[Avodah] Bracha rishona

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Apr 03, 2023 at 01:30:53AM +0000, Alexander Seinfeld wrote:
> Why should liftan mean necessarily eaten in the same bite as the bread? 
> it's something you eat along with bread...

Because I don't think that's the translation. For example, in Hil'
Bishul Akum, "lalefes bo es hapas" shows up -- the same shoresh but as
a verb. (AZ 38a, 59a) It is something you do to the bread.

A lefet is a turnip, and "lelafeis bo es hapas" is often taken to
mean something used as a relish on the bread. See, for example the Kaf
haChaim. Yes, some English translations do say "to accompany the bread",
but I think that's a loose translation, motivated from the conclusion.

An example which links liftan and lalefes, "kedei lelafeis bo es hapas"
for two meals is a unit of measure for eiruvei chatzeiros. (SA OC 386:6)
But only for liftan. Otherwise, the shiur is enough food for two meals.

My question was about how the decision was made that being a flavoring
for the bread wasn't the important feature, that liftan is just one
way the food and the bread are in the same course. On the contrary,
it seems more natural (to me) to have assumed lelafeis bo es hapas to
be a case of eating an ikar and tafeil together.
>                                                                  (For 
> me, sweet kugel is 100% dessert but my family disagree.

Or all those apple "kugels" that are literally apple crumbles...

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Man can aspire to spiritual-moral greatness
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   which is seldom fully achieved and easily lost
Author: Widen Your Tent      again. Fulfillment lies not in a final goal,
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    but in an eternal striving for perfection. -RSRH