The Five Species of Grain

The Sages instituted special berakhot for the five species of grain, which are: wheat, barley, spelt, rye and oats.

In general, the five species of grain are annual plants, so seemingly their berakha should have been “Borei peri ha-adama.” However, because of their importance – for from them the main foods of mankind are made, bread and cooked dishes – the Sages instituted a special berakha for them, in order to thank God, may He be blessed, in a detailed manner for our main sustenance. Over bread: “Ha-motzi leḥem min ha-aretz” (“Who brings forth bread from the earth”), and over cakes and cooked grain dishes: “Borei minei mezonot” (“Who creates various kinds of sustenance”).

In greater detail, the five species of grain can be eaten in five states, and in each state their berakha changes. We will list the five states:

1) One who eats raw kernels of wheat or barley, since they have not yet been elevated to their superior state, recites “Borei peri ha-adama.” Regarding the berakha aḥarona there is a doubt (as explained in section 13).

2) One who eats flour of ground grain, since he eats them in their worst form, they have descended from their original stature, and he recites the simplest berakha over them: “She-hakol nihya bi-dvaro” (SA OḤ 208:5).

3) If one cooked the grain kernels, as with groats, bulgur and Quaker oats; or made from their flour cooked dishes such as noodles, ptitim or casseroles – since they have been elevated to the level of a cooked dish that sustains the heart, he recites “Borei minei mezonot.” And after eating a kezayit of them (about half an egg), he recites Al Ha-miḥya, which is a Me-ein Shalosh berakha (SA OḤ 208:2).

4) If one kneaded the flour, baked it and made bread from it, he recites “Ha-motzi leḥem min ha-aretz” at the beginning and Birkat Ha-mazon at the end (168:9).

5) There is one more type that has an intermediate status, between a cooked grain dish and bread, and that is pat ha-ba’ah be-kisnin, namely, baked goods such as cakes and crackers. On the one hand, they are baked goods like bread; on the other hand, people are not accustomed to base a meal on them as on bread, but rather eat them as dessert. The Sages determined that if one eats them the way people eat between meals, for pleasure or to ease hunger, since he does not intend to be satiated as in a regular meal, his eating does not have the stature of eating bread, and therefore he recites mezonot before them and Al Ha-miḥya after them. But if he bases a meal on them (kove’a se’uda), their law is like that of bread, and he must wash his hands with a berakha before eating them, and recite ha-motzi and Birkat Ha-mazon over them. All this is because they are baked goods; but if one bases his meal on noodles or ptitim, since they are cooked dishes and not baked goods, he always recites mezonot and Al Ha-miḥya over them.