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Why do rice and legumes get borei minei mezonos, and what happens when they're mixed with other ingredients? The shiur traces a fundamental machlokes about whether this bracha stems from technical mixture laws (tavshil) or from their unique status as foods that can establish a meal (kovea seudah). This conceptual divide resolves the Magen Avrohom's difficulty about majority mixtures.
This shiur provides an in-depth analysis of Gemara (גמרא) Brachos 36b, focusing on the complex halachos of brachos on rice and legumes (orez v'dochen). The Gemara discusses when one recites borei minei mezonos versus other brachos, with particular attention to cases involving mixtures (taruvus). Rabbi Zweig examines the dispute between Rav and Shmuel regarding whether borei minei mezonos is recited only when these items are prepared without mixture, or even when mixed with other ingredients. The shiur explores the fundamental question of what drives the bracha of borei minei mezonos - whether it's because the food is considered 'mazi'a' (satisfying/filling) or because one can establish a meal (kovea seudah) upon it. The Magen Avrohom's difficulty is addressed: if the requirement is that nothing else be mixed in, what happens when there's a majority (rov) of rice or legumes? Wouldn't the regular laws of ikar and tafel apply? Rabbi Zweig presents two approaches to resolving the Gemara. The first follows the Magen Avrohom's understanding that we return to Rav and Shmuel's original position about mixtures being treated under the laws of tavshil, where majority determines the bracha. The second approach, supported by the Rambam (רמב"ם) and others, argues that the bracha on rice and legumes is fundamentally based on their status as foods upon which one can establish a meal (kovea seudah), not on the laws of tavshil. This understanding resolves the Magen Avrohom's question by explaining that when other ingredients are mixed in, it's no longer considered pure rice/legumes and loses its meal-establishing status. The shiur concludes by noting that this represents a fundamental dispute about the nature of these brachos - whether they follow the technical laws of mixtures or the conceptual framework of meal establishment.
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Brachos 36b
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