now eats his sandwich. And the lady, the receptionist, she says to him, you know, you Jews think that you're so special that you recite,
blessings before you eat. In my religion, we also do that. We also recite blessings before we eat. She said, great, that's a great thing. He says, do you recite a blessing after? She's like, after? No, only before we eat. She says, it's compared to a child who wants a lollipop. Right, so what happens with a child, child wants a lollipop, says, please, please, please, can I have the lollipop? What happens when you give them a lollipop? They turn around and run away. Right? No, no, no.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (13:08.426)
Stop and say thank you. He says in Judaism one of the things that we learn is that we don't just say please when we want the food we say thank you when we're done with the food. That's an essential part of recognizing that we're not just ingrateful people. we got what we wanted now let's just move on with life. We have to say the grace after meal and that's why it's important in our siman here in our chapter that we're learning now in chapter 39.
is the importance of whether or not we recite after something that we eat when we're about to go into another meal. So can the second meal that we eat, can that grace after meal cover everything that was before? So it's an interesting thing that we need to know. What happens if someone forgets to recite an after blessing? It's happened. It's happened to me many times where, you know,
Which is why the halacha says you're not supposed to get up from your table till you finish the grace after meals Why because you're gonna forget say just know the nature the nature of mankind is we get busy And what happens when we get busy? So for example, you finished your meal and you get a phone call So you get a phone call you jump up and you start walking around before you know it you're by your desk Three hours later. You're layers. I can't believe it. I got up from the table. I didn't say my grace after meals
That's why our sages tell us the best thing to do, don't get up from the table. And if you do, assign someone to be your reminder. So for example, I'll give you an example for that. Sometimes someone calls and they'll say, we need you for the 10th man for shul. We need someone for a minion. You're in the middle of eating your meal. So someone else is there, you can say a wife, okay, a child of yours.
You can tell them, you stay here by the table. I'm going to be there for the minion and I'll be back. You remind me to recite my grace after meal. That's okay because that you don't want to make everybody in the congregation wait till you're done your blessings. Okay, so now we're getting a little bit of an idea of the importance of the grace after meals as well. Before we eat is simple for us to understand. We have six different blessings on different categories of foods.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (15:30.895)
Therefore, avoid a case of a lachik doubt, it is best to refrain from entering into a situation, he should not eat or drink these foods or beverages before the meal, only before the meal, and then he should recite an after blessing, and he should not eat or drink the same types of foods or beverages
during the subsequent meal. Why? So that way now you don't make a blessing, make an after blessing, make another blessing, another after blessing for the same foods. Right? So therefore a person should avoid getting into a situation where he has this form of confusion. If in a case where he did not recite an after blessing for the first food that he ate before the meal,
He should recite it even during the meal or even after the grace after meals. can recite. So listen to this. He says now, you know what you could do? Instead of reciting a whole other blessing, which is another important thing. Okay, we mentioned some important things here today.
I'm gonna say something else. We don't wanna recite an extra blessing that's not necessary because every time you recite a blessing, you're saying God's name. You can't say God's name in vain. So if you're gonna say a blessing that's not necessary, you're saying God's name in vain. That's not either appropriate. So what do you do? See, he says, you know what you needed to do? Eat that same food during the meal. So now when you recite the grace after meal, we just said we shouldn't do that, right? You shouldn't. But in the case where you don't wanna recite another blessing,
in vain, eat that same food in the meal. then, so let me give you an example. You're about to have a barbecue. And in the preparation of the barbecue, you see the French fries already, already. You're in the middle of dealing with the grill and you're preparing this and preparing that. You have some French fries. You recite the French fries. Now you're about to wash on your burger, on your hot dog, the bread, right? So now you're gonna have the grace after meals after that.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (17:55.255)
eat some fries in the meal and that way the after blessing for the fries is included in that after blessing. Is that confusing or we're good? It's good, you got it? Okay, we're gonna get to the questions right away. All right, so that concludes the first siman. The second siman, there's only three here, so it's very quick. Even if close to a meal one eats food,
that he will not eat during the meal if the purpose of the food is to stimulate the appetite for the meal itself. According to some authorities, this eating is considered part of the meal and does not require a separate after blessing. So let me give you an example. If you go to a restaurant and you order appetizers, okay, there are various different blessings. Then you order your main meal and your big, beautiful two and a half pound burger, right Mark? Right, your two and a half pound burger comes out.
So now you're gonna get up and you're gonna go wash your hand for the bread, but you had the appetizers. Or say just tell us that the appetizers, because it's part of the meal, the after blessing for it is part of the meal as well. Okay, because it only builds your appetite for the meal that you're going to have.
Other authorities maintain that this factor does not connect to the appetizer food, to the meal, and with regard to the obligation of reciting the Baruch HaRachon. Either way, we see that in both sides you have what to rely on. The subject of this if is wine. Now we mentioned earlier that wine is a different category. Wine, you always recite its own blessing. You always recite your own blessing in the introductory, the before blessing.
which can serve to stimulate the appetite and is therefore included in the above dispute among the authorities. So again, you have different opinions that hold either way. And it's interesting, why does the halacha always give you, not always, but many times in our, excuse me, in our code of Jewish law, we have multiple different opinions. What's going on over here? Why is it giving us so many different opinions?
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (20:09.514)
Tell me one thing and that's it We see that there's always a way for us to do the right thing There's always an opinion that will side with you person should never feel beat down. what did I do? I can't believe it. I made a mistake There's an opinion that sides like you as well. Okay, be encouraged. Okay, im ruts or a cell is stotian code in the title to them So let's say you're at the restaurant. You're enjoying your appetizers. Now you want a little glass of wine will develop
build up your appetite for the meal that's about to be served. if he's not planning on drinking wine during the meal as well, nevertheless some authorities say, since the wine serves to open the digestive system, to stimulate the appetite, in such a case the wine is considered to be
part of the meal and is exempted with the grace after meals that you will have at the end of the entire meal. There are some authorities that say that even if you wine during the meal, you have to make your own separate after blessing on the wine. Again, you'll have the different opinions that will give you a protective
sanction for whatever you decide to do. Therefore, to avoid a situation of doubt, it is best not to drink wine before washing hands for the meal. Unless he drinks a cup of wine after the grace after meals, and then he recites an after blessing after that. Let me give you an example. I'll explain to this in a second.
And that way in the end caps both before the meal, after the meal he's drinking wine and during the meal and then he recites an after blessing for the wine. Let me just tell you like this, an interesting thing. There's a custom that some people have when they recite the grace after meals with three people or more. So there's a special part of the grace after meals.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (22:35.796)
that you hold the wine, the person who's leading the grace after meals, okay, the rikata mazon, the zimmun, okay, where he invites everyone to pray together. So the one who leads that will hold a glass of wine and then he'll drink the wine after he's done the rikata mazon. I never understood why we do this, but now I understand why. Because since you drink wine by kiddish in the beginning of the meal, so think Friday night, how do we begin the meal with wine?
Then we have our meal, maybe or maybe not. It's possible that you do or do not have wine during the meal. Then you do the grace after meal, which is the conclusion of the meal. But according to some opinions, it doesn't qualify for the wine that you drank before the meal. So therefore, after they finish the grace after meals, he'll drink a glass of wine and then recite another after blessing for that. And that sort of is the end cap.
for the wine that he drank before. Like wine, liquor too can serve as an appetizer. if one wants to drink liquor before the meal, whether he drinks it during the meal, or he will not drink it during the meal, he should take care. If he can, it's preferable from not to drink it before the meal.
measure that would require an after blessing, which we'll talk about again, soon we'll talk about this. If you drink a quantity that's not enough to be considered a sizable amount, then you don't have to make an after blessing. This is regarding all foods, because it's not considered a sizable enough amount of food or drink. Aval.
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (24:34.385)
So now if he drinks more, if he drinks a whole shot, a big shot of whiskey, it's going to be perhaps falling into the category of uncertainty. And a person should avoid a situation of uncertainty. And finally, halacha 3, Gimel, so we're chapter 39, halacha number 3, the final halacha of this chapter. If someone wants to eat...
before washing his hands for the meal, different types of Mizonot food. What are Mizonot food? Pretzels, cakes, cookies, foods that are pastries that are requiring the Mizonot blessing. Kugon honeykuchen, which is honey cake, or egg kichel, or different types of, again, are different types of, different types of crackers.
All things that are made really of flour, but are not bread. My pretzels are made of flour and water, but they're not bread. And we're gonna talk about this later about the different blessings for them. All these different types of foods that are more sweet, they're eaten more as snacks than eaten as a meal. Nobody eats cake for their meal. You eat cake, maybe you do, because you like cake. right, it's not your meal.
It's nice delicious pastry, but it's not considered bread. Where the after blessing is the ala mikhyo. Whether you eat it during the meal or not. They are exempt with the obligation of the after blessing after the meal. Because the blessing of
The grace after meal qualifies for the blessing of alamichyev for those pastries. One can rely on this provided that there shouldn't be a long period of time between the time you ate the cake and the time that you washed for the bread. However, if he does have a lengthy interruption...
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (26:55.662)
If you're going to have an extended period of time between eating the cake and having your meal, which sometimes can happen because you're like, you know what? I just had so much cake. It was so delicious. We'll have the meal in an hour. Right? We'll take a walk first, right? In such a case, you should recite the after blessing for the cake and then later you're going to eat the bread and that is fine. Okay. So I hope I've sufficiently confused you.
Okay, so God willing, next week we'll clarify this a little bit more. My dear friends, this concludes this episode of the.
Everyday Judaism podcast. And now we are opening the floor for the Ask Away segment. I'm looking forward to hearing your questions. For those of you online, you're welcome to join us on the Ask Away segment by emailing us, askaway at torchweb.org, askaway at T-O-R-C-H-W-E-B.org. We have a few questions this week that we're going to address from our online listeners and viewers, and I'm looking forward to addressing them.
Till then, my dear friends, have a magnificent week.
Intro (Announcement)
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