OU HALACHA YOMIS (OUkosher.org)
Q. My house is usually completely chametz free the week before Pesach. May I use egg matzah on Shabbos for Lechem Mishneh, what bracha is recited and how much must I eat?
A. To respond to this question we must first explain the concept of kevias seudah (literally, established as a meal).
Egg matzah is in the category of pas haboh bikisnin (bread that is eaten as a snack), and the bracha is Mezonos. As the term pas (bread) haboh bikisnin implies, these are inherently bread-type foods, but the bracha is reduced to mezonos because they are used as a snack. However, if pas haboh bikisnin is consumed as a staple item in the meal, the bracha is elevated to Hamotzi.
Under what circumstances do we view pas habo bikisnin as a staple and not as a snack, such that Hamotzi will be recited? The Talmud informs us that when pas haboh bikisnin is used for “kevias seuda” (an established meal), the bracha is Hamotzi. But how do we define kevias seuda?
One way is to eat a large volume, a full meal of pas haboh bikisnin. The Magen Avrohom (168:130) writes there is second way to establish kevias seuda, and that is by eating an amount of pas haboh bikisnin together with other elements of a meal (such as fish, meat, potatoes etc.) that is equivalent to the amount normally consumed at a full satiating meal. According to Rav Belsky, zt”l, one typically eats two slices of bread at a normal meal. Therefore, if one eats 2 egg matzos together with other foods, there is kevias seuda and Hamotzi is recited.
This presentation applies to a weekday meal. In the next Halacha Yomis we will show that the rules of kevias seudah are somewhat different for Shabbos.
Shabbos Application
Q. In the last Halacha Yomis we wrote that during a weekday, Hamotzi is recited on two slices of egg matzah eaten together with a full meal. What is the halacha on Shabbos?
A. Rav Moshe Feinstein writes in the Igeros Moshe (OC 1:155) that if one eats egg matzah for his Shabbos meal, he is required to wash and bentch, even if the entire meal consists only of a matzah the size of a k’beitza (the volume of an egg), which is the minimal shiur for a seudas Shabbos (see Mishnah Berurah 291:20). Since there is an obligation to eat three seudos on Shabbos, any time one sits down with the intention to eat a Shabbos meal, the seuda is automatically considered important, kevias seuda is established and Hamotzi is recited.
