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As it is known that one is not allowed to eat before morning prayers, is there any opinion that allows to eat after birkot hashakhar but before tefillah?

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  • Chabad eats mezonos before Tefillah, though they use the time between Birchos Hashachar and Tefillah to learn Chassidus.
    – ezra
    Apr 3, 2019 at 2:36
  • You can wake up really early and eat before dawn
    – mbloch
    Apr 3, 2019 at 3:07

2 Answers 2

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Shulchan Aruch 89:4: "One who is thirsty and one who is hungry - behold they are in the category of the ill. If one has the ability to focus one's mind, one should pray. If not, if one wishes, one should not pray until eating or drinking."

Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Prayer 5:2: "...if he can concentrate, he recites the prayer; if not, he should not pray until he has eaten and drunk."

From the above it appears that if one is very hungry he must eat before praying according to the Rambam. Beit Yosef 89:7 takes it down a notch and says that eating is optional and subject to one's discretion - "הרשות בידן." Mishnah Berurah 89:26 agrees with this conclusion even in light of the fact that today we are not able to concentrate during prayer even when not hungry.

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    Good point. However the question was specifically about after Birchas Hashachar. That is indeed mentioned in 89:3 in the Rema concerning doing work and other needs, not eating. Although the Biur Halacha mentions that it's better to say Shema first before eating as well. Since the Rema mentions it as being a better than nothing (better to be machmir) perhaps it can be stretched to include eating as well thereby making it better to say brachos first before eating
    – Chatzkel
    Jul 29, 2021 at 3:45
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R' Dovid Chai HaKohen states on yeshiva.org.il:

אם אין ברירה אחרת ולא תוכל להתפלל ולקרוא קריאת שמע לפני העבודה - אפשר להקל ולאכול עוגה קטנה ולשתות איתה כוס קפה או תה חם, אחרי ברכות השחר

If you have no other choice and can not pray and recite Shema before work - one can be lenient and eat a small cake and drink a cup of coffee or hot tea after the morning blessings

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    He is likely referring to situations in the beginning of winter where the time for recitation of Shema is after some people have to start to work
    – mbloch
    Apr 3, 2019 at 3:08
  • @mbloch right- it's a brief answer and doesn't refer to any sources so could perhaps assume that, however the date posted along with the question is "כ"ה אייר תש"ע" (ie April-June range). But that could just mean that's when it was posted, not when it was asked- hard to determine either way
    – alicht
    Apr 3, 2019 at 3:19
  • i recall that there is indeed an explicit source for this in shulchan aruch, sorry that i just cant spend time on this at the moment. but, as i recall it shouldn't be hard to find.
    – DrM
    Apr 7, 2019 at 21:31

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