[Avodah] sprouted wheat

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Nov 07, 2010 at 12:08:09PM -0500, David Riceman wrote:
> One of our guests this Shabbos mentioned that she buys bread made out of  
> flour ground from sprouted wheat.  She called the OU and they told her  
> that it had the bracha hamotzi because it's considered no different than  
> normal wheat flour.  How do they know that?

IIUC from <http://www.ou.org/pdf/tt/5766/698.pdf>, which was written by
someone in the OU who didn't know they had a maskanah, or the conclusion
wasn't reached yet...

Then the "Vebbe Rebbe" continues:

    The question is as follows.

    A wheat kernel, if planted, breaks down and is replaced by a stalk,
    formed by the grain and other nutrients from the ground. There are
    various opinions on how long it takes for grain to be considered
    rooted in the ground, as the beginning of a new entity. (See T'rumat
    HaDeshen 191 and Shaagat Aryeh, Chadashot 7, in regard to stalks that
    become permitted when the omer is brought, who rule three days and
    two weeks, respectively. See also, N'darim 5759, regarding t'ruma and
    other halachic entities that lose their status after being planted.)
    However, one can distinguish between being rooted in the ground and
    maintaining wheat's characteristics.

    At what point of the kernel's decomposition does it lose the status
    of wheat? Does it depend on its outer appearance or perhaps the taste
    of its product? Is the process uniform throughout the kernel or do
    certain sections change chemically more quickly? If it is not uniform,
    what is the halacha when part of the kernel is significantly altered,
    while other parts remain intact?

    There are four arguable approaches:

    1) The kernel remains wheat, and the bread made from it is regular
    bread (including regarding taking challah, which our local producer
    does);

    2) Although the kernel is wheat, its unique taste makes it deserve
    the b'racha of mezonot (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 168:7);

    3) It is not wheat, but the bread is a normal use of sprouted grains
    which warrants ha'adama (see Mishna Berura 208:33);

    4) It is like corn bread, upon which we make shehakol (Shulchan
    Aruch 208:8).

    The main choices seem to be #1 and #4; our present inclination is #4.

But he does explain #1. Not that I'm taking sides, but since you asked
about that shitah in particular, to buttress that position with points
made earlier in that Q&A piece:

One could invoke SA OC 208:9, that bread made from wheat flower and other
flour is halachic bread, as long as 1/6 or 1/8 of the flour is wheat.
Wheat sprouts used for baking include kernels that still look like
wheat. When ground up, more than 1/6 is still from the wheat kernel.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
micha at aishdas.org        but add justice, don't complain about heresy,
http://www.aishdas.org   but add faith, don't complain about ignorance,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but add wisdom.     - R AY Kook, Arpilei Tohar