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ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Berachos 37

Questions

1)

(a) The Beraisa has said that rice or millet bread requires a Berachah before and after - like Ma'aseh Kedeirah. Now the Berachah over Ma'aseh Kedeirah is 'Mezonos', so it appears from the Beraisa that the Berachah over rice and millet is 'Mezonos', not like the opinion of Rav and Shmuel?

(b) The Gemara's initial answer is that we are only comparing rice and millet to Ma'aseh Kedeirah, inasmuch as they require a Berachah both before and after (because there were times that a Berachah Acharonah was not recited over all foods - see Chidushei ha'Gra), but not necessarily *the same* Berachah.

(c) 'Chilka' is when the wheat kernels are ground into two; 'Targis', into three; 'Zariz', into four and 'Irsan', into five.

(d) The author of the Beraisa which includes rice among the things whose Berachah is 'Mezonos' is Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri, who holds that rice is a type of grain, and someone who eats it on Pesach is Chayav Kareis (the Rabbanan disagree, and it is according to them that we learnt earlier, that the Berachah over rice is 'Shehakol'). (That is what the Gemara writes. It is not however clear, why the Berachah over rice should not be 'Adamah'?)

2)
(a) If one cooks bread, then over pieces that are a Kezayis (the Gemara does not actually specify the size of the pieces - see Tosfos 37b d.h. 'Chavitza') at the time of cooking, one recites 'ha'Motzi', and over pieces that are less than a Kezayis, 'Mezonos'. (One can generally assume, that 'ha'Motzi' before, requires Bensching afterwards, and 'Mezonos', 'Al ha'Michyah'.)

(b) By rice that is baked and then cooked, the Beraisa does not differentiate between large pieces and small ones - the Berachah is always 'Mezonos'.

(c) According to Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri, who maintains that rice is considered a kind of grain, one ought to recite over it 'ha'Motzi', not Mezonos, so the author of this Beraisa must be the Rabbanan.

(d) Having just proved that the author of the Beraisa is the Rabbanan (of Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri), who nevertheless rule that the Berachah over rice is 'Mezonos', we are left with a clear disproof to Rav and Shmuel, who maintain that 'Mezonos' is confined to the five types of grain.

3)
(a) It is Rebbi Yehudah who requires a specific Berachah to be made over each individual species - 'Adamah' for legumes, 'Borei Minei Desha'im' for greens and 'Borei Minei Zera'im' for grain.

(b) According to Rabban Gamliel, one needs to Bensch after eating any of the seven species for which Eretz Yisrael is praised.
Whereas, according to the Rabbanan, one recites a Berachah Achas Me'ein Shalosh ('Al ha'Michyah', 'Al ha'Eitz' or 'Al ha'Gefen').

(c) According to Rabban Gamliel, the Berachah Acharonah over rice and millet is 'Al ha'Michyah', whereas the Rabbanan hold that the appropriate Berachah is 'Borei Nefashos'.

37b---------------------------------------37b

Questions

4)

(a) The author of the above Beraisa cannot be Rabban Gamliel, because, if he requires 'Bensching' after dates and broken wheat-kernels, then how can he rule that the Berachah over small pieces of bread is 'Mezonos'?

(b) Consequently, the author of the Beraisa must be the Rabbanan, and we will have to amend the wording of the Beraisa to read that, by rice, he does not recite a Berachah at all (meaning a Berachah of importance, but only the plain 'Borei Nefashos').

5)
(a) Rav Yosef (who does not differentiate between bread that is then cooked and bread that is not - in this regard) learns to differentiate between pieces that consist of a Kezayis and those that do not, from the Menachos, where the Kohen recites 'ha'Motzi' over a Minchah, which, according to the Beraisa, was broken into pieces of a Kezayis.

(b) When the owner of the Korban (according to Rashi - see Tosfos d.h. 'Hayah') donates a Korban Minchah for the first time, or even after a long time not having donated, he recites a 'Shehechiyanu'.

(c) According to Rav Yosef, the Beraisa which includes a Kezayis made up of crumbs, in the Dinim of Chameitz and Matzah, speaks when the crumbs have been broken off from a large piece of bread, which is still intact (otherwise, in his opinion, the crumbs will require 'Mezonos').

(d) The Beraisa which prescribes Kareis to someone who eats a Kezayis of crumbs, cannot be speaking when he kneaded the dough into a piece consisting of a Kezayis, because then, the Seifa, which writes - regarding the time within which he must eat it in order to be Chayav - 've'Hu she'Ach*lan* bi'Chedei Achilas Peras', should have written 've'Hu she'Ach*lo*' etc. (since it would then be only one piece).

6)
(a) Rava adds that one recites a Motzi over a 'Chavitza' (comprising pieces less than a Kezayis), only if the pieces still retain the form of bread.

(b) 'Teruknin' is another name for 'Kuva de'Ar'a', which is a form of pancake, made by placing flour and water in a cavity in the oven, where it bakes.

(c)

1. 'Gevil Martach' is a pancake made by mixing flour and water in a dish before pouring it on to the oven, where the heat will quickly bake it.
2. 'Nahama de'Hindeka' is an Indian dough, which was baked on a spit-rod, while one constantly smeared it with oil or with egg-water and oil.
3. 'Lechem he'Asuy le'Kutach' is a dough that is baked in the sun, rather than in an oven.
7)
(a) 'Lechem he'Asuy le'Kutach' is Patur from Chalah, only when it is shaped haphazardly; If it is nicely shaped in the form of bread, then it is Chayav Chalah.

(b) The appropriate Berachah over 'Kuva de'Ar'a' is 'Mezonos', because it is just 'a mixture', not really bread.

(c) If one fixes one's meal over it (as opposed to eating it casually), then one recites 'ha'Motzi'.

(d) One can use Kuv'a de'Ar'a to fulfill one's obligation of Matzah at the Seider, since it certainly qualifies as 'Lechem Oni'.

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