Would one need to make a separate bracha on hot chocolate that is drunk with the bread meal if one already made hamotzi, or does the hamotzi bracha cover it?
3 Answers
Halachically, there are three reasons why a person would want to drink at a meal:
- to quench your thirst
- to whet your appetite
- to aid the digestion process
For the first two, the drink is considered a part of the meal, and so no bracha is necessary, as it is covered by the Hamotzee.(Orach Chaim 174:7, Mishnah Berurah 174:39)
However, if it drinking your chocolate milk is solely to aid digestion, you are not eating for satiation, and so it is not regarded as part of the meal, and a bracha is necessary (Mishnah Berurah 174:39).
In a case where you are not sure why you're drinking the chocolate milk during a bread meal, you do not say a bracha because of the principle of a Safek Bracha L’hakel, literally a doubt as to whether or not you should say a bracha. We are lenient and do not say a bracha because we do not want to say a bracha that is unneeded, as it says in the 10 commandments not to say God's name in vain (Orach Chaim 167:9, Mishnah Berurah 215:18).
-
What happens if you’re not drinking it for any of those three reasons, but because you enjoy the sweet taste?– Joel KApr 8, 2020 at 7:59
-
I would say then that it is akin to drinking lemonade or wine, not because you're thirsty, but because they're pleasurable to drink, and so no bracha is said. But if you're still not sure, you can say Shehakol on something else that is for sure like dessert (e.g. candy or a snack of some sort), keeping in mind the hot chocolate. Apr 8, 2020 at 8:24
-
2@Mattityahu you are 100% wrong. Wine always requires a bracha.– user21968Apr 8, 2020 at 19:10
-
1@Dexcainr, I think saying my answer(not my comment) as 100% wrong is quite an overstatement. Wine of course is the ONLY exception when it comes to a drink not being covered by Hamotzee. I was using the example to say that although it isn't apparent at first that it falls under the above categories, there are times where we are drinking something for the sake of enjoyment, and it is halachically within one of the above categories. Wine and lemonade fall under the second category of "whetting your appetite", and so I'm guessing most drinks for "pleasure" fall under that same category as well. Apr 11, 2020 at 17:24
It will be covered. Chabad.org says
The Hamotzi blessing will "cover" everything you eat as part of the meal (except for dessert and wine).
-
4
-
3@Dexcainr If the question includes dessert, phrasing should be adjusted for clarity. Now it sounds like its being eaten with the meal.– JayApr 3, 2020 at 16:57
-
@jay it doesn’t matter if it’s eaten as dessert or with the meal. If it’s considered a dessert, like candy or peanuts, it requires its own bracha, regardless of when it is eaten.– user21968Apr 3, 2020 at 17:11
-
2@Dexcainr That is not always the case. Sometimes such foods do not require their own bracha, depending on their function during a particular meal– JayApr 3, 2020 at 18:32
-
1Really, @N.T. "most Ashkenazim follow the Mishna Berura and consider dessert part of the meal"; I think the MB does not consider dessert part of the meal. Jan 12, 2022 at 20:35
even if hot chocolate is considered a desert,the Halacha is even if it’s a desert you only have to make a new bereacha if the desert is mezonos, haaetz, hadama and hagafen but if it is SHEHAKOL you don’t need a new beracha
-
2
-
@Meir incorrect. Only mezonos items require no bracha, except for wafers, doughnuts etc.– user21968Apr 8, 2020 at 19:12
-
Yeah, this answer is just plain wrong. There are plenty of mezonos desserts that do not require a separate bracha and plenty of shehakol desserts that would require a separate bracha.– DanielMay 3, 2021 at 14:24