If you bite food without intent to chew and eat it, do you need to make a bracha?
asked Aug 14, 2013 at 15:53
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1Welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks for this interesting question! I hope you'll look around the site and find other food for thought, perhaps including our 327 other food questions. Please consider registering your account, which will give you access to more of the site's features, and also editing your account to give yourself a name.– Isaac Moses ♦Aug 14, 2013 at 15:58
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What scenario are you talking about here? Are you asking about chewing gum, for example?– DanielAug 14, 2013 at 16:45
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@Daniel he said "without intent to chew".– msh210 ♦Aug 14, 2013 at 17:15
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@msh210 He said "without intent to chew and eat". Didn't say anything about "intent to chew without eating."– DanielAug 14, 2013 at 17:24
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@Daniel right you are.– msh210 ♦Aug 14, 2013 at 17:27
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1 Answer
The Gemara in Berachos 14a says:
תניא נמי הכי מטעמת אינה טעונה ברכה והשרוי בתענית טועם ואין בכך כלום עד כמה ר' אמי ור' אסי טעמי עד שיעור רביעתא
Thus it was taught: One who tastes does not need a blessing, and someone engaged in a fast may taste without issue. How much? R' Ami and R' Assi tasted up to a Revi'is.
There is a dispute among the Rishonim of how to understand this. Tosefos cites Rabbeinu Chananel that this is assuming the person spits it out, in which case the tasting is not considered a pleasure which needs a blessing
טועם ואין בכך כלום. פירש ר"ח שחוזר ופולט דלא חשיב הנאה מן הטעימה אבל בולע לא אפילו בשאר תעניות ומשום הכי הפולט אינו צריך ברכה שאינו נהנה
The Tur (O.C. 210:2) and Beis Yosef (ibid) understand the Rambam (Hilchos Berachos 1:2) to mean that one could even swallow the food without needing to make a blessing, up to a revi'is-worth.
ומיהו מטעמת שטועמת התבשיל א"צ לברך עליו עד רביעית לכאורה משמע אפילו אם הוא טועם ובולע וכ"כ הרמב"ם ז"ל
The Shulchan Aruch (ibid) codifies the opinion of the Rambam, and cites the opinion of Rabbeinu Chananel as "some say."
הטועם את התבשיל אינו צריך לברך עד רביעית ואפילו אם הוא בולעו ויש אומרים שאם הוא בולעו טעון ברכה ולא פטרו את הטועם אלא כשחוזר ופולט ואז אפילו על הרבה אינו צריך ברכה
The Rema (ibid) says that we follow the lenient opinion in blessings, and therefore we should follow the opinion not to make a blessing even when swallowing.
The Magen Avraham (O.C. 210:10) argues and says one should make a blessing even on swallowing a small amount (he contends that the Rambam never meant to allow swallowing without a blessing, and there is no such opinion).
Within the opinion that the only allowance is in the case of spitting out the food, the Mishna Berura (210:18) applies this to even a case of chewing the food up and then spitting it out.
From all of the above, it should be evident that according to all opinions one would not make a blessing when you do not intend to eat the food that you put in your mouth. Even if you put a revi'is-worth into your mouth, only the opinion which allows swallowing a small amount holds that there is a cut-off point of revi'is.
