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Do I need to say a bracha before I chew food up and spit it out?*
Or do I say it after I’m actually consuming it? I do enjoy the taste and prob swallow a bit unintentionally. But I don’t know if it’s the taste I am bracha-ing on (like chewing gum) or the actual consumption.
Yes I know that I need to ask my LOR… still wondering for now.
*Btw: It’s for my dog. I feed him cooked vegetables and need to chew it for him first so that he can absorb the nutrients better. Since he is “my animal,” he eats before I do.
I’ve always said it before chewing and spitting out. I don’t feel right about doing it otherwise.
Thanks!
Eat another food with the same bracha beforehand and you’ll avoid the shaila.
From what I recall off-hand, it may be a “sheilah”, so Joseph’s advice makes sense. Or you can just make sure that you first eat and swallow a bit of it, so then you also don’t have a sheilah.
If you have in mind when you make the bracha that it should count for anything else you will eat (that has the same bracha), then you should NOT make a new bracha. According to halacha, it is best to have that in mind.
If you don’t have it in mind, the halachos of whether to make a new bracha or not are a bit complicated.
But in any case, if you leave your house in the middle, you need a new bracha (unless it was mezonos or hamotzi).
“I can sneak a little bite but then I am feeding myself first, which is against halacha.”
That’s an interesting point. Now that is definitely a sheilah for your LOR. Maybe it would be okay because you are just taking a bite for the purpose of feeding your dog. But you would have to ask.
Do you really have to chew it for him? Why can’t you use a blender?
That’s an idea. Why don’t you do that?
The reason for not using a blender is that the the blender may liquefy it. When you make a blessing on a class of food it is assumed that all of that type of food is included. So if you made a blessing on vegetables for the appetizer and then had potatoes in the main course, if you said another blessing it would be in vain.
The prohibition to eat before feeding one’s animal is only eating a full meal, so you could make a blessing and taste a bit of food prior to feeding the animal.
This has got to be the strangest halacha question ever asked on the CR. Prizes anyone?
“When you make a blessing on a class of food it is assumed that all of that type of food is included.”
That is correct if it is a meal or if you are a guest at someone’s house.
If it’s not a meal and you are not a guest, you have to either:
1. have in mind that the bracha should count for all other foods that you will eat with that bracha, or
2. Have planned to eat that specific food at the time you made the bracha, or
3. the second food was in front of you at the time you made the bracha, or
4. there is still food remaining from the original food you made the bracha on (this only helps if both foods are solids or both are liquids:
5. there is at least one other case, but I have to look it up to make sure I write it correctly. If I have a chance, I will do so, and post it, b”n.
However, there are exceptions to rules 3 & 4. So the best thing to do is to have in mind when you make the original bracha that it will count for all other foods you eat with that bracha, as the Rema says.
If you do have any kind of doubt (for example, you don’t know the exceptions to rules 3 & 4 or you don’t know all the possible cases since there are others, or you’re not sure what you had in mind), then you should either:
a)leave your house and come back in (but that doesn’t work for Mezonos or hamotzi).
or
b: find someone else who wants to eat a food with the same bracha,ask them to have you in mind when they make the bracha, listen to them make the bracha, have in mind to be included in their bracha, and as soon as they finish the bracha and take a bite, you should take a bite from your food.
The most important rule in hilchos brachos is: IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT, DON’T MAKE A BRACHA!!!
I only know all this because I taught it recently, so it is one of the few areas of halacha that I happen to know somewhat well.
“Does making it a liquid change its bracha status to a shehakol?”
That would be a sheilah for a Rabbi. But I don’t get why you even have a sheilah. If you blend the food, you won’t have to chew it – wasn’t that the point?
You might want to check with a Rav to make sure it’s shehakol. These halachos can be complicated.
Meanwhile, you can always make a “ha’adama” on something else and a “shehakol” on something else. That’s what I try to do when I’m not sure what bracha to make on something.
I’m not sure what you are saying. Maybe this is what you are talking about: B’dieved (retroactively) if you said a shehakol on any food, it counts. But you are not allowed to say, “I don’t know the bracha, so I will just say a shehakol”. You have an obligation to find out the right bracha, and you are only allowed to just say shehakol out of doubt if it’s really impossible to find out (for example, the Poskim themselves aren’t sure and never reached a definite psak) or if you already said it by accident. Is that what you are talking about?
I certainly have never heard that there is any problem with making a bracha on 2 other foods that have the bracha that you are not sure about.
But if you think it might be better to know for sure what bracha to make on the blended vegetables, ask your Rabbi and while you are at it, ask him about this principle you are talking about.
You really shouldn’t be asking halacha questions to anonymous online posters. And the blended vegetables question is definitely one that should be asked because it may depend how well they are blended.
If you will spit it out, you can’t make a bracha because you are not eating.
It would be good to swallow a bit and have intent to enjoy it; then you would make a bracha.
It is indeed assur to eat before feeding animals that you are responsible for, such as your pet dog, but I am not sure if this issur would apply to a very small amount of food (a drink is definitely allowed). Perhaps you would be allowed to eat if the eating is necessary in order to feed the dog, like in your case, where you need to chew the dog’s food before feeding it to the dog.
Mik5 – If I recall correctly, the problem is that even if you don’t swallow it, there is a possibility that you may need a bracha since your saliva absorbed the taste. That is the reason why “It would be good to swallow a bit and have intent to enjoy it; then you would make a bracha” as you pointed out.
I think your reasoning about why it would be ok to do this before feeding her dog makes sense, but she still should probably ask a sheilah about it.
To the opening poster: You are working too hard for your pet. Check with your local orthodox veterinarian on the need to chew your pet’s food.
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