By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

Rosh Chodesh is a special and festive occasion that symbolizes the renewal of the Jewish people. The Mishna Brurah writes (419:2) that when Rosh Chodesh falls on Shabbos it is a Mitzvah to add a special dish on account of Rosh Chodesh. It would seem that the same logic would apply to a Bris Milah that falls out on Rosh Chodesh – that one should add an extra dish or course that would not normally be served at the meal of a Bris.

The Tur (Siman 419) cites a Psikta that states in regard to Rosh Chodesh that if one adds to Rosh Chodesh [in a seudah] then that person receives additions from Heaven. Ostensibly, this would be no different in the meal held in honor of a Bris Milah.

The Bach writes that on a two day Rosh Chodesh that occurs on Shabbos and Sunday, it would not be sufficient to merely add to the Shabbos meal since it would not be identifiable that it is being done for Rosh Chodesh. The Yaavetz writes that one should just have a larger Melaveh Malka than one is accustomed to have.

Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt”l has a different approach. In Responsa Chazon Ovadiah Vol. I #8, he writes that one can fulfill two mitzvos with the same kezayis. However, the Mishna Brurah clearly indicates that there should be a recognizable difference – unlike Rav Ovadiah Yoseph’s view.

THE QUESTION

The question is what food can be added that would not normally be found at a Bris? In other words, merely adding another dish would not be effective because no one would know that this dish was added specifically for Rosh Chodesh!

Possible answers were suggested by Mark Gross of Sharmel Caterers, “For a milchig Bris, you can have a cheese noodle kugel. This is not a dish that is served at a Bris in general, yet it would fulfill your requirement of something extra for Rosh Chodesh.” For those that have fleishigs at their Bris Milah seudah he provided another suggestion. “For fleishigs you can serve kishka. This is not something that is served at fleishig brises either, and you can tell that it was added on for some other purpose.”

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Attn Readers: Rabbi Hoffman’s newest Volume of Not Your Usual Halacha (#8) is now available on amazon.com.