© 2008
How bread differs from cake, and how cake differs from pasta.
by Rabbi Yair Spolter and Rabbi Shraga Simmons
In the previous class we began learning about the bracha "mezonot." Today
we continue along the same subject, exploring the topic of baked goods and
their respective brachot.
As we mentioned earlier, since grains that are processed and cooked (or
baked) become a satiating dish, they receive the bracha Mezonot. When
these same grains1 are ground into flour, made into a dough or batter,
and then baked, they attain an even higher status of food: bread or cake.
In terms of brachot, baked goods are divided into three categories. It will
be helpful for us to learn a few Hebrew terms:
1
This rule does not apply to rice, since rice is not considered as important as the five grains. The bracha on rice bread
is mezonot (Orach Chaim 208:7, with Mishnah Berurah 28, 29).
1
Category 1 - Bread is defined as a baked dough, consisting primarily of
flour and water. It has a loaf-like and dry texture.
Category 2 - Pat Haba B’Kisnin (the first word is often pronounced Pas)
is a baked dough that does not quite resemble bread, and is generally eaten
as a snack. Examples are cake and crackers.
Category 3 - Ma’aseh Kedeira is made from grains that were cooked and
have a moist texture, like spaghetti and oatmeal.
We will now explain each of these categories in detail, and learn the correct
bracha to say.
Category 1 – Bread
In the last class we learned that the bracha Mezonot was prescribed for
foods that are filling and nutritious.2 Due to the significant level of
sustenance that they provide, these foods are considered more important
than other foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, drinks and
sweets (but try telling that to your kids!).
There is one food – bread – that is considered
even more important than Mezonot, because it
is the staple of every meal and the most
essential of all foods. The Sages therefore
formulated
a
special
bracha
for
bread:
Hamotzee lechem min ha'aretz – "Who brings
forth bread from the ground."3
So whether it’s a bagel, pita, rye bread or hot
dog bun, the bracha is Hamotzee.
2
See Biur Halacha 208:8 that Mezonot is valid if said on any satiating food.
3
Orach Chaim 167:2. When eating less than a kezayit (approximately half a slice) of bread, you should wash your
hands, but without saying the blessing Netilat Yadayim; then say Hamotzee.
2
Before we move on to discuss the other two categories of baked good, let’s
learn a special halacha that pertains to bread. In addition to the unique
bracha formulated for bread (Hamotzee), the Sages also required washing
one's hands before eating bread. This hand-washing is known as Netilat
Yadayim, and is required whenever Hamotzee is recited.4
Here’s the Pathways easy 10-step guide:
1) Remove any rings from your fingers.5
2) Fill a vessel with at least 5 ounces of water.6
3) Raise the cup with your right hand, then pass it to your left hand.7
4) Pour water twice over the right hand, getting every area of the
hand wet on both sides from the wrist down.8
5) Pass the cup to your right hand, and pour water twice over your
left hand.9
6) Hold your hands upward, so the water drips toward the wrist and
not the fingers.10
7) Recite the blessing, “Al Netilat Yadayim.”11
8) Dry your hands on a towel.12
9) Without making any interruption, hold the bread with all 10
fingers, raise it slightly, and recite the blessing Hamotzee.13
10) Dip the bread in salt,14 and eat!
On JewishPathways.com, you can view a short instructional video: “How to
Wash Hands before Eating Bread.”
4
Orach Chaim 158:1; Mishnah Berurah 168:25
5
Orach Chaim 161:3
Orach Chaim 158:10, with Mishnah Berurah 37
7
Beit Yosef (OC 4); Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 2:3
6
8
Orach Chaim 162:1-2
Orach Chaim 162:1-2; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 40:4
10
Orach Chaim 162:1
11
Orach Chaim 158:11
9
12
Orach Chaim 158:12
Orach Chaim 167:3-4, with Mishnah Berurah 23
14
Orach Chaim 167:5, with Rema. The bread is dipped in salt to recall the Temple offerings which were always salted
13
(Leviticus 2:13); our eating with the right intentions and hosting guests at our table invokes a similar merit (Mishnah
Berurah 167:30, 231:5).
3
And here is the text for Netilat Yadayim:
Now, let’s continue with the other two categories of baked goods.
Category 2 – Pat Haba B’Kisnin
The second category of grain foods is called Pat Haba B’Kisnin. These foods
differ from “bread” in that:
• you would typically not use it to make a sandwich
• you would typically not eat it with meat or fish
• it is usually eaten as a snack or dessert, not eaten as a full meal15
Now let’s get more technical. There are three specific characteristics which
define a grain food as Pat Haba B’Kisnin, and not as “bread”:16
15
16
Mishnah Berurah 168:23; The Laws of Brachos, pg. 234
Orach Chaim 168:7
4
Type A - Sweet Dough: The main ingredients in bread are flour and
water. When other ingredients are added (e.g. eggs, sugar, honey, cocoa,
fruit juice), the result is a sweeter tasting pastry – what we typically call
“cake.”
When does “bread” become “cake”? If the volume of ingredients added to
the dough is more than the volume of water, and the resulting pastry has
a sweet taste like cake, then it is considered cake and not bread.17
Walk into any bakery and you’ll see lots of
examples of this: cupcakes, coffee cake, honey
cake and croissants. (And if you’re on a diet,
remember that smelling is calorie-free!)
What would be the bracha on raisin bread?
Let’s consider whether it fits the definition we
mentioned above – would you use it to make a
sandwich, eat it with meat or fish, or eat it as a
full meal? Well, that depends. If there are only
a few raisins in the bread, then the bracha
would be Hamotzee. But if there are lots of
raisins packed into the bread, the bracha is Mezonot.18
Type B – Filled Dough: Bread is usually not filled with any added
ingredients. So a pastry or a pie that is baked with a filling is not considered
bread, and their bracha is Mezonot. The filling must be significant enough to
change the taste of the pastry.19
This includes things like blintzes, cheese Danish, a hot dog wrapped in filo
dough, borekas, apple pie, or any dough filled with chocolate, nuts, cherry
filling, potato, meat,20 etc.
17
Rema, as explained by Mishnah Berurah 168:33. According to Sephardic tradition, as long as the sweetness is
detectable, the bracha is Mezonot (Orach Chaim 168:7).
18
Laws of Brachos, pg. 234, citting Pri Megadim (Mishbetzot Zahav 168:7)
Mishnah Berurah 168:33
20
See Orach Chaim 168:17, with Mishnah Berurah, that meat-filled pastries that are made as a snack are Mezonot. If
19
they are large and meant as a meal, however, then they are like bread and require Hamotzee, even if a small amount is
eaten (unless they are made with sweet dough).
5
Here’s another case to consider: What if you had a nice piece of apple pie,
and decided to eat only the crust? Although this crust is no longer “filled,”
but since it was originally baked with the filling, the bracha is still
Mezonot.21
Type C - Thin and Crispy: Bread is usually soft and has mass. Thin, brittle
baked goods, on the other hand, are generally eaten as a snack. Therefore,
foods like crackers, pretzels and breadsticks, are not considered bread, and
the bracha is Mezonot.22
To summarize the rule: Baked goods that are any one of these three types
– tasty dough, filled, or thin and crispy – are not considered bread. Rather,
they are Pat Haba B’Kisnin, whose bracha is Mezonot.
A bit of foreshadowing to our next lesson:
There are certain situations where the
bracha on Pat Haba B’Kisnin will not be
Mezonot,
but
rather
Hamotzee.
Stay
tuned for details.
Category 3 – Ma’aseh Kedeira
Until now we’ve been speaking about grain foods that are baked. If,
however, the dough is not baked, but is cooked, the resulting food does
not resemble bread at all. Bread has a loaf-like and dry texture; Ma’aseh
Kedeira does not. Therefore it is considered neither bread nor Pat Haba
B’Kisnin, and bracha is always Mezonot. The term for such foods is Ma’aseh
Kedeira, and examples include:
• pasta23
• oatmeal24
• matzah balls25
21
22
23
24
Mishnah Berurah 168:27
Mishnah Berurah 168:35, 36. We’ll discuss the exception of matzah in our next class.
Rema – Orach Chaim 168:13
Orach Chaim 208:2
6
What about something that is fried, like a pancake? In this case, it depends
how much oil is used: If the pancakes are deep-fried,26 that is akin to
“cooking” and the pancakes are Category 3 - Ma’aseh Kedeira. Whereas if
the pancakes are fried in just a bit of oil (i.e. to keep them from burning),
then they are considered “baked” and in Category 2 - Pat Haba B’Kisnin.27
(This distinction is important in terms of whether the pancakes will be
subject to the occasional exception where the bracha will be Hamotzee, as
we’ll discuss in the next class.)
A few more applications of these rules:
• Donuts – since they are deep-fried,
they are Category 3 - Ma’aseh Kedeira,
with the bracha Mezonot.28
• Bagels – although they are cooked,
they are subsequently baked, and the
bracha is therefore Hamotzee.29
• French Toast – this is regular bread which is fried in only a bit of oil, so
the bracha remains Hamotzee.30
This concludes class #10 on Hilchot Brachot. In the next lesson, we will
learn about the “Big Exception” to the rule about saying Mezonot on baked
goods.
25
26
Mishnah Berurah 168:59
Rema – Orach Chaim 168:14, with Mishnah Berurah 87
27
V’Zot HaBracha, ch.4, footnote 20; see also Halachos of Brochos, pp. 492-493
There is a difference of opinion how to categorize donuts; see Orach Chaim 168:13, with Mishnah Berurah, and
Rema 168:17.
28
29
30
V’Zot HaBracha, pg.372:4; Chazon Ish (OC 26:9)
Mishnah Berurah 168:56
7