Cutting the bread before the bracha of HaMotzi
[א] (halacha 1042)
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Brochos1 states: 'For Rabbi Chiya said: The bracha must conclude together with [the cutting of] the bread .. Rather Rava said: One recites the bracha, and afterward cuts'. And Rashi explained: 'And he completes the entire bracha, and afterward separates the slice, so that the bracha concludes upon a whole loaf'.
And Tosafos2 wrote: 'And there are those who are accustomed to recite the bracha of HaMotzi before cutting, so that the bread will be whole at the time of the bracha, but the minhag is not correct to do so, for it constitutes a diversion of attention between the bracha and the eating .. And there are those who bring proof that one must conclude the bracha before cutting, from what Rabbi Chiya taught in the Yerushalmi: one does not recite the bracha over the bread except at the time when he is slicing it, and this is because if he would slice before the bracha, perhaps the slice would fall from his hand and he would not be able to eat the other slice that he cuts without a bracha, but rather he would need to recite the bracha again, and there would be here a bracha in vain; but if (not) he were required to recite the bracha over the whole bread and could not slice before the bracha, then if the slice falls he does not recite a bracha over another slice and is exempted by the first bracha'.
And the Rosh3 wrote: 'And there are those who do not wish to cut the bread at all until after the bracha, and it is not correct to do so, because the delay in cutting the bread is considered an interruption and he tarries between the bracha and the eating, but rather he cuts and does not separate the slice until after the bracha, and it appears to me that he must cut a little, so that if he grasps the slice the loaf will rise with it, for if not so it is considered like a slice. And so we learned in the third chapter of Tevul Yom: Rabbi Meir says, if he grasps the large part and the small part rises with it, it is like it; Rabbi Yehuda says, if he grasps the small part and the large part rises with it, it is like it; and the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda'.
However, the Hagahos Maimoniyos4 wrote: 'And further my teacher שי' said that one should not cut the loaf except such that if he were grasping the small part the large part would rise with it; but if he cut so much that if he were grasping the small part the large part would not rise with it, then it is like a slice .. However, Rabbeinu Baruch wrote that one need not be concerned with this, since in the end one is going to cut and break it, it is of no concern to us, and we call it a whole loaf'.
And the Beis Yosef5 wrote: 'And even though the Hagahos wrote after this that Rabbeinu Baruch wrote that one need not be concerned with this since in the end one is going to cut and break it, it is of no concern to us and it is properly called whole, he is an individual [opinion] against the Rambam and the Rosh of blessed memory, and furthermore there is no reason in his words'.
Tosafos further wrote there: 'However, on Shabbos it is correct to be stringent and to recite the bracha before cutting, so that his hand will not slip to cut before the bracha concludes, for then he would not have lechem mishneh'.
And so wrote the Mordechai6: 'However, on Shabbos it is correct to be stringent against cutting before the bracha concludes, for if he cuts before [it concludes] perhaps the slice would fall and then he would not have lechem mishneh'.
The Beis Yosef7 brought their words, and the Rema wrote in Darkei Moshe8: 'And so we are accustomed; however, if he cut it beforehand even on Shabbos, the Mordechai wrote in Eruvin at the end of the chapter Chalon9 that it is lechem mishneh'10.
And the Bach11 wrote: 'And the Maharshal wrote that the meticulous ones are accustomed to make a mark with the knife before the bracha, I have received [this tradition]; end of his words'.
And the Eliyahu Rabbah12 explained: 'Meaning on Shabbos and Yom Tov. And so it is written in the Toras Chaim there, that we require the firstfruit whose remnants are recognizable at the time of the bracha'.
And these are the words of the Toras Chaim13: 'In any case there is a great allusion in the slice of HaMotzi, that a person must separate the firstfruit and slice from the whole loaf one slice for the sake of Hashem and recite a bracha over it, just as one separates firstfruit for Hashem in all his other labors—bikkurim from the standing grain, terumah from the produce, and challah from the dough—so too he separates from it the firstfruit for the sake of His blessed Name after the baking, and therefore the one who breaks bread cuts a little first and recites the bracha and slices and eats from the slice and gives from it to those seated at the table; but he should not recite the bracha over the whole bread in general and eat and give from it to those seated, for we require a firstfruit whose remnants are recognizable, similar to bikkurim, terumah, and challah, which are called firstfruit: bikkurim—"the firstfruit of the firstfruits of your land"; terumah—"the firstfruit of your grain"; challah—"the firstfruit of your dough." And we learned in the first chapter of Challah: one who says my entire threshing-floor is terumah and my entire dough is challah has said nothing, until he leaves over a portion, for "firstfruit" is written regarding them whose remnants are recognizable, as is brought in the chapter Reishis HaGez. So too here, after the baking, when he wishes to eat, he separates as firstfruit of the bread for the sake of Hashem and recites a bracha over it, and through this he exempts all the rest of the bread, similar to terumah and challah. And therefore it appears that even on Shabbos and Yom Tov, when he does not cut into the loaf until after the bracha so that the loaves will be whole, nevertheless he must first make a mark in the loaf with a knife according to the measure of the slice that he will slice and recite the bracha, so that the bracha will rest upon that portion which was marked, for we require a firstfruit whose remnants are recognizable; and so the world is accustomed on Shabbos and Yom Tov to make a kind of mark in the loaf first, and the reason is as I explained.
And so it is brought in the Minhogei Maharil14: 'Mahari Segal said that one must cut the piece of breaking within the bread before the bracha of HaMotzi, for if he recites the bracha first and afterward cuts, the cutting constitutes an interruption, and it must still be attached to such a degree that if he grasps the piece of breaking to lift it, then the entire bread will rise with it, for then it is not considered like a slice, and so [it is written] in the Orach Chaim. And he was accustomed every erev Shabbos and Yom Tov to make a cake of fine flour to break upon, and since it was thin he did not need to cut beforehand .. and when he would cut the loaf on a weekday in order to break, he would surround the cut like a kind of ring and leave it attached in the middle'.
> If so, we have seen that the Rishonim wrote that one begins to cut a little before the bracha [in a manner such that if he lifts the part he cut, the rest of the loaf will rise with it], recites the bracha and then breaks, and Tosafos wrote that on Shabbos one should not cut; however, the Maharshal wrote that on Shabbos one makes a mark with the knife. In the next halacha we will see how the halacha was ruled, and the Chabad minhag.
--------------
Notes:
1 לט, א-ב ↩
2 שם ד"ה הלכתא ↩
3 ברכות פ"ו סי' יט ↩
4 הל' ברכות פ"ז אות ו ↩
5 או"ח סי' קסז ↩
6 ברכות רמז קכח ↩
7 שם אות ב ↩
8 רמז תקכה ↩
9 הפרישה (ס"ק ב) העיר: 'וכתב הב"י התוספות כתבו טעם למה שאין חותכין בשבת משום שלא תשמט ידו לבצוע קודם שתכלה הברכה וכו' והרמ"א כתב בשו"ע שהטעם שבשבת לא יחתכו משום דבעינן לחם משנה משמע מלשונו שאם נחתך קצת בפת שאז אינם נקראים לחם משנה וזהו ליתא שהרי שלם מיקרי אלא משום חשש התוספות שמא תשמט הסכין' ↩
10 או"ח שם אות ב ↩
11 או"ח שם ס"ק ב ↩
12 סנהדרין קב, ב ↩
13 הל' נט"י [ב] ↩
From the 'Shoneh Halacha' project — a daily halacha with reasons and sources
Link to the (silent) group: 'Shoneh Halacha — Chabad Minhogim'
Join the WhatsApp groupThe Halachic Ruling on Cutting the Bread
[ב] (halacha 1043)
Answer: The Mechaber writes1: 'And he shall cut the slice for breaking [bread], and he must cut [only] a little, so that if he grasps the slice the rest of the loaf will come up with it, for if not so it is considered like a [mere] slice; and he should leave it attached to the bread and begin to recite the bracha, and after he has finished the bracha he should separate it, so that the bracha is completed while the bread is still whole'.
And the Taz2 explained the need to cut: 'so that the delay of the cutting should not be an interruption between the bracha and the eating, and even though this is not an interruption — for on Shabbos one does not cut at all before [the bracha of] HaMotzi, since we require wholeness as below. Rather, on a weekday one acts in the more preferable manner'3.
The Rama writes there in a gloss: 'And on Shabbos one should not cut the loaf until after the bracha, so that the loaves should be whole. Nevertheless, if he forgot and cut as on a weekday, it does no harm'.
And the Magen Avraham wrote4: 'And on Shabbos not — lest the slice fall and he not have lechem mishneh [Mordechai]. This implies that if it did not fall off completely it is [still] lechem mishneh, but in the Agudah in Chullin siman 150 he wrote in the name of the Maharam that only when grasping the slice the loaf comes up with it [is it lechem mishneh], but if he cut more it is not lechem mishneh, and so it is implied in the Shiltei Giborim on the Mordechai chapter Pesachim, and so it is implied below siman 168, and so the language of the Rama implies, 'and cut as on a weekday it does no harm', implying that if he cut more it is called a [mere] slice'.
> That is, the Magen Avraham writes that the concern on Shabbos is lest the piece be torn off completely before the bracha, and he lose the lechem mishneh; however, if he cut more than the usual amount on a weekday, but it was not torn off completely, according to the view of the Mordechai it is still considered lechem mishneh, but according to the view of the Agudah in the name of the Maharam, and the implication of the words of the Rama, he has lost the lechem mishneh5.
The Magen Avraham in the laws of Shabbos6 wrote: 'The meticulous have the custom to make a mark with the knife before the bracha [Bach siman 167, in the name of the Rashal, and so too wrote the Toras Chaim]'.
And the Machatzis HaShekel explained [and see also Pri Megadim there]: 'The reason appears in my humble opinion [to be], that on a weekday he must cut before he begins to recite the bracha, only that he should not separate it completely, as the measure explained above siman 167, until he finishes the bracha; but in any case the main point is that he must cut before the bracha so that the cutting should not be an interruption between the bracha of HaMotzi and the eating. However, on Shabbos it is impossible to cut before he begins to recite the bracha, so that it should be completely whole at the time of the bracha. Nevertheless, the meticulous have the custom to make a mark etc., for whatever is possible to lessen the interruption between the bracha and the eating of HaMotzi is preferable, and by means of the mark he does not need to interrupt after the bracha [to determine] at which place and up to how much he should break, for he has already marked before the bracha, and he cuts at the place of the mark. This is unlike the custom of the masses who run the knife around the bread but do not mark, and no mark is discernible, for what benefit have they achieved by this, and there is no reason for it'.
And these are the words of the Alter Rebbe7: 'It is a mitzvah min hamuvchar to recite the bracha over the bread when it is whole, and not to slice it first and afterward recite the bracha over it .. and he should not slice from it until after the bracha .. And it is good to cut a little with the knife into the slice for breaking from the bread before he begins to recite the bracha, so that he should not interrupt with the delay of the cutting between the bracha and the eating; and he does not separate it from it until after the entire bracha is completed. And the bread is not considered as sliced by such a slight cut, if it is in such a manner that if he grasps the slice the rest of the loaf comes up with it. And he should not cut more than this measure, for if he cuts more, in such a manner that if he grasps the slice the rest of the loaf does not come up with it — even though if he grasps the loaf the slice comes up with it — this is considered sliced in all respects. Therefore, on Shabbos and Yom Tov one should not cut into the bread at all until after the bracha, for perhaps his hand will slip and he will cut more than this measure, and it will turn out that he made the breaking over a [mere] slice, and on Shabbos there must be a whole lechem mishneh. And one need not be concerned about the interruption of the delay of the cutting between the bracha and the eating, for a delay alone without speech is not considered an interruption; rather, on a weekday one does so in the more preferable manner. Nevertheless, if he forgot and cut on Shabbos as on a weekday, he has not lost the lechem mishneh, for whenever he grasps the slice and the rest of the loaf comes up with it, it is like a whole [loaf] in all respects. And as for a thin cake, even on a weekday one need not cut into it before he recites the bracha, since there is no delay in breaking it after the bracha'.
> If so, the Alter Rebbe wrote the words of the Mechaber, the Rama, the Taz, and the Magen Avraham, as well as what is written in the Maharil [cited in the previous halacha] regarding thin bread, but he did not mention the words of the Bach in the name of the Maharshal which the Magen Avraham cited in the laws of Shabbos, that on Shabbos one makes a mark with the knife.
Rav Chaim Naeh8 cited the words of the Machatzis HaShekel, and wrote: 'And behold, in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe he did not mention the mark at all, which implies that he holds that one need not be meticulous about this, and nevertheless the custom is to mark. And I heard from my grandfather, the chassid HaRav R' Moshe Tzvi Naeh z"l, the Rav of Kalisk, that the Tzemach Tzedek נ"ע once spoke about a matter of an unnecessary point of meticulousness (and I do not remember what the matter was), and said in a jesting manner that the matter seemed to him like one who searches for the mark in the bread. And the Chassidim understood that one need not search for the mark (and according to the words of the Machatzis HaShekel as well it is so), and even if the mark is not discernible in the bread, nevertheless, since he passed the knife at the place where he wishes to cut, he has already estimated in his mind the place where he wishes to cut it — at its half, or at a third, or at a quarter — and he will remember afterward to break there, even if its mark is not discernible'.
And in practice the Rebbe writes in HaYom Yom, 15 Adar I9 (regarding Shabbos): 'One marks on the bread before the bracha of HaMotzi, but is careful not to cut'.
> If so, we have seen that on weekdays one must cut a little before the bracha, and on Shabbos only to make a mark on the challah and not to cut, [and if he cut, as long as when one lifts the cut portion the rest of the loaf comes up with it, it is considered whole for the lechem mishneh] .
--------------
Notes:
1 שו"ע או"ח סי' קסז ס"א ↩
2 שם ס"ק ג ↩
3 החת"ס בהגהותיו [וראה ג"כ בצבי לצדיק הובא בילק"מ] העיר: 'זה אינו, אלא בשבת כיון דהוי צורך לחם משנה לא גרע מגביל לתורא [ברכות מ, א], משא"כ בחול הוי הפסק'. אמנם ראה לקמן שאדמו"ר הזקן למד שאינו הפסק ↩
4 שם ס"ק ה ↩
5 וראה מאמר מרדכי (שם ס"ק ה) שכתב: 'והלכך הדבר ברור דמ"ש מור"ם ז"ל כדי שיהיו הככרות שלימות ר"ל כדי שלא יבואו לידי חשש לשלא יהיו שלימות אבל פשיטא דכל שלא חתך הפרוסה לגמרי אלא כמשנ"ת בדברי המחבר שפיר מקרו שלימות לענין לחם משנה וקיים שפיר מצות לחם משנה וזהו שסיים מור"ם ז"ל דאם שכח וחתך כמו בחול אינו מזיק והכוונה שאינו מזיק לענין לח"מ שקיים תקנת רז"ל לבצוע על ב' ככרות שלימות משא"כ כשחתך הפרוסה לגמרי דתו לא הוו שלימות, וסמך מור"ם ז"ל על מ"ש בסוף דבריו דמשמע מיניה דהא דאמרינן דבשבת לא יחתוך אינו אלא משום דחיישינן שמא יחתוך יותר ממה שצריך כנ"ל ברור בהבנת דבריו ז"ל ועכצ"ל כן שהרי דבריו נובעים מדברי התוס' והמרדכי ז"ל ושם מבואר כמ"ש. וראיתי להרב פרישה ז"ל שהשיג עליו ע"ש ולפע"ד לא כיון יפה ודברי רמ"א ז"ל ברורים וכמ"ש ועיין למור"ם ז"ל בד"מ דנראה כדברינו וכן מתבאר מדברי הרב הלבוש ז"ל' ↩
6 סי' רעד ס"ק א ↩
7 שו"ע או"ח סי' קסז ס"ג ↩
8 קצות השלחן סי' פב בדה"ש ס"ק ח ↩
9 הובא בספר המנהגים ע' 28 ↩