259. Snacking Before a Meal

Please note: The 19th-century Kitzur Shulchan Aruch does not account for modern responsa regarding chalav Yisrael (“Jewish milk”) vs. chalav stam (“regular milk”). Please consult your rabbi for guidance in this area.

38:15 There are different local practices when it comes to butter. In some places, the custom is not to use non-Jewish butter, while in others they do. A person who comes from a place where it is not eaten may eat it while he is visiting a place where doing so is considered acceptable. One who goes from a place where non-Jewish butter is used to a place where it is not used may not eat it while there. (At this point, the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch warns readers about butter substitutes of the day that used pig fat.)

39:1 If someone will soon eat a meal but he wants to eat or drink something (other than wine) before washing his hands and then continue eating or drinking that thing during his meal, there are different opinions about how to proceed. Some authorities feel that this food or drink would be covered by bentching (“grace after meals”), while others feel they would not. Therefore, one should try to avoid this situation and the question it raises. For example, one could eat the food before the meal and say its concluding bracha, and not eat that food during the meal. If one did not say the bracha after that food and he started the meal, he may recite the bracha during the meal or even after bentching. If one ended up eating the food during the meal, he does not say the concluding blessing during the meal. He should then eat or drink something after bentching so that he can say a concluding blessing that includes the food in question.

Mishnah Brurah 176:2 says that one may eat something before the meal that would not require a separate blessing during the meal if one has washed (e.g. vegetables). However, if he is ready to sit down to the meal, doing so would constitute an unnecessary blessing unless one derives much greater enjoyment from eating this food before a meal than during one.