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Less than Kezayis of Bread for Meal

Does Hamotzi exempt foods eaten afterward if one eats less than a k’zayit of bread?

Answer:

No, if less that a kezayis is eaten, the bread does not exempt other foods.

Best wishes.

Sources:

The reason why bread exempts other foods is because all foods are included in the meal, which is defined by the bread. See Rikvah, Berachos 41b.

However, only a reasonable quantity of bread (at least a kezayis) can define a meal. Less that this amount cannot define a meal, so that other foods will be obligated in their respective berachos.

See Shulchan Aruch 177:1, Mishnah Berurah 4, and other Poskim, who discuss how much bread one needs to eat so that other foods will be exempt from the berachah. Although some write that one needs to eat a keveitzah, most agree that a kezayis is enough (see Dagul Mervavah; Eshel Avraham 167:1; Shut Iggros Moshe, Orach Chaim 4:41).

Less than a kezayis, however, is not sufficient to define a meal.

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