עברית
Prayer and Blessings
Burekas: Should One Recite Me'en Shalosh (Al Hamichya)?
Question
When eating one bureka (a standard, small one), should one recite Me'en Shalosh (Al Hamichya)? A senior individual asked me this during a festive meal; I told him that it is possible there’s a doubt that the typical bureka weighs 27 grams, so he should eat another one or a few crackers. Is my response correct? This is how I conduct myself, trying to eat 2 burekas or two pastries (if they are small and not large) to avoid this dilemma and the dispute regarding volume or weight. Another small question: it has been brought to my attention that according to the author, there is a disagreement concerning grapes (for example), where there’s a rationale that if someone eats one grape, he may need to recite Me'en Shalosh because it is a complete fruit. If that’s the case, it seems to me that if a person eats one pistachio or one almond, he would recite Boreh Nefashot, no? (I am not well-versed in this topic). What is my status? And should one be concerned for the rationale regarding grapes according to other later authorities?
Answer
Shalom and blessings,
Since the filling is not counted towards the last blessing, one indeed needs to eat until there is a kezayit of the dough alone, and therefore one bureka is not sufficient to recite the after-blessing Al Hamichya.
Indeed, the poskim disagree regarding one who eats a complete small fruit, like a grape, whether one should recite an after-blessing even if he did not eat a kezayit, and due to the uncertainty of blessings, one does not recite a last blessing. Therefore, any God-fearing person who knows he will not eat a kezayit should take care not to eat the fruit in its entirety but should cut it before eating.
With blessings, Benjamin Shmueli
