3 meals on shabbat?

Question

I've seen a few questions on this site relating to meals on shabbat, but I believe my question is unique from them.

At the shul I go to for shabbat, they eat one bread meal in Friday night, and one bread meal shabbos afternoon, right before shkia. In the middle, they make kiddish over mezonos delicacies right after musaf.

Can someone explain to me if this is halachically accurate? I thought that one is supposed to eat 3 meals on shabbos, with (at least) the first two consisting of bread. The Rabbi at this shul said that the middle mezonos meal counts as the second meal. What is his halachic basis for this, if any? What are the sources which discuss what the 3 meals of shabbos must consist of?

Answer 1

As you noted in the question, the accepted halacha is that one requires bread at the first two meals (Shulchan Aruch 274:4). At the third meal, one needs to eat bread as well; however, there are opinions that one fulfills his obligation with mezonot items (or even meat and fish, or possibly even fruit) (Shulchan Aruch 291:5).

Now, the opinion that allows one to follow kiddush with mezonot in order to fulfill the requirement of kiddush bemakom se'udah (that kiddush must take place in the context of a 'meal') is that of Magen Avraham 273:11.

However, I contend that even Magen Avraham believes that these mezonot would not count as his second shabbat meal. I base this on Magen Avraham 274:2 where he discusses someone who has no appetite to eat on Friday night. Magen Avraham writes that such a person should make kiddush on Friday night and eat/drink a little to fulfill kiddush bemakom se'udah, and then must eat three full meals on shabbat day.

So, even according to Magen Avraham, eating mezonot on Friday night does not count as his first meal. I contend the same is true regarding the second meal, as in your case.

However, it must be noted that some do hold that, bedi'avad one would fulfill his second meal with mezonot. Responsa Divrei David 86 (R. David Meldola, 18th century) writes that, although one has acted incorrectly in not eating bread at his second meal, he has fulfilled his obligation bedi'avad. He therefore rules that if one eats bread at a subsequent meal and forgets to add retzei in birkat hamazon he does not repeat, as this bread meal is considered the third shabbat meal, where forgetting retzei does not necessitate repetition (see Shulchan Aruch 188:8).

Answer 2

Tosefos to Pesachim 101a s.v. טעמו מידי writes

נראה דהיינו טעימת לחם כדאמרינן בפ"ג דשבועות (דף כב:) כדאמרי אינשי ניטעום מידי ואזלי ואכלי ושתו ואם מועיל מיני תרגימא להשלים ג' סעודות שבת כמו בסוכה היינו דוקא בסעודה שלישית אבל לא בסעודת ערבית ושחרית שהם עיקר כבוד שבת

[For kiddush b'makom seudah] they specifically ate bread... and if מיני תרגימא (could be fruit, could be mezonos of the 5 species - Tosefos on 107b s.v. מיני תרגימא) and the like work to complete the 3 meals of Shabbos, that is specifically for the third meal, but not the first two, which constitute the primary honor of Shabbos.

The Tur O.C. 273 quotes the Ga'onim:

ודוקא שאכל לחם או שתה יין אבל אכל פירות לא

Specifically if he ate bread or drank wine, but not fruit.

Although there is an excluded middle in the Geonim (skipping from bread to fruit and leaving mezonos unaddressed), mezonos would seem to be included as being at least as good as wine. The Mogen Avrohom 273:11 explicitly makes this point, and writes that mezonos is more qualified for seudas Shabbos than wine is.

The Mishneh Berurah 273:25 cites this Mogen Avrohom. However, in the Be'ur Halacha there s.v. כתבו הגאונים, he cites from ספר מעשה רב that the Gra held that specifically bread makes a Shabbos seudah.

So there is room to go both ways - some opinions hold that mezonos (and even wine) is enough to fulfill the seuda requirement, and some hold that specifically bread is required.