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DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION

Siman קע״א · Not to treat food with disrespect

שלא לנהוג בזיון באוכלים — a person may use bread (but without spoiling it), one does not throw bread nor foods that would be ruined (בזיון אוכלין), one does not sit on food, one may wipe with bread provided he eats it, and one gladdens the couple (wine, grains, nuts) without wasting or degrading
סימן קע״א · ה׳ סעיפים
שלא לנהוג בזיון באוכלים
🌱 Introductory Level · מתחילים
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This siman teaches the respect due to food: one may use bread (עוֹשֶׂה אָדָם צְרָכָיו בְּפַת) as long as it does not become disgusting, but one does not throw bread nor any food that would be ruined — בְּזָיוֹן אוֹכָלִין ; one does not sit on figs, one may eat porridge with bread in place of a spoon (דַּיְסָא בִּמְקוֹם כַּף) if he eats it afterward, and one gladdens the couple (חָתָן וְכַלָּה) without waste. Hebrew text, English translation and explanation of the ה׳ seifim, with a section of practical cases.

Topic : Respect for food — בזיון אוכלין, צרכיו בפת, דייסא, חתן וכלה
Source : שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן קע״א · ה׳ סעיפים

Compilation : רב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

After the rules of proper conduct at the meal (siman 170), the Choulhan Aroukh devotes this short siman to the respect due to food, and to bread in particular. Bread nourishes a person and it is over it that we recite the ברכת המוציא: one may certainly use it for one's needs, but never in a way that would ruin or degrade it. From this follow the prohibition of throwing bread (and foods that spoil), of sitting on food, and the care not to waste even in the joy of a wedding. We study here at the level of principle; for personal conduct, one refers to custom and to the Rav's ruling.

📑 Study plan

A. עושה אדם צרכיו בפת and בזיון אוכלין (seif 1) — using bread without spoiling it, not throwing bread
B. לא ישב על האוכלין (seif 2) — not sitting on food
C. דייסא בפת במקום כף (seif 3) — bread in place of a spoon
D. שמחת חתן וכלה (seifim 4-5) — wine, grains and nuts for the couple
1-3. Practical cases and comprehension questions

A. עושה אדם צרכיו בפת and בזיון אוכלין — using bread, not degrading it

בְּזָיוֹן אוֹכָלִין — the degrading of food. Halakha calls for honoring food — especially bread, the staple over which the ברכת המוציא is said — and forbids treating it in a degrading way (throwing it, soiling it, sitting on it). The principle that governs the whole siman: one may use food for one's needs, but never at the cost of ruining it (מידי דממאיס).

Seif 1 — עושה אדם צרכיו בפת : bread, between use and respect

עושה אדם צרכיו בפת, והני מילי דלא ממאיס ביה, אבל מידי דממאיס ביה לא. הילכך אין מניחין עליו בשר חי, ואין מעבירין עליו כוס מלא, ואין סומכין בו הקערה אם היא מלאה דבר שאם יפול על הפת ימאס. ואין נוטלין הידים ביין בין חי ובין מזוג, אפילו נטילה שאינה צורך אכילה. ואין זורקים הפת משום בזיון אוכלים, וכשם שאין זורקין את הפת כך אין זורקים אוכלים הנמאסים על ידי זריקה, אבל מידי דלא ממאיס כגון אגוזים ורימונים וחבושים שרי.
Seif 1: a person may use bread for his needs (as a support or utensil) — but only for what does not render it disgusting (דלא ממאיס ביה) ; what would render it disgusting, no. Therefore one does not place raw meat on it, one does not pass a full cup over it, and one does not prop up a dish with it if it is full of something that, falling on the bread, would ruin it. Nor does one wash one's hands with wine, whether pure or diluted, even a washing unrelated to the meal. And one does not throw bread, because of the disgrace to food (בזיון אוכלים) ; and just as one does not throw bread, one does not throw foods that become ruined by being thrown ; but what does not become ruined — such as nuts, pomegranates and quinces — is permitted.
Use, yes; disgrace, no. Bread may serve a person (to hold, prop, wipe) — עושה אדם צרכיו בפת — but only as long as it is not ruined. Placing raw meat on it, passing a full cup over it, propping a dish that may spill: all these soil and dishonor it. Likewise one does not throw it — a בזיון אוכלין — nor foods that would spoil ; only hard foods (nuts, pomegranates, quinces), which do not suffer from being thrown, are permitted.

B. לא ישב על האוכלין — not sitting on food

Seif 2 — לא ישב אדם על קופה מלאה תאנים : to sit or not

לא ישב אדם על קופה מלאה תאנים וגרוגרות, אבל יושב הוא על עיגול של דבילה או על קופה מלאה קטניות.
Seif 2: a person does not sit on a basket full of figs and dried figs (תאנים וגרוגרות) ; but he may sit on a round cake of pressed figs (עיגול של דבילה) or on a basket full of legumes (קטניות).
The question of damage. One does not sit on fresh or dried figs: the weight would crush and ruin them — another בזיון אוכלין. But a cake of pressed figs (already compact) or a basket of legumes (hard) are not ruined: one may sit on them. The line is always the same — what does not spoil is permitted.

C. דייסא בפת במקום כף — bread in place of a spoon

Seif 3 — מותר לאכול דייסא בפת : wiping with bread

מותר לאכול דייסא [פירוש החטה הנקלפת מבושלת] בפת במקום כף, והוא שיאכל הפת אחר כך ; והמדקדקים אוכלים בכל פעם שמכניסים לתוך פיהם מעט מן הפת עם הדייסא. הגה : והנשאר מן הפת אחר כך אוכלים אותו.
Seif 3: it is permitted to eat דייסא (explanation: hulled, cooked wheat — a porridge) with bread, in place of a spoon, provided one eats the bread afterward ; and the scrupulous eat, each time they put it in their mouth, a little of the bread together with the porridge. Rema's gloss: and the bread that remains afterward, one eats it.
Using without throwing. One may use bread as a spoon to eat the porridge — this is indeed a "use" of bread (עושה אדם צרכיו בפת) — provided he eats it afterward. The sensitive point: not to use the bread and then throw it away soiled (that would be a בזיון). The scrupulous (המדקדקים) eat a little bread with each mouthful ; and the Rema concludes: what remains, one eats — nothing is wasted.

D. שמחת חתן וכלה — wine, grains and nuts for the couple

Seif 4 — ממשיכין יין בצנורות : drawing the wine

ממשיכין יין בצנורות לפני חתן וכלה, והוא שיקבלנו בפי הצינור ; וזורקין לפניהם קליות ואגוזים בימות החמה שאינם נמאסין, אבל לא בימות הגשמים מפני שנמאסין, אבל לא גלוסקאות לעולם.
Seif 4: wine is drawn through pipes (צנורות) before the groom and bride — provided one receives it at the mouth of the pipe ; and roasted grains and nuts (קליות ואגוזים) are thrown before them during the summer months, since they do not spoil, but not during the rainy season, because they would spoil ; and never fine loaves (גלוסקאות).
Joy, but without waste. To gladden the couple one may draw the wine through pipes — provided it is received at the outlet (otherwise it is waste, בל תשחית). One also throws them roasted grains and nuts, but only in summer (they do not spoil) ; in the rainy season they would be ruined on the ground. As for fine loaves (גלוסקאות), never: throwing bread remains a בזיון אוכלין, in every season.

Seif 5 — הזורקים חטים : throwing wheat in a clean place

הזורקים חטים לפני חתנים צריך ליזהר שלא יזרקו אלא במקום נקי, וגם יכבדו אותם משם כדי שלא ידרסו עליהם.
Seif 5: those who throw wheat before grooms must be careful to throw it only in a clean place (במקום נקי), and also to sweep it up from there, so that it will not be trampled.
Even wheat deserves regard. Wheat, if it does not spoil, may be thrown for joy — but on two conditions: that it be thrown in a clean place (במקום נקי), and that it be gathered up afterward so it is not trampled. Here too, the respect for food frames even the wedding custom.
The siman in one sentence: food, and bread above all, is treated with respect — one may use it (עושה אדם צרכיו בפת) but never in a way that ruins it (מידי דממאיס) ; one does not throw bread nor what spoils (בזיון אוכלין), one does not sit on it, and even in the joy of the couple one takes care not to waste or soil (בל תשחית).

Practical cases

Case 1 — Using bread

Situation: may I place food on a slice of bread, or wipe up a sauce with bread?
Conduct: yes, as long as it does not ruin the bread — עושה אדם צרכיו בפת… דלא ממאיס ביה (seif 1). So one does not place raw meat on it nor anything that would render it disgusting, and if one uses it as a spoon one eats it afterward (seif 3). For precise cases (modern uses of bread), one follows one's Rav.

Case 2 — Throwing food

Situation: may I throw bread, sweets or nuts (to a child, at a wedding)?
Conduct: one does not throw bread — משום בזיון אוכלים — nor any food that spoils by being thrown (seif 1). But what does not spoil — nuts, pomegranates, quinces, and the קליות ואגוזים thrown to the couple in summer — is permitted ; never גלוסקאות (fine loaves). This is respect for food.

Case 3 — Rejoicing without wasting

Situation: at a simcha, one wants to draw wine or throw wheat. What must one watch for?
Conduct: one may draw wine provided it is received (seif 4), and throw wheat only in a clean place, then sweep it up so it is not trampled (seif 5). The thread: joy justifies neither waste (בל תשחית) nor contempt for food. For a delicate case, one follows one's Rav.

Comprehension questions

Check your understanding:
  1. On what condition may one use bread for one's needs (seif 1)?
  2. Why does one not throw bread, and what may one throw nonetheless (seif 1)?
  3. On what may or may not one sit, and why (seif 2)?
  4. On what condition may one eat porridge with bread in place of a spoon (seif 3)?
  5. What may one throw before the couple, in which season, and what does one watch for with wheat (seifim 4-5)?

Going further

If you wish to go deeper into this siman:
Continue to the next simanSiman 172 →
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