Eating the end pieces of a loaf of bread, ok?

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Judaism -> Halachic Questions and Discussions

1 2 3 4 Next

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

amother

Blush

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 11:35 am

Can anyone please clarify this for me? Is it permitted to eat the ends of a loaf of bread? Or is it bad luck? I hate wasting food, but I heard somewhere that it is best to discard the ends of a loaf of bread or challah...please clarify if you can.

amother

Turquoise

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 12:03 pm

When I was pregnant and didn't know the gender, I didn't eat the ends of the challa, bread, etc (assuming it might be a boy) and now that I had a boy, and I'm nursing, I still refrain from eating ends .

When not pregnant or if not nursing a boy, I eat it all. Give it to your girls Smile

gp2.0

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 12:11 pm

Quote:

The Talmud lists ten things which are detrimental to one's understanding of the Torah. One of them is eating bread not completely baked. This can be understood as follows:

Someone who rushes to eat the bread before it is fully baked will approach Torah study with the same lack of patience. He'll rush through each subject without taking time to clarify all the the details and reasons. The result will be an unsatisfying, 'half-baked' grasp of the matter.

The custom to avoid bread-ends apparently started in the days when many people were too poor to afford their own oven, and townspeople would bring their dough to a large communal oven to bake. In order to conserve space, they placed the doughs end to end, and often the bread stuck together. As a result the end part was not well-baked and therefore not eaten.

Commercial bakeries today often bake in the same way, and if you notice you can see where the loaves were pulled apart. Some bakeries put doughs side by side and they stick together on the sides. It would follow, then, that the side should not be eaten. The reality is that both the ends and the sides are almost always completely baked, and there's no need to protest if someone eats them. As a boy, I remember my father referring to the end piece as the 'krychik' - it was the prized morsel in our family because it was the crispiest piece!

Sources:

Talmud Tractate Horiyot 13b

http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/87/Q1/

DrMom

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 12:19 pm

Why on earth not? Eat the heel of the bread if you like it. Remember to wash and say hamotzei.

What silly bubbemeises.

sequoia

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 12:20 pm

It's the best part!

LittleDucky

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 12:22 pm

I was told once that eating the ends is a segula for having a boy. I don't "hold" by segulas and think many are bubbemaises but interesting how there are two conflicting issues with the same part of the bread!

perquacky

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 1:45 pm

It's my favorite part (more crust!) and dh always saves it for me when he cuts the challah.
Never heard of any reason why not to eat it.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 1:48 pm

As a girl I was always given the end piece of the challah, because my family believed that eating the end made you forget Torah. So who cared about the girls learning, they were the ones that always got it, because only the boys knowledge was important.

That was one of the many things that made me a sworn feminist from the tender age of 11.

myself

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 1:52 pm

Many people that don't eat the ends hold that it is okay to do so on Shabbos, so I'm wondering how this lines up with the source.

Commercial bread ends are not all that exciting, but challa ends... that's a whole 'nother story Smile

AFAIK even those that don't eat the ends ever, simply remove a tiny scrap from the edge so they still get to enjoy it. So if you're concerned about it, just scratch off a tiny morsel.

ra_mom

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 2:07 pm

myself wrote:

AFAIK even those that don't eat the ends ever, simply remove a tiny scrap from the edge so they still get to enjoy it. So if you're concerned about it, just scratch off a tiny morsel.

I can add even more twists to that. Growing up, we didn't eat the ends of the challah, we actually threw them out, but the ends of a sliced loaf of bread were fine Tongue Out

Then I married, and my FIL, who is the most kabbalistic gentleman you will ever meet and studies and follows almost everything in the Zohar, serves the end of the challah. The ends are the most coveted pieces at their shabbos table.

Go figure.

Amelia Bedelia

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 4:10 pm

Never heard this. Am chassidish

cnc

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:31 pm

I went to a non chassidish school and leaned that it causes kashe leshikcha, so men should refrain from doing so. My family keeps chassidish minhagim and the men are makpid not to eat the ends for the same reason.

bigsis144

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:39 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

That's what I heard as a kid, through the kid grapevine. We're four girls in a row, and my sisters and I would always give my mother the "heel" of the bread so that we'd get a brother. Smile

DrMom

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:46 pm

I learned you are not supposed to waste food.

treestump

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:50 pm

Sounds like the cutting off the tip of the roast ritual, which started when Great Grandma Tzeitel's pot in the shtetl was too small.

I just don't get these segulos and traditions which kind of transgress certain prohibitions, in this case baal tashchis for example. But to each their own I guess.

myself

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:50 pm

cnc wrote:

Yes, that rings a bell.

I was sceptical when I read the reasoning supplied by gp2.0's source as I remembered there was a straightforward explanation. Thanks for triggering my memory.

And OP, since the concern is for men, I imagine you can continue enjoying your ends.

myself

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 5:53 pm

DrMom wrote:

I learned you are not supposed to waste food.

I can't talk for everyone but in our family there's virtually no baal tashchis, as in order for the piece not to qualify as an end, only a tiny scrap needs to be removed. Do you always eat every last crumb?

imasinger

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 6:31 pm

Thank you to the OP and to gp2.

The things I learn from this board!

mamita

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 6:48 pm

There is a list in a sefer (can't remember which. And nothing to do with chassidish or not) of things that are kashe leshikcha, can cause one to forget his Torah learning. Therefore men should avoid them. Women do not have the obligation to learn Torah as men so it is not relevant to them. One of the things in this list is eating the ends.

tigerwife

Mon, Oct 31 2016, 6:51 pm

mamita wrote:

Right, I learned this too. Other things on the list are wearing clothes inside out or taking off multiple items of clothing together (like a shirt and undershirt) IIRC. Oh, and I always get the ends of the challah, especially when they're well done. Smile

Page 1 of 4

1 2 3 4 Next