Q&A: Pas Haba’ah BeKisnin
Pas Haba’ah BeKisnin
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In Peninei Halakha, three interpretations are brought in the words of the medieval authorities regarding the types of “pas haba’ah bekisnin”:
According to the first interpretation, this refers to filled baked goods, such as hamantaschen and strudel. It is called “pas haba’ah bekisnin” because it has pockets that are filled with sweet items such as poppy seed, cocoa, and nuts (R. Hananel).
According to the second interpretation, this refers to baked goods whose dough has had flavor added to it in a way that distinguishes them from bread, for example sponge cakes or biscuits that have a sweet taste, or malawach, whose dough has a lot of oil added to it (Maimonides).
According to the third interpretation, these are hard baked goods that a person crunches with his teeth, such as pretzels, crackers, and matzot (Rav Hai Gaon).
In practice, we customarily treat all three of these types as “pas haba’ah bekisnin”: if one eats from them an amount that constitutes a regular meal, their law is like bread; and if one eats less than the amount of a regular meal, one recites “Mezonot” before them and “Al HaMichya” after them (Shulchan Arukh 168:7)
About this I wanted to ask: why is there no concern here of neglecting Grace after Meals, whose doubt is treated stringently? I thought to answer that where there is an established custom, we do not say that a Torah-level doubt must be treated stringently; rather, we say, “where the Jewish law is uncertain in your hand, follow the custom,” even in a Torah-level doubt when the custom is to be lenient. What do you think?
Best regards,
Answer
I assume you are talking about someone who ate an olive-sized amount, but less than the amount of satiety?
It seems to me that his assumption is that the ruling is not due to doubt. In practical Jewish law, all three methods are considered pas haba’ah bekisnin. And perhaps they do not want to be stringent in two mutually contradictory ways.
But it seems more likely that, in practical Jewish law, this is certainly not bread, and the only doubt is which of them falls into the category of pas haba’ah bekisnin; and on that point we rule stringently.