[Avodah] Having Mishaloach Manos Delivered vis Amazon

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Micha Berger wrote:

> The SA requires two manos, not two foods. Two foods, or the
> AhS's version of two berakhos, is minhag.
>
> Which raises a question I would CYLOR before following your
> practice. Say I would choose to give a salad and croutons for
> one. Presumably it is likely the person would put the croutons
> into the salad, and I only gave one maneh!

Do you have a source for this distinction? The Aruch Hashulchan is very
clear that "two manos" DOES mean "two types of food."

Aruch Hashulchan 695:14 writes: "One has to send two types of food ... But
two pieces of a single type doesn't help. Just because he cut them, it is
considered as two??" He makes no mention of the size of these pieces; if I
give a nice-size portion of meat, and then a second portion just like it,
it doesn't count, because it needs to be TWO TYPES of food.

The AhS quotes the Rambam as writing, "two portions of meat, or two types
of food, or two types of tavshil." [Note the change in language: Rambam
used the word "manos" for the meat, but "minim" for food and tavshil.] AhS
concludes that "His writing 'two types' forces you to say that when he
wrote 'two portions of meat' he meant 'of two types'. Or. maybe it was a
printer's error and it should have said 'two types of meat' just like 'two
types of food'."

In your scenario, where I gave someone a bowl of salad, and a second bowl
of croutons, this is surely two separate foods, and I am yotzay. If the
recipient chooses to mix them together, that is his doing, but I'm already
yotzay.

An interesting variant of that scenario would be where I already mixed the
salad and croutons together and *then* gave it to him. Is this a single
food with which I am NOT yotzay (though I could be if I also gave a second,
*different* salad)? Or perhaps, maybe the one salad is still considered to
be several foods, such that I *can* be yotzay with it? [[ The AhS MIGHT
have written: "One has to send two types of food ... and a mixture of two
types doesn't hurt. Just because he mixed them, it is considered as one?? ]]

One thing RMB certainly agree on is: CYLOR!

Akiva Miller
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