Breakfast

Eating a healthy and well-balanced breakfast is an important way to start one's day from both a medical and halachic perspective.[1] We are taught that doing so is extremely beneficial and assists one's body in fighting off illness.[2] It is especially important to eat bread as part of one's breakfast, which is referred to in halachic literature as the "pat shacharit". The minimum amount of bread or cake which should be eaten for breakfast is at least the size of an egg.[3] It is also suggested to eat bread made from wheat grown under "peaceful" conditions, whenever possible.[4] However, any bread is acceptable, of course.[5]

In a somewhat amusing piece of advice, it is suggested that one might be able to discharge the obligation to eat a hearty breakfast each morning with the recitation of Tehillim. This idea is based on the verse "It is as if my desire is satiated with fat and abundance when my mouth gives praise with joyous language”[6] which can be interpreted as if to say that when one prays to God one becomes satiated as if one has eaten.[7] Somewhat related to this is the view which teaches that one can discharge the obligation of eating seudat shlishit on Shabbat with Torah study rather than food.[8] This option, however, is only available to those who are on an extremely high spiritual level and truly feel satiated as a result of Torah study.[9]

One should eat breakfast promptly after the morning prayers, before continuing on with one's day.[10] One should not allow four hours to pass from the time one wakes up, and certainly not six hours, before sitting down to breakfast.[11] Eating a good breakfast will contribute to one's success in Torah study.^[12] The recommendation to eat bread for breakfast does not necessarily require actual bread, but cakes and pastries are sufficient for this purpose, as well.[13] Eating a warm food or drink at breakfast is also recommended.[14] One who simply cannot eat a proper breakfast should at least begin one's day with something filling.[15]

It is related that Rabbi Elazar Mendel of Lelov would advise those who would come to him in search of Divine healing and salvation to eat a good breakfast every morning for forty days straight.[16] It once happened that a certain chassid who received this advice from the Lelover Rebbe did so for thirty-seven consecutive days but then neglected to complete the remaining three days because he had been feeling better. The illness quickly returned, however, propelling the chassid back to his Rebbe, explaining to him what had transpired. The Rebbe told him that he would now be required to begin the forty days of breakfast anew if he truly desired to rid himself of his illness permanently. And so it was.

The forty day "breakfast segula" is actually one which has been prescribed by other Rebbes as well for a number of different problems requiring Divine intervention. Similarly, Rabbi Howard Jachter reports that merely eating a proper breakfast has assisted women suffering from infertility as a nutritional imbalance is often responsible for a hormonal imbalance in a woman's cycle.[17]

The importance of eating breakfast and even the halachic ramifications of doing so can be seen in the following story which took place about 350 years ago.[18] After completing a successful business agreement in the city of Lemberg, a fox skins merchant headed for his home in Nicholsburg. He was accompanied by a young assistant, whom he cared for deeply, and always made sure to give the boy a good breakfast. The two went on their way, but the weather took a turn for the worse causing the boy to become ill and die from the harsh conditions. The merchant was afraid that he would be held accountable for the boy's death in the World to Come for having taken him on such a difficult journey. He turned to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kruchmal for spiritual advice and to inquire as to whether or not he was responsible for the boy's death. The rabbi replied that since our sages teach us that eating breakfast in the morning has the power to protect one from heat and cold, the merchant fulfilled his obligation of caring for the boy by providing him with a good breakfast. He calmed the merchant and assured him that he bore no responsibility for the tragic death of the boy.[19]

[1] Bava Kamma 92b; OC 155:2.

[2] Bava Metzia 107b..

[3] Pri Megadim, MZ 155:2.

[4] Bach, OC 155.

[5] Chacham Tzvi 15.

[6] Tehillim 63:6.

[7] Eishel Avraham, (Botatsh) OC 155.

[8] Magen Avraham O.C. 444:2

[9] Kaf Hachaim, OC 444:11.

[10] OC 155:2

[11] OC 157:1; Rivevot Ephraim 3:590:21.

[12] See Bava Metzia 107b for more on this.

[13] Pri Megadim, MZ 155:1; Rivevot Ephraim 3:590:35.

[14] Kaf Hachaim, OC 155:23.

[15] Eishel Avraham, (Botatsh) OC 155:2.

[16] Segulot Habesht, Pat Shacharit.

[17] http://www.koltorah.org/ravj/Orthodox_Infertility_1.html

[18] Cited at: http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/13638.

[19] Tzemach Tzedek 93.nn