I washed for bread, took one bite, and realized it was moldy. I don’t have more bread and didn’t eat anything else. Do I say Birkat Hamazon?
Birkat Hamazon After One Bite of Moldy Bread
Question
Answer
No, you do not say Birkat Hamazon.
Sources
Birkat Hamazon depends on how much bread was eaten. The Shulchan Aruch rules that the amount of eating that requires Birkat Hamazon is a kezayit (an olive’s volume). It also states that one who eats less than a kezayit, even of bread, says the blessing beforehand but “does not bless a post-consumption blessing at all.” The Rambam explains the same way: the Torah requires Birkat Hamazon only when one is satiated, and the Sages extended it to one who ate a kezayit. A single bite that was then stopped because the bread was moldy does not reach that amount, so no Birkat Hamazon is said.
- Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 210:1 — one who eats less than a kezayit, whether bread or other foods, makes the first blessing but no after-blessing at all
- Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 184:6 — the amount of eating that obligates Birkat Hamazon is a kezayit
- Rambam, Hilchot Berachot 1:1 — the Torah obligation applies only when satiated, and by rabbinic decree from a kezayit
Author
Rabbi Shay Tahan
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