Is there anything wrong with not eating bread to avoid reciting Birkat Hamazon?

Question

Is there anything wrong with not eating bread during the weekdays to avoid reciting Birkat Hamazon?

Answer 1

I found the following in the Beinenu.com sedra sheet for Ki Sovo

"תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב" ( דברים כ"ח - מ"ז)

כותב רבי מאיר מונק בספרו "דרכי נועם", המצוות שאנו עושים, צריכים להיעשות בשמחה. אך פעמים רבות איננו שמחים במצוות, כמה פעמים אנחנו לא נוטלים ידיים כדי לא לברך ברכת המזון, כלומר, ברכת המזון נחשבת כעול, איה השמחה?

Because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, Devorim 28 (47)

Rav Munk in his book “ דרכי נועם" writes that the mitzvos that we do should be done with joy. But many times we do not rejoice in the mitzvos. Many times we do not ritually wash our hands in order not to have to say Grace after Meals. In other words Grace after Meals is a burden; where is the gladness of heart?

[I understand “do not ritually wash our hands” to mean “not eat bread”; I do not think Rav Munk is suggesting that by not washing, somehow one does not need to say Grace after Meals.]

אומר הרב טאובר, היום כל העולם שומר על משקל, נשקלים שוב ושוב, מודדים כמויות אוכל, בודקים קלוריות, מצמצמים ארוחות ומדללים את מגוון המוצרים, אבל כל זה לא מוסיף שמחה, כדי שיהיה אפשר לברך ברכת המזון "בשמחה ובטוב לבב", צריך לאכול פרוסה כזית, והרי התנאי של קיום המצוה "בשמחה ובטוב לבב" הוא חלק בלתי נפרד מן המצוה.

Rav Tauber says that nowdays people are very careful about weight. They weigh themselves frequently and measure out the portions of food that they eat. They check the calories, reduce the size of their meals and reduce the number of foods that they eat. But all this does not add joy. In order to say Grace after Meals with “with happiness and with gladness of heart” one needs to eat a olive's bulk of bread and the condition of “with happiness and with gladness of heart” is an intrinsic part of the mitzva.

Rabbis Munk and Tauber say that the fulfilling the mitzvos should be a source of happiness and gladness of heart. Rav Tauber says that the happiness is intrinsic to the mitzva.

So not eating bread to avoid saying Grace after Meals displays a state of mind which is not as it should be. It seems that someone who has such a state of mind needs to work on it so that he can progress to saying Grace after Meals as it should be said. His Rabbi may pronounce on whether he should avoid eating bread until then.