If Pas Yisroel is Unavailable While Traveling During the Aseres Yemei Teshuva

Q. There is a custom to only eat Pas Yisroel (bread baked with the involvement of a Yisroel) during Aseres Yemei Teshuva (the ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur). I will be traveling during that time and will be in an area where Pas Yisroel is not available. What should I do?

A. Shulchan Aruch (112:2) writes that if Pas Yisroel is not available, one may be lenient to purchase pas palter (bread baked by a non-Jewish baker). Mishnah Berurah (603:1) writes that this leniency applies even during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, when the minhag is to eat only Pas Yisroel. However, if Pas Yisroel becomes available during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, one should stop eating pas palter and eat only Pas Yisroel. Which foods are included in the category of Pas Yisroel? The word “pas” literally means bread. However, many poskim (e.g., Taz, Pri Chadash, Beis Meir) explain that with regard to Pas Yisroel, the definition of bread is any pastry that would become hamotzi if one was koveya seuda (i.e., if it was used as the staple of a meal). Therefore, pas haba’ah b’kisnin (e.g., cookies, cakes, crackers) is included in the category of Pas Yisroel.

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