[Avodah] Mezonos Becomes HaMotzi

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Sat, Sep 17, 2016 at 08:24:33PM +1000, Rabbi Meir G. Rabi via Avodah wrote:
: In the same way that bread we eat today would without question be deemed to
: be Mezonos in Talmudic times (and we may similarly reflect - in the reverse
: - on soft Matza) as we've added oil and sugar...

Back a couple of more steps...

The whole concept of meal changed.

Their meals were generally a bunch of foods you ate on/with some flatbread
-- pita, laffa / taboon, Indian rota, dosa, etc... Those foods being
"lefes". This is what we're talking about when we speak of someone
being qoveia se'udah on bread, and the other foods (minus the usual)
being covered by its berakhos.

Picture a typical Israeli or Sepharadi appetizer course.

I therefore wonder how we knew these rules still applied as those of us
in the golah outside the Middle East evolved away from that kind of meal.
And why they would. Maybe sandwiches are similar enough to think the
same notion of qevi'as se'udah would apply. But in general?

I similarly do not understand how we made this decision when it came
to the berakhah on the loaf-shaped bread itself. How did hamotzi come
to be applied to loaf shaped breads altogether, since they aren't used
to scoop up lefes. Even more reason to assume our breads that have more
than the basic two ingredients are pas haba bekisnin; but even a bread
from a simple dough isn't being used the same.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man is equipped with such far-reaching vision,
micha at aishdas.org        yet the smallest coin can obstruct his view.
http://www.aishdas.org                         - Rav Yisrael Salanter
Fax: (270) 514-1507