Hilchot Berachot

For the past three summers I have given shiurim at Midreshet Rachel v'Chaya on the subject of Berachot.

During the rest of the year I teach Hilchot Shabbat (which is fairly straight forward) and Hilchot Kashrut (which is much more difficult). But always the most difficult subject is Berachot.

There are many reasons why it is the most difficult subject -

* Everyone has to say brachot - even children, so sometimes people never progress past a children's understanding of the laws

* Modern food is not as simple as food in the time of the Talmud or Shulchan Aruch. It is not always easy to know what the main ingredients are - let alone which is the main and which is secondary

* Eating habits have changed. People don't base their meals around bread necessarily nowadays (and certainly don't eat everything with bread)

* Unlike some other areas of halacha, you can't assume that someone religious knows the laws of brachot, so you can't just copy what everyone else does

* Some laws depend on kavana. Two people could eat the same food at the same time yet make different brachot

* Many foods have no clear psak halacha as to what bracha to say (e.g. rice, rice cakes, certain breakfast cereals etc.)

* In addition one must have kavana when saying brachot - often we forget to have kavana while reciting brachot!

So, even though brachot is perhaps one of the most important areas of halacha, it is not usually learned in depth and has been relegated to rote.

And I have to teach all of this to the beginner level in 9 or 10 classes! An impossible task!

Here are my source sheets. Some people have found them very helpful. Don't use them for p'sak halacha - always ask your local Orthodox Rabbi (or e-mail me if you can't find an LOR). And please tell me of any mistakes you find (there are probably many).

OK, here are the sheets:

Hilchot Berachot

You are what you eat - brachot and competitive eating

I am going to begin teaching the laws of brachot from next week, both at Shapells and at Midreshet Rachel (and I just found out in the middle of writing this that I'll be teaching a bekiyus shiur of gemara brachos - the 7th perek). Brachot is by far the most complicated halachic area that I teach, and it is quite unfair that it is one of the most basic areas of halacha, which even kids are expected to know how to keep.
One of the many difficulties is to know what bracha to say on which food, a problem exacerbated by the complex food production techniques - we don't even know what we are eating some of the time! Not to mention what is the main component and what is secondary. Life would be so much simpler if we just ate simple foods that were prepared at home.

Random thoughts- Do they have meaning?: What The World Eats has a link to a wonderful little photo essay showing what different peoples in different countries eat (and how much they spend on food a week). Wouldn't life be simpler if we spent only $5 a week of food and ate more healthily. The essay is here - well worth a look: Time photo essay

At the other extreme we have 'achila gassa' which is eating not for enjoyment or pleasure but just to stuff food in. This kind of eating does not require a bracha at all. But did you know there are world rankings for 'competitive eating'? Number 1 in the world is Takeru Kobayashi.

He competed against a kodayak bear for goodness sake!!!

But June 2nd was a significant date (apart from being my birthday) because he was finally beaten then (last week in fact). He was beaten by an American called Joey Chestnut. He ate 59 hotdogs in 12 minutes!!!

If you are really up to it you can watch a clip of him here:





Bon Apetit!