Class #038 VIDEO / Berachot 6.5 / Kiddush wine and the power of the time

Mishnah Berachot 6.5

Who recited the blessing on wine before the meal, with that blessing is exempted from the wine you drink after the meal.
Who recited the blessing on the appetizers before the meal, with that blessing is exempt from the snacks to eat after the meal.
Who recited the blessing on the bread exempts the appetizers, because they depend on the bread.
But who recited the blessing on the snacks not release the bread.
Beit Shammai says: The blessing on the snacks not exempt not even the dish stew that is eaten during the meal.

1. Summary text

The mishnah lays down five rules:

1. The one who blesses the wine before of the food, with this blessing is exempt from the wine you drink after of the food.
2. The one who blesses about appetizers before of the food, with this blessing is exempt from the snacks you eat after of the food.
3. The one who blesses on the bread exempts the appetizers, because they depend on the bread.
4. The one who blesses about appetizers no exempts the bread.
5. Beit Shammai maintains that the blessing on the snacks or even exempts a dish cooked is eaten during the meal.

Everything revolves around one key idea: what a blessing covers what foods, and when a blessing, “drag” to the other elements of the food.

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2. Background: treaty Berachot and chapter 6

2.1. Berachot in the Mishnah

The treaty Berachot addresses:

• Shema and its schedule.
• Tefillah (Amidá).
• Blessings on food and different situations.

Chapters 6-8 are focused on berachot on food, its classification and the order of priority.

2.2. Chapter 6: blessings in the framework of a meal

Chapter 6 examines in particular:

• What a blessing is said over each type of food.
• How does the relationship between food main (ikkar) and side (tafel).
• What foods are covered by the blessing on the bread, and which require the blessing independent.

Mishnah 6.5, fits into this scheme as a key piece on:

• Wine before and after the meal.
• Snacks (parperet / mezonot or snacks).
• Relationship of dependency with respect to the bread.

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3. Concepts halájicos fundamental

3.1. Ikkar and tafel (primary and secondary).

General rule:
If you eat a food main along with another that is secondary, recite the blessing only on the principal, and this exempts the secondary one.

In this mishnah:

• The bread it is the main food of the meal.
• The snacks they are considered to be secondary when they come to accompany the bread.
• But the snacks are, by themselves, no are sufficiently central to relieve the bread.

3.2. Distinction between “food” and “before/after”

The mishnah distinguishes three moments:

1. Before the meal: wine or snacks in advance.
2. During the meal: bread and dishes that make up the body of the food.
3. After the meal: wine or snacks later.

The question is: can a blessing pronounced on something in the first or third time also covers what it takes in the other?

4. Analysis line by line

4.1. Wine before and after the meal

Who recited the blessing on wine before the meal, with that blessing is exempted from the wine you drink after the meal.

Key points:

• The wine has a special status in halachah: “wine generates blessing”, that is to say, it has self-dignity, enter or accompanies the important moments (kiddush, birkat hamazon, etc).
• If it is known that he will drink wine so much before as after the food, the blessing on the wine covers all consumption of wine is part of this framework of food.
• In the background is the idea that it is a same session of consumptionan “event” food.

In the practical halachic later, this connects to:

• Difference between wine kiddush, wine that accompanied the meal and wine taken after birkat hamazon, etc
• The need or not to recite a new blessing when there is a significant disruption or a change of place.

4.2. Snacks before and after the meal

Who recited the blessing on the appetizers before the meal, with that blessing is exempt from the snacks to eat after the meal.

Here we apply a similar principle to that of the wine, but on a type of food that is less “noble”.

• “Snacks” (parperet / snacks) refers to the small meals that do not constitute the axis of the seudá: fruits, seeds, sweets, small portions of the dough, etc
• The mishnah assumes that:
  • If you eat the same type of food before and after the meal,
  • And it is reasonable to think that you are part of the same framework,
  • Then the first blessing covers both times.

It is important to note that still, no mention here of the bread. That comes in the two following statements.

4.3. The bread exempts snacks

Who recited the blessing on the bread exempts the appetizers, because they depend on the bread.

The bread is considered to be the center of the food:

• The blessing “HaMotzí lejem min haaretz” is designed for the food that defines the seudá.
• Once that was blessed on the bread, everything accompanying the bread (appetizers, salads, side dishes, typical, etc) is included in that blessing, always consider themselves to be part of a normal meal with bread.

The phrase “because they depend on the bread” is almost the definition of tafel:

• Snacks are not a consumer, independent but are subordinate to the bread.
• Therefore, your blessing is included in the bread.

Practical consequence:

• If one sits down to eat bread and he eats salad, hummus, olives, etc, is not recited a blessing for each additional accompaniment.
• Everything is covered by HaMotzí, provided that the primary purpose is for food with bread.

4.4. The snacks not release the bread

But who recited the blessing on the snacks not release the bread.

Here you set the asymmetry:

• The bread exempts snacks does not mean the process can be reversed.
• The appetizers, to not be the focus of the meal, not have the strength to cover the bread.

This responds to a practical case:

• Someone test something (fruits, snacks, cookies), and, later, you decide you also eat bread and turn that into a seudá formal.
• Even if you already said a blessing on those snacks, you must also recite HaMotzí to get to the breadbecause the bread introduces another category of food, top and middle.

This point reflects the hierarchy of food in the halachah of blessings:

1. Bread (seudá complete).
2. Wine (special status).
3. Other foods (according to their type and function).

4.5. Opinion of Beit Shammai

Beit Shammai says: The blessing on the snacks not exempt not even the dish stew that is eaten during the meal.

Beit Shammai goes further:

• Not only says that the blessing on snacks does not relieve the bread,
• But even to a cooked dish it is eaten during the same meal.

That is to say, for Beit Shammai:

• The blessing on something “light” or pre (snacks) does not cover other elements even if they are not bread but they do represent a primary food source or important to (a stew, a hot plate, etc).
• Each type of food, “serious” (bread or cooked food main) requires your blessing of his own, even if it was preceded by appetizers blessed.

Beit Hillel (the opinion rules later) it is more flexible and tends to allow the blessing initial cover more items, according to the case and the intention.

5. Development talmudic and halachic later

But here is not quote extensively talmudic texts, the main development later revolves around three axes:

1. Initial intention (kavaná):
   • If you do the blessing initial one had in mind to continue eating/passing more of the same type of food, the blessing is extended.
   • If it is added there were no plans to, and constitutes a new category of consumption, may require an nieuwe blessing.
2. Change of place / break:
   • If a change of room, home or there is a pause prolonged between the intakes, certain authorities may require a new blessing, even on the same type of food.
3. Definition of what is a “dependent” of the bread:
   • Discussion about what foods are considered to be naturally part of a meal with bread, salads, side dishes, soups that are served to accompany) and which are considered to be added independent (desserts, fruits that are eaten by themselves, special sweets).

In the post-encoding (as in the Shulchan Aruch), discusses specific cases:

• What dessert bread?
• What came in and out of the food?
• What someone who started with fruit and then decided to eat bread?

The mishnah 6.5 is the basis of all these derivations.

6. Key concept

6.1. The food as a “unit halachic”

The mishnah conceived the food not as a sum of a snack, but as a unit:

• There is a food that defines it (bread).
• There are elements that introduce or enhance (wine, snacks).
• There is continuity between what you eat before, during, and after.

Blessings are structured according to the unit:

• A blessing appropriate initial can cover everything that is reasonably included in the plan for that meal.
• But you can't cover that introduces a new dimension (like the bread creates a seudá formal).

6.2. Hierarchy of food

Order of importance:

1. Bread: defines the seudá, exempts accompaniments.
2. Dishes cooked / food strong: core of the intake, though not always defined seudá without bread.
3. Wine: have a special status, linked to sacred moments and the joy.
4. Appetizers, snacks, fruit: side, unless they are eaten as a main meal (e.g., snack without bread).

The debate between Beit Shammai and the vision more flexible (associated to Beit Hillel) reflects disagreements over how far extends the first blessing.

6.3. Functional dependency, not just material

The criterion is not only material (“what food is highest in calories” or “bigger”), but functional:

• What do you eat?
• What role has within the framework of the food?
• Is it mere accompaniment or is the shaft?

That's why a small piece of bread can hold a large amount of accompaniments, while a blessing on a side dish you can't hold the bread.

7. Practical applications of modern (at the conceptual level)

Without going into fine details of psak halachah (that require a rabbi competent), they can illustrate some cases conceptual:

1. Drinking wine before eating and then another drink later, in the same place and without major disruptions
   • The logic of the mishnah suggests that a single blessing on the wine might cover both instances, if it is understood as part of the same food.
2. Eat snacks (nuts, cookies) and then decide to eat bread with a full meal
   • The blessing on the snacks not relieve you of to say HaMotzí on the bread, because this introduces a new category: a seudá formal.
3. Deciding to eat only bread with accompaniments salty (salad, hummus, etc)
   • One blessing on the bread covers all of these side dishes, to be secondary to the bread.
4. Snacks taken before the meal, and repeated later in the same session
   • A blessing can cover both periods, provided that all consider the same framework of food and not have interruptions that “cut”.

8. Central message of the mishnah

In summary, Berachot 6.5 teaches:

1. The blessings are not formulas isolated, but are organized according to the structure of the food.
2. The bread it is the center of gravity of the seudá: your blessing crawls along the side.
3. The snacks and even the wine they have the capacity to extend your blessing within the same framework of food, but it do not replace the blessing due to food to inaugurate a higher category (such as bread or a main dish according to Beit Shammai).
4. The halachah agrees to think about what you are doing, what they eat and how that related to the different foods each other: a pedagogy of consciousness and order even in something as mundane as eating.