The Mitzvah of Lechem Mishneh on Shabbos

What is the mitzvah of lechem mishneh (having two loaves of bread at the Shabbos meals)?

The Gemara (Shabbos 117b) teaches that on Shabbos one is obligated to recite Hamotzi on two loaves of bread. This serves as a remembrance to the double portion of mon (manna) that fell every Friday during the forty years that the Children of Israel traveled through the desert. Although the Biur Halacha (263:2) maintains that this is only a rabbinic requirement, the Aruch HaShulchan (274:1) writes that having two loaves of bread at the Shabbos meal is derived from a Biblical reference. Women are obligated as well, since they too were included in the miracle of the mon. Therefore, everyone should be given a piece of challah from one of the two loaves (Mishnah Brurah 167:83). If an individual at the meal has a dietary restriction and can only eat certain special types of bread (e.g., gluten free, spelt), that individual should place the special loaf (even if it is not whole) together with the loaves of the one reciting hamotzi, so that this bread too will be included in the lechem mishneh.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.