Lomdus on the Parsha: Ekev
Based on the Acclaimed Sefer Chavatzeles HaSharon
Q: If one regurgitates their meal do they still recite a berachah acharonah (a subsequent blessing of thanks) afterwards?
You will eat and be full, and you will bless Hashem, your God, for the good land He has given you. (Deuteronomy 8:10)
The Talmud (Berachos 48b) describes how after God provided the Jewish people with the miraculous mun (manna) Moshe instituted the requirement to recite Birchas HaMazon (a.k.a. Grace After Meals). However, R. Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz, the Chazon Ish (O.C. 28:4), is perplexed by how the mun could serve as the paradigm for a meal which requires Birchas HaMazon. Afterall, the mun was unlike any other food in that it was immediately absorbed into one’s body (Yoma 75b). This presents a challenge since the Talmud (Berachos 51b) tells us that one can no longer recite Birchas HaMazon once the food has already been digested. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 184:5) rules in accordance with this principle:
Until when can one bless? Until the meal is digested in one's stomach. And how much is that measurement? The entirety of the time that one is not hungry on account of that eating.
With that being the case, how is it ever possible to recite Birchas HaMazon on mun, which digests immediately - all the more so, it does not seem reasonable for mun to serve as the paradigm for all other meals.
(1) R. Mordechai Carlbeach raises one possibility that the obligation to recite Birchas HaMazon on the mun is actually not based on the general imperative outlined by Deut. 8:10, but from the words “and you shall know that I am the Lord your God” (Ex. 6:7). Thus, it is an exception with its own unique set of halachic parameters, rather than a model for others.
(2) Another possibility that I would personally suggest is that we can distinguish between digestion and satiation. While, generally speaking, once the food becomes fully digested one becomes hungry again, it would seem that the mun had the power to satiate even once digested. So long as one remains satiated from the mun they should still qualify to recite Birchas HaMazon.
Admittedly, it appears that satiation is more of an indicator (siman) of digestion, rather than digestion serving as an indicator of station. Thus, it would still be immaterial if one remains satisfied after having consumed mun, as the food has already been broken down.
(3) The Chazon Ish himself seeks to resolve the difficulty he raised based on a related query. R. Akiva Eiger (O.C. 186:2) raises a dichotomy to understand the nature of the obligation of Birchas HaMazon by using the case of a boy who becomes bar mitzvah after concluding his meal, but before the food is digested. Would such a boy be obligated in Birchas HaMazon on a Biblical level? (If yes, this would enable him to recite Birchas HaMazon on behalf of other adults as they share the same level of obligation.)
R. Akiva Eiger proposes that this question hinges upon whether the obligation of praising God with Birchas HaMazon primarily stems from the gratification of the consumption or from the subsequent feeling of satiation that the food provides. If Birchas HaMazon is contingent on the consumption, then the feeling of satiation is merely a practical delineation of determining how long one can still recite praise for the initial eating. Whereas, the rationale for basing the deadline for Birchas HaMazon on satiation is that so long as the food remains in one’s stomach they are viewed as still remaining in the broader consumption process.
With this dichotomy in mind, R. Akiva Eiger explains that if the obligation of Birchas HaMazon is contingent on the consumption the boy would not be obligated in Birchas HaMazon on a Biblical level, since at the time of eating he was still a minor. Whereas, if we posit that Birchas HaMazon depends on satiation, since the now-bar-mitzvah-boy still feels full from his meal he would be obligated to recite Birchas HaMazon on a Biblical level.
The Chazon Ish applies R. Akiva Eiger’s framework to the case of mun and argues that we see that the obligation of Birchas HaMazon is tied to the act of consumption, otherwise one could never make a Birchas HaMazon which digests immediately. Thus, one could still recite Birchas HaMazon as long as it is done immediately after eating the mun.
However, we should note that there are some challenges to this conclusion. Firstly, Magen Avraham (216:1) cites the Kol Bo who explains that the reason we do not recite a berachah acharonah (a subsequent blessing of thanks) after smelling fragrances is that once one finishes inhaling the substance the sensory experience dissipates in short order - just like when food digests and one can no longer recite a berachah acharonah on it either. This would suggest that Birchas HaMazon is actually contingent on the satiation, not the consumption, as the Chazon Ish argued.
A further example: If one regurgitates all of the food he just ate he would no longer be required to make a berachah acharonah, since he is no longer satiated (see Panim Me’iros 2:27, Birkei Yosef O.C. 208:1, and Minchas Chinuch 313:3). It would seem that the obligation of reciting a berachah acharonah depends on one’s satiation, as opposed to the act of consumption.
We can debate whether the primary cause of reciting a berachah acharonah emerges from the consumption or satiation. In either event, the purpose, as mentioned in the first blessing of Birchas HaMazon, is to take a moment to recognize He “Who feeds the whole world with His goodness, grace, loving-kindness and mercy.” May we the words from that very blessing - that God “provides food for all His creatures whom He has created” - come to complete fruition speedily in our days.
Note: This series is not intended to dispense practical halachic conclusions. The Torah presented here is but a small extraction from the breadth of the sefer Chavatzeles HaSharon and is not affiliated with the author in any official capacity. Translations are adapted from Sefaria, Chabad.org, Mechon Mamre, and my own. Contact: [email protected]
