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Pesachim 37

37b

OPINIONS: Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish argue whether the obligation to separate "Chalah" applies to dough cooked in a pot. That is, is such dough technically considered "bread?" Reish Lakish says that it is exempt from Chalah, and Rebbi Yochanan says that it is Chayav. What is the Halachah?

(a) RABEINU CHANANEL rules like Reish Lakish that it is exempt, because the Amora'im at the end of the Daf seem to favor his opinion.

(b) However, the RIF, TOSFOS, and the ROSH say that the rule is that the Halachah always follows the opinion of Rebbi Yochanan over that of Reish Lakish (Yevamos 36a), and therefore it is Chayav in Chalah.

HALACHAH: The SHULCHAN ARUCH (YD 329:2) rules like Rebbi Yochanan, that dough cooked in a pot is Chayav in Chalah, even though the dough was placed inside the pot and only afterwards was the pot heated. The Poskim add that if there is liquid in the pot when the dough is cooked, then everyone agrees that it is exempt from Chalah, because the product is not bread-like but a cooked dish (Belilah Rakah).

However, this only applies if the dough which was placed in the pot was a "Belilah Rakah," a loose and not bread-like dough. If the dough that was used was a thick dough, the Halachah is the subject of another Machlokes among the Rishonim, as follows. We know that Chalah must be separated from the dough at the time that the dough is kneaded. If so, what difference should it make what is done to the dough afterwards; it was already Chayav in Chalah from the time that it was kneaded; even if it is ultimately baked in the sun it should not lose its Chiyuv!

(a) For this reason, Rabeinu Tam (Tosfos DH d'Chulei) asserts that Chalah must indeed be separated from a thick dough no matter how it was eventually baked, cooked or prepared to be eaten. In fact, Rabeinu Tam adds that when one eats such a product, he should recite the Berachah of "ha'Motzi" before eating it, for it is considered to be bona fide bread.

(b) The RASH, however (cited in the Rosh), does not accept this ruling. Even if the dough was thick, it is not necessarily obligated in Chalah. The obligation of Chalah depends upon the *intentions* of the person kneading the dough, he asserts. If the person is kneading it in order to bake the dough in the sun, it will be exempt from Chalah. If he is kneading it to bake in a pot, its obligation in Chalah depends on the argument between Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish about whether Chalah must be separated from such bread.

Based on Talmudic sources, the Rash qualifies his ruling by adding that there are times when thick dough is obligated in Chalah even if one intends to bake it in the sun. If one plans on baking most of the dough in the sun, but he has in mind to bake *some* of it in an oven, then the entire dough is indeed obligated in Chalah.

HALACHAH: Halachically, the SHULCHAN ARUCH (YD 329:3) cites the latter opinion, of the Rash, that Chalah depends on the intention of the person kneading the dough.

However, the SHACH (329:4) notes that the MAHARAM (as cited in the Rosh in our Sugya) did not want to decide for certain one way or the other in this matter. Therefore whenever making a thick dough that would not be baked in an oven, he would recommend either that the person separate Chalah without a Berachah, or that he intend to bake at least *some* of the dough, thereby obligating himself in Chalah even according to the opinion of the Rash. This, says the Shach, is the recommended practice today as well.