Hafrashas Challah - Wheat Kernels

QUESTION: I make sprouted grain bread. This is not made from flour; instead, wheat kernels are soaked until they sprout and become soft. The kernels are then kneaded into dough and baked. Since it is not made from flour, is it obligated in hafrashas challah?

ANSWER: Yes. Rav Belsky zt”l explained that there is no specific requirement to use flour for bread to be obligated in hafrashas challah. What is necessary is that the kernels stick together through a kneading process called “gibul.” Since the kernels are soft and adhere to each other and form dough, this dough is obligated in challah. Rav Belsky also ruled that the beracha on bread made from sprouted wheat is Hamotzi. Often sprouted grain bread contains various other grains aside from wheat or the other four grains (barley, spelt, rye, oats). They are often made with lentils, corn or beans as well. If this is the case, one should make sure to eat enough bread to have at least a k’zayis from the bread made from five grains alone, in order to be able to recite birkas hamazon. However, if the majority of the bread was made from the five grains, the Mishnah Berurah (453:14) implies that the entire bread takes on the status of the majority. In that case, if one eats even one k’zayis of the bread, it is enough to recite Birkas Hamazon.

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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.