[Avodah] Sfardi Psaq On Matza And Qvi`ath S`udah

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Zev Sero wrote:

> Keviut Seudah does not simply mean using it as the anchor for a
> meal; there are shiurim given, ranging up to six beitsim or more,
> which is quite a lot.

Yes, there are indeed such shitos, but there is a wide rage of opinions.

At the other extreme, Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe O"C 3:32) wrote about someone who wants to avoid having to say Birkas Hamzon at a wedding: "Therefore, in this country, where we have so much variety [of food], they eat only a little bit of bread, he should not eat cake, except less than the corresponding amount of bread that would be eaten at a meal where one eats meat and other varieties. And when it is difficult for him to measure this, he should not eat cake then."

He repeats this psak in the last paragraph of IM O"C 4:41.

I can't find it right now, but I'm pretty sure that elsewhere he specifically said that it doesn't matter when he eats this pas habaa b'kisnin -- regardless of whether it is eaten in the beginning or end of the meal, if it is the same amount as the amount of bread which would be eaten at a meal, then he must say Birkas Hamazon.

Getting back to RZS's comment that "Keviut Seudah does not simply mean using it as the anchor for a meal", it seems to me that according to Rav Moshe, one could have Keviut Seudah even *without* using it as "the anchor for the meal". Just as one might eat his kezayis of bread at some point in the meal without eating any other food together with that bread, so too if one eats a corresponding amount of cake in a meal, then the volume alone will suffice to require Birkas Hamzon, even if it is not eaten together with other food.

Lest anyone suspect that the opinions I'm citing are a minority view, I'd like to call your attention to http://tinyurl.com/7mlfgbe (http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/the_mezonos_roll_is_it_a_piece_of_cake_by_rabbi_yaakov_luban/) which explains that this shita was the basis of an OU policy change a number of years ago. Until that time, the word "mezonos" was prominently stamped on the wrapper of the rolls which were served with OU-certified airline meals. But because of this shita, that word was removed. And I'm confident that most people would agree that these rolls as far smaller than the 6 beitzim cited by RZS.

(Again, to clarify: I am not saying that anyone has to follow this shita. My only point is that it is *a* mainstream opinion, among other valid opinions.)

Akiva Miller

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