07 Jul THE CORRECT BERACHA ON WRAPS

And Avraham
hurried to the tent
to Sarah, and he
said, quickly bring
three sa’ah of fine
flour, knead it and
make loaves.

Bereishis 18:6
Hilchos Berachos are extremely
important since they apply every day of
our lives, and yet they are also quite
complex. People are always coming up
with new foods and eating styles, leading
to ongoing halachic questions that poskim
must address. These questions often
result in a range of halachic opinions. A
frequently debated food in recent
discussions is the wrap, with varying
opinions on the proper beracha to recite.
A wrap is generally produced in a manner
similar, but not identical, to bread. The
main ingredients are typically wheat flour
and water, which are kneaded into a thin
dough, and baked on a pan with just
enough oil to prevent it from sticking to
the pan. At first glance it would seem that
the beracha on such an item should be
hamotzi, just as it would be on any other
bread product. Yet, some poskim maintain
that it is mezonos. What is the basis for
this machlokes?
Pas Haba’ah B’Kisnin — Rishonim
and Acharonim
The correct beracha for wraps primarily
depends upon one’s understanding of the
sugya of pas haba’ah b’kisnin (Berachos
42a). The Gemara says that there is a kind
of “bread,” referred to as pas haba’ah
b’kisnin, which is different than typical
bread. Thus, if one only eats a small
amount of it, he recites mezonos, and if
the person eats a large amount to be
kovei’a seudah (to establish a meal) on it,
he recites hamotzi. However, the Gemara
doesn’t define or describe which baked
items would fall under this category, and
the rishonim quote three primary opinions
on the matter.
1. Rabbeinu Chananel (cited in Rabbeinu
Yonah 29a s.v. She’Ein) explains that pas
haba’ah b’kisnin refers to a bread-like
dough that has been shaped into a pocket,
into which a sweet filling is baked. An
example of this would be a cheese danish,
pizza pocket, or empanada, but with a
fruit or other sweet filling.
2. Rashi and the Rambam (Hil. Berachos
3:9) explain that it refers to a bread-like
dough to which many additional

sweeteners and ingredients are added
during the mixing process, so that the
result no longer serves the purpose of
bread and is eaten as a treat. An example
of this is cake.
3. The Aruch (erech kisin) suggests in the
name of Rav Hai Gaon that it refers to
crackers. A cracker can have the same
ingredients as bread, but since it is thin
and brittle, it is eaten as a snack rather
than as a staple of a meal.
The Beis Yosef (O.C. 168:7) cites all
three of these opinions and concludes that
since the dispute is not resolved and we
have a rule of safek berachos l’hakel, we
recite mezonos on all three of these types
of baked items. This is codified in the
Shulchan Aruch.
The simple reading of the Beis Yosef
implies that he understood that the three
opinions of the rishonim are mutually
exclusive. Each understood that there is
an objective definition for pas haba’ah
b’kisnin, and any baked item that doesn’t
fit into their definition would be
considered bread and require a hamotzi.
We recite mezonos on all three categories
only out of doubt because we don’t know
who is correct. Indeed, this is the
understanding of the Shulchan Aruch
HaRav (168:9), Chayei Adam (54:7),
Dagul Mervavah, and Rav Akiva Eiger
(notes to Shulchan Aruch).
However, other acharonim, including the
Ma’amar Mordechai (168:14), Nesivos
(notes to his Derech HaChaim Siddur),
and the Aruch HaShulchan (168:23)
understand that the three different
opinions fundamentally agree. The basic
point is that only typical bread, which is
generally reserved for meals, is
automatically hamotzi. However, for
other baked items that people eat as both
snacks and as part of a meal, the beracha
will depend on how and why the person is
eating it. If the person is eating a relatively
small amount, more of a snack, the
beracha is mezonos, but if the person eats
a large amount to be kovei’a seudah, the
beracha is hamotzi. Each rishon is simply
giving one example of such a baked
“snack”. According to this understanding,
we could also extend the category of pas
haba’ah b’kisnin beyond these three
categories to other baked items that
people eat outside of meals.
Meal Foods and Snack Foods
Rav Yitzchak Mordechai Rubin, author
of Orchos Shabbos, argues emphatically

in Tzohar (vol. 8, p. 756) that we should
follow the Ma’amar Mordechai’s
approach, which distinguishes between
bread and pas haba’ah b’kisnin based on
whether the food is typically consumed as
part of a meal or as a snack, rather than
relying on the specific, objective
definitions given by the rishonim. He
offers a number of proofs, which include:
1. When the Rashba (42b s.v. Nimtza)
discusses the opinions found in the
rishonim, he seems to intermingle the
words of Rashi and Rabbeinu Chananel
together, without distinguishing between
what would seem to be two very different
definitions. This indicates that he saw
them as merely two examples of the same
principle.
2. If one were to eat a snack that included
small amounts of all three types of pas
haba’ah b’kisnin, according to the
objective definitions there would no
longer be a safek, and he would be
obligated to wash and bentch on such a
snack. Rav Rubin argues that since no
one practically would rule in this way, we
clearly view all three types as snack
foods, like the understanding that the
three opinions are not mutually exclusive,
and we therefore recite a mezonos even
when eating all three of them.
3. Nowadays, it is common to eat coffee
and cake together. When doing so, one
recites a mezonos on the cake first, and
then a shehakol on the coffee. If it were
true that cake is really a safek hamotzi
though, one shouldn’t recite a beracha on
the coffee at all, since it is possible that
the cake is bread, and its beracha covers
the coffee as well. Therefore, one should
presumably make a shehakol on the
coffee first to avoid this issue. However,
since nobody does this, it is clear that we
follow the Ma’amar Mordechai’s view,
that cake is an example of pas haba’ah
b’kisnin without any doubt, and its
beracha is not a safek between mezonos
and hamotzi.
4. Ashkenazim recite hamotzi over
matzah all year round, even though
according to Rav Hai Gaon it should be
mezonos, since it is hard and brittle like a
cracker. The only justification for this is
that pas haba’ah b’kisnin does not have
an objective standard but rather depends
on if it is a snack-like or meal food. Since
matzah is a meal food (at least on Pesach),
it is considered bread and requires a
hamotzi.

Wraps and the Poskim Today
Rav Rubin argues that people only eat
wraps with other foods in them, but never
by themselves. He argues that therefore
they cannot be considered “bread,” which
is a staple food that can be eaten by itself.
Based on the understanding that the three
categories of pas haba’ah b’kisnin are not
exhaustive but just examples, Rav Rubin
rules that we should treat wraps in the
same way and their beracha is therefore
mezonos.
Rav Mordechai Willig objects to this
chiddush on two grounds. First, why
would we assume that the definition of
pas haba’ah b’kisnin hinges on whether
something is eaten independently or as
part of a sandwich? The critical question
is whether a baked item is a meal food or
a snack food, and a wrap, even if never
eaten alone, is certainly the type of
“bread” that people eat almost exclusively
as part of a meal. Second, despite Rav
Rubin’s research, it is debatable that
wraps are never eaten alone, even if their
primary mode of consumption is as a
container for their filling. Rav Willig
therefore paskens that wraps are always
hamotzi. This is also the psak of Rav
Binyamin Forst, Rav Yisrael Belsky z”l,
and it is the policy of the OU. Rav Yisroel
Belsky (cited on oukosher.org) points out
that although most wraps are hamotzi, if a
wrap has a very doughy texture and is not
tasty when eaten alone, it cannot be
considered bread and would be a mezonos
if not eaten in the context of a meal.
However, even such a wrap would be
hamotzi when used to hold a filling as
part of a meal. Similarly, Rav Shmuel
Fuerst, a leading posek from Chicago,
makes a distinction between normal
colored wraps, which are hamotzi, and
those that are colored orange or green,
and therefore bear less of a resemblance
to bread, which are mezonos.