Questions About Meals That Do Not Include Bread
Question
Dear Rabbi, I know that when one eats bread one must wash hands and recite Hamotzi and Birkat Hamazon, but my question is about meals that do not include bread. I have received different answers to this question: some said that when there is no bread there is no need for netilat yadayim, while others said that if one views the food as a meal, then one does need to wash hands. I would like a clear answer. If I sit down to eat a large meal that does not include bread, such as spaghetti with schnitzel and a salad on the side: 1. Do I need to wash my hands? 2. Do I need to recite the blessing for each item separately, or is there an order, or one blessing that includes everything? 3. If there is an order, is it severe not to follow that order? Of course I will try, but if I do not remember or make a mistake, is that very serious? 4. The same question regarding the after-blessings - which blessing do I say if I ate such a meal made up of different kinds of food? 5. Before Me'ein Shalosh and Al HaMichya, do I need to wash hands? 6. Regarding soup - soup that includes chicken pieces and vegetables - which first blessing and which after-blessing should I recite? P.S. I am Moroccan, in case that is relevant to the answer. Thank you in advance.
Answer
Greetings and blessings
1. There is no need to wash hands.
2. One recites the blessing appropriate to each item.
3. The general order of the blessings is mezonot, hagafen, ha'etz, ha'adamah, shehakol. However, after the fact, it does not matter if you preceded or delayed, and especially if you do not want to eat one kind at the moment.
4. For each type, one recites its separate blessing.
5. No.
6. Chicken soup that also contains vegetables: the blessing on the soup is shehakol, and on the vegetables one should recite a separate blessing.
With blessings,
Benjamin Shmueli
