Reb Eliezer

ברכות מא,ב

The Rambam Hilchas Melochim (9,10) says that measurements don’t apply to goyim as they were halacha given to Moshe in Sinai and not to the goyim. So over here it is not mentioned. Maybe the measurements were from the pasuk but the halacha tells us what to apply it to.

The Rambam explains in Shmonei Perokim Perek 4, that the person was created with an eqilibrium. When this balance is upset, he becomes ch’v sick. To heal him, this equilibrium must be restored.
In SA O’CH 170 it says that foods contain salt and drinks contain water, so we don’t have to be concerned for the lack of salt or water.

By the argument between Hilel and Shamai to eat in the week days for shabbos, Hillel says Bless Hashem day by day. It is great when Hashem wants us to bless him day by day. The snake was cursed by providing it food without need to ask for it as dust is available all over. Explains the Chidushei Harim that Hashem said to the snake, here is your food and don’t bother me. I don’t want to her from you.

The Chasam Sofer left in his will שלא יבוש המעין ויקצץ האילן the well should not dry out and the tree be cut where he was referring to the Torah.
The Ben Ish Chai has a mashel: A father had a field with beautiful trees and other plantations. The watering was done through irrigation canals. They periodically had to be dug out from pebbles and other stones which stuffed them up. The father was afraid that his children will not follow in his way and they will not dig them out, so he left it in the will that there is a treasure buried in the ditches. The children after his death, dug them out but they did not find anything in them. Later, they were surprised how beautifully everything grew. Then they understood what the father meant. We have too constantly make sure that the Torah be able to flow by digging out any obstructions. הפך בה הפך בה דכולה בה turn it around, turn it around, why twice? You are allowed to question things but we should not leave it like that.

According to the view that Adam Harishon drank wine, we say lechaim to bring us life, here and the next world. The Chasam Sofer explains in Toras Moshe that Adam had a proof that he was able to eat through his wife. She was not commanded directly. The command was on grapes. He drank wine. His argument was like this. If the juice of the fruit is the same as the fruit then Chava was part of him, so if he was commanded, she also was commanded, so why didn’t she die and if the juice is not the same as the fruit, then I drank wine and did not eat the fruit.
The medrash says that it was an esrog. According to this we can understand why the earth was punished at the same time when Adam was punished for not following Hashem’s commandment that the tree and fruit should have the same taste. Adam knew that he is not allowed to eat the tree but he was questioning the fruit, so he tasted the tree and fruit and he saw they taste differently. So he ate the fruit and not the tree from eitz hadaas but it was an esrog where the fruit and the tree taste the same. If the earth would have properly followed the commandment, Adam would have not made the mistake, therefore the earth was responsible for his sin.

When it comes to cutting the chalah, on a week day, SA O’CH 167,1 says to make a small cut before the brocho such that the small piece is not separated from the rest (you can pick up the rest by holding the small piece). This is done to minimize the time between the brocho and eating. On shabbos, we only make an indication with the knife in order that the lechem mishneh should stay complete. , Bach there in the name of the Maarshal. The Ateres Zekenim exolains that we make המוציא to emphasize the ‘ha’. He gives a reason for it, the word can mean past and future. Now when we say who brings forth bread from earth, the question is, it is not bread but wheat? The gemora in Maseches Shabbos (30,2) says that rolls will come out of the ground at the time of redemption. The extra ‘ה’ is also hinting this. The RMA there says to cut both ends since we don ‘t know which end got baked first.

If not good at all no brocho. It should be not as good.

Rav Moshe O’CH (3,31) paskens that if you eat one thing made up of two things where you would eat each separately, you make two brochos e.g. a chocolate with nuts on it.

ברכות לט,ב

It in SA O’CH 274,2 Friday night we cut the bottom chalah whereas in the morning, says the RMA there, we cut the top and the reason is kabala. Maybe, we can give a reason. We want to show that the morning when it comes to the meal, is more chashuv by cutting the top one than the night and by also using also the bigger chalah. Similarly, the sefardim who put tefilin on the hand sitting down, they want to show that the rosh is more chashev, so they stand up for it.

The covering of the lechem mishna has two reasons. For kiddush not to ashame the chalahs and by hamotzi to remember the mon which was covered.

ברכות לט,א

At a wedding or bar mitzva, they put out pieces of bread to be able to make a brocho on it after washing. Now we are suppose to make a brocho on a complete chalah which is available at the table. They think that making a brocho on washing the hand and walking to the table is a hefsak. The eitza might be (I was told that Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky ztz’l did this) is to make the brocho of netilas yodayim at the table and then make the brocho on a complete bread.

Afterwards I found the Shevat Halevi (4,161) ruling like Rav Pollak Shlita above to make on fried fish or meat a shehakol.

When it comes to the halachas of ikar and tafel we should remember the mussar not to weaken the ikar because of tafel. It says in Pirkei Avos, a person learns and stops when seeing a tree and says how beautiful it is he becomes responsible with his soul. Explains the Ksav Sofer a person has to stop learning to go to work in agriculture or in something else but he should not enjoy it.

I made a mistake on reply @1820092 about fried meat and fish. I was told by Rav Pollak Shlita that since the outside coating is not eaten by itself, so the ikar is the meat or the fish and we make a shehakol.

יין מבושל cooked wine R’ Moshe ztz’l 175 F, we pasken SA O’CH (202,1) that we make a borei pri hagofen and SA O’CH 272 says we can make kiddush on it. The question is, the the goy touching it will not asser it, why not? Originally, the issur was that it was sacrificed to a’z, so cooked wine+ was not chashuv to do it, but now the issur is intermarriage, so what is the difference? They say at the time of the chazal it was not prevalent, so they never assered it. Maybe Rashi’s view is that we make shehakol on it indicating that cooking destroys the flavor. According to this the same way as it was not sacrificed to the a’z because it was not considered worthy, similarly they did not drink together because it was not good enough to share with a goy.

Rav Avraham Chaim Spitzer ztz’l in his sefer Chayei Avraham rules that orange juice from juice oranges should be different than navel oranges. The juice oranges, which look differently than navel oranges, are planted specially for juice, so it should not be considered sweat and to make on it a borei pri haetz. People make a shehakol as we usually don’t know where the juice is coming from and they don’t really care. According to this if there are pieces in it, we certainly should make a borei pri haetz.