Crackers: Hamotzie or Mezonos?

189. Crackers: Hamotzie or Mezonos?

If bread is made in a very different manner from how regular bread is made, it is called pas haba’ah bekisnin. There are a number of factors that qualify bread to be called pas haba’ah bekisnin. One of them is that the bread is made to be crunchy and is eaten dry, like pretzels and crackers. Strangely, when the Alter Rebbe discusses this halachah in his siddur in Seder Birchas Hanehenin, he does not mention this definition of pas haba’ah bekisnin.

Consequently, there are many authorities who maintain that according to the Alter Rebbe, crunchy bread is not mezonos, but hamotzie. Of course, if the bread is made with liquids other than water, it would be mezonos for that reason; but it is not mezonos simply by virtue of it being crunchy. One of the facts that support this position is that Ashkenazim always say hamotzie on matzah, unlike Sefardim who often say mezonos on it, except on Pesach.

Therefore, if one purchases crackers and follows the position of the Alter Rebbe, they should check the ingredients to ascertain that the crackers are in fact mezonos, and not rely on the package designating them as mezonos.

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Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.