Amen Obligation - While Eating

QUESTION: Should I answer Amen if I am in the middle of a meal and have food in my mouth?

ANSWER: As was noted in a previous halacha, the Shulchan Aruch (OC 215:2) rules that there is an obligation to answer Amen when hearing a beracha, even if you were not obligated to recite this beracha. Therefore, it might be assumed that a person must answer Amen even if there is food in one’s mouth. However, the Kolbo (siman 24) writes that one should not answer Amen if one is in the middle of eating, because it is a sakana (danger) to suddenly speak while eating. The Kolbo proves this from the Yerushalmi (Berachos 6:6) which states that if someone is eating, and he hears another person sneeze, he should not say “G-d bless you”, because it is a sakana to talk with food in their mouth. However, if the one reciting the beracha says “savri …” beforehand, this gives those who are eating time to stop eating, and they may answer Amen in a safe manner. (Savri will be discussed more fully in the next Halacha Yomis.)

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