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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">I wonder how this applies to restaurants. How are they allowed to serve people who do not make brachas before eating? YL<br>
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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis<br>
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<p><strong>Q. Is it forbidden to teach Torah to one who has not said <em>birchas ha’Torah</em>?</strong></p>
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<p>A. In regards to <em>birchos ha’nehenin</em> (<em>brachos</em> recited on food), there is a concept that one is not permitted to give someone food if the recipient will not recite a
<em>bracha</em>. Offering food to one who will not recite a <em>bracha</em> is a violation of “<em>lifnei iver lo sitain michshol</em>” (enabling one to stumble) (See Shulchan Aruch OC 169:2). However, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach,
<em>zt”l</em> (Minchas Shlomo 1:91) writes that this does not apply to teaching Torah to one who did not recite
<em>birchas ha’Torah</em>. <em>Birchas ha’Torah</em> is a <em>birchas ha’mitzvah</em>. Though
<em>birchos ha’mitzvos </em>are obligatory, we do not find that Chazal forbade the performance of a
<em>mitzvah</em> if a <em>bracha</em> is not recited. He notes that not studying Torah (<em>bitul Torah</em>) is a more serious offense than omitting the
<em>bracha</em>. If possible, one should instruct those who have come to learn Torah how to recite the
<em>bracha</em>, but if this is not practical, one should teach them Torah in any event.</p>
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