Pas Yisroel - Knishes

QUESTION: Is a knish considered pas (bread)? 

ANSWER: There are two ways to make knishes. Most homemade recipes for knishes involve folding meat or vegetables into a pocket of dough and then baking the knish. According to some opinions a baked knish is hamotzi, since it is not usually served for dessert, but rather it is the main part of the meal. Certainly, the halachos of Pas Yisroel will apply. According to others, because the dough is baked with a filling, this type of pastry is pas haba’ah b’kisnin and the beracha is mezonos, but if one is kovei’a seuda (i.e., one eats a substantial amount which constitutes a meal), the beracha is hamotzi. As mentioned in an earlier Halacha Yomis, anything on which one would recite hamotzi if one was kovei’a seuda is also included in the category of Pas Yisroel. So either way the laws of pas Yisroel would apply.

However, there is another method which is commonly followed for retail knishes. Instead of baking the dough, the knish is deep fried in oil. Because the dough is fried in oil and not baked, this type of knish is halachically not considered pas (bread). Even if one were to eat an entire meal of these knishes, they would recite only mezonos, not hamotzi. Therefore, these knishes are not included in the laws of Pas Yisroel, but rather fall under the prohibition of bishul akum (foods cooked by a non-Jew without Jewish involvement). Bishul akum applies only to food that can be served at a fancy dinner. Since knishes are served at fancy dinners, the prohibition of bishul akum would apply. For this reason, all OU fried knishes are bishul Yisroel, meaning that a Jew was involved in the frying process.

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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.