A discussion on the bracha rishona of wheat wraps and other bread-like products
BY: RABBI TSVI HEBER
I would like to express my sincerest hakaras hatov to the COR – Kashruth Council of Canada for the opportunity to serve the community as its Director of Community Kosher. Serving in this position and working together with rabbonim chashuvim and respected Talmidei Chochomim daily allows me unique access to many contemporary shailos in hilchos brachos that pertain to the various types of modern food products which proudly bear the COR symbol. For halacha l’maaseh please consult with your rov.
Let us try to clarify the brachos of the following foods:
- Soft wheat wraps – hamotzee or mezonos?
- Triscuits – mezonos or ha’adoma?
The Mishna¹ presents a rule that the bracha on all produce, including grains that grow from the ground is borei pri ha’adama. There is an exception for bread made from the “five grains” — wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats²— whose bracha is hamotzee lechem min ha’aretz. The Gemara³ adds another exception which is that any type of dish (“mazone”) made from “seven grains” — the five listed above with the addition of rice and millet — require the bracha of borei menei mezonos.⁴
What is the basis for the transformation of the bracha of these grains from ha’adoma to the brachos of mezonos or hamotzee? Is there also a basis for a bracha to transform from mezonos to hamotzee or to be reduced from hamotzee to mezonos? If we can establish a framework for the classification of bread-like products, then perhaps we can make headway in determining the brachos for the products listed above as well as other contemporary bread-type products.
Wheat and barley are the first two of the שבעת המינים — the seven species of fruit that Eretz Yisroel is praised for.⁵ The other three of the five grains — spelt, rye and oats, are species that belong to the wheat and barley families and are also included in the שבעת המינים.⁶ Breads attain superiority since 1) they satiate⁷ and 2) they are the main sustenance of man.⁸ For these reasons, breads were assigned the special bracha of hamotzee. Furthermore, breads are made from flour and water, kneaded into dough, and that flour has already lost its ha’adoma when it was ground as the bracha on flour is shehakol.⁹ When flour is then converted into bread, it must take on a new bracha.¹⁰
The bracha of mezonos, on the other hand, is a more general bracha¹¹ that is applied even to foods that are not from the שבעת המינים, like rice and millet, but whose function is choshuve because these products satiate and are meal and bread supplements.¹² Alternatively, mezonos can apply even to a snack food whose function is not choshuve if any of the seven grains are converted first into flour and then baked. Once the bracha of ha’adama is lost, the new resulting bracha is mezonos and not hamotzee because it is a snack food.¹³
The Chaye Adam¹⁴ lists six characteristics which are present in “true” breads: 1) They are exclusively from the five grains; 2) The flour from these grains is mixed exclusively with water; 3) They are not filled or kneaded with sweet ingredients; 4) The dough batter should be thick; 5) The finished product should have a thickness to it; 6) They are baked and not cooked or fried. Any bread-like product that is lacking any one of these six characteristics does not qualify for hamotzee. On the other hand, the bracha of mezonos applies even when any or all these six characteristics are lacking, provided that the seven grains mentioned above were ground into flour and baked or were cooked or baked into a dish — a maaseh kedayra.¹⁵ However, if they were not made into a maaseh kedayra but rather cooked whole,¹⁶ toasted or even consumed raw, then the original bracha of ha’adoma is retained.¹⁷ This is because such grains do not satiate¹⁸ and are a snack.¹⁹
To summarize, hamotzee applies to the five grains which have been converted into breads, which are choshuve foods with a special function; mezonos applies to mazone even if they are not necessarily choshuve foods but whose function, like that of bread, is to satiate. Both hamotzee and mezonos are brachos that were applied after grains have lost their original bracha: hamotzee to breads which are inherently meal foods and mezonos to snack or dessert foods. The original bracha of ha’adoma applies when the food is not converted and does not even satiate.
The list of characteristics provided by the Chaye Adam to describe true bread must be further analyzed. Pas haba’ah b’kisnin is a variation of pas which does not meet all the characteristics. For example, if a dough is mixed with other juices or flavours (#2) or it is filled with sweet ingredients (#3) or it is made into a bread which is flat and crispy (#5) or a combination of these characteristics, then the product is still classified as pas. However, the bracha on such pas is mezonos because it is a snack or dessert food and does not function like pas.²⁰ When someone uses it in the context of a meal,²¹ then the bracha becomes hamotzee.
Another variation of pas which does not meet all the characteristics of the Chaye Adam is called truknin in the language of Chaza”l.²² Truknin is made from a liquid batter and is compacted and baked in a form creating a thick and fluffy bread-type product like sponge cake.²³ Truknin can be hamotzee even though it doesn’t meet all the Chaye Adam’s characteristics (#4) if, like pas haba’ah b’kisnin, it is consumed in the context of a meal. However, if it is consumed as a snack, then the bracha is mezonos because it does not function as pas.²⁴ Additionally, if the thin liquid batter is not compacted and is instead baked into a thin, loose product that does not resemble pas (#5), then the product can never achieve hamotzee even if eaten in the context of a meal because it is not pas.²⁵
Soft wheat wraps are made from a thick dough which is rolled very thin and lightly baked in an oven or on a pan. The finished products do not have all of the characteristics of bread because they are thin (#5) and they are deliberately underbaked and doughy which allows them to wrap around protein fillings such as meat, fish, cheese, or vegetables that are placed inside. Considering our discussion above, it would be difficult to argue that they are hamotzee since they are not choshuve — it is not normal to eat them alone without a filling. A bread-like product whose chashivus results merely from its function is mezonos, even if it is eaten in the context of a meal.²⁶
Triscuits are a cracker like product made from whole kernels of wheat that are steamed to add the right amount of moisture, dried and ultimately stretched into the long pieces of grain that are layered on top of one another by machines. Once they are layered properly, they are baked dry with some flavouring.
The manufacturing process of Triscuits is like that of Shredded Wheat/Weetabix, which is already discussed in the Poskim, many ruling that their bracha is mezonos while others are hesitant and claim that it is ha’adoma.²⁷ In light of our framework, we can suggest that a tavshil or maaseh kedayra satiate like bread and are eaten as bread/meal supplements. Triscuits and Shredded Wheat similarly act as bread/meal supplements rendering their bracha mezonos.
Rabbi Tsvi Heber is COR’s Director of Community Kosher
Kashruth Council of Canada | www.cor.ca — September 2023 / Tishrei 5784, The Halachic CORner, pp. 2–3
COR, the Kashruth Council of Canada, is one of the world’s largest kosher certification agencies, certifying thousands of products, restaurants, and facilities. Learn more at cor.ca, or read about our certification services at corkosher.com.