The mitzva of ḥalla applies specifically to dough intended for baking bread, as the Torah states: “When you eat of the bread of the land” (Bamidbar 15:19). In this context, “bread” means dough made from one of the five species of grain: wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye. These grains are unique because their dough can ferment and become ḥametz, which makes them suitable for bread and cakes; when one prevents the dough from fermenting, they can also be used to make matza for the mitzva on Pesaḥ. By contrast, one does not separate ḥalla from baked goods made from corn flour or rice flour, because their dough cannot become ḥametz and is not considered bread. For the same reason, they cannot be used to make matza for Pesaḥ (see Peninei Halakha: Pesaḥ 2:3). It should be noted that buckwheat – called kusemet in modern Hebrew – is a legume; therefore, even when it is ground into flour, one does not separate ḥalla from it, since it is not one of the grain species.
Flours from the five species of grain combine with one another. Therefore, if together they reach the ḥalla threshold, one must separate ḥalla (SA YD 324:2). When other ingredients are added, such as cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, or eggs, for ḥalla to be relevant, the grain component must define the mixture. Three factors determine this: the finished baked good must taste of grain; the grain flour itself must reach the ḥalla threshold; and the grain flour must make up the majority of the mixture. If all three conditions are met, one separates ḥalla with a berakha. If the first two conditions are met, but the grain flour is not the majority, one separates ḥalla without a berakha. If the baked good does not taste of grain, or if the grain flour itself does not reach the ḥalla threshold, one does not separate ḥalla from it.[9]
The liquid used to knead the flour also affects the obligation. When flour is kneaded with one of the seven liquids that halakha treats as significant, one must separate ḥalla from the dough. Six of these liquids are edible: water, dew, olive oil, wine, milk, and bee honey; the seventh, blood, is forbidden for consumption. If the flour is kneaded with other liquids, such as fruit juice or eggs, it is uncertain whether one must separate ḥalla from the dough, and therefore one separates ḥalla without a berakha. If even a small amount of water is added to the fruit juice, however, one separates ḥalla with a berakha.[10]
[9]. The Mishna states: “One who makes dough from wheat and rice: if it has the taste of grain, it is subject to ḥalla, and a person may fulfill his obligation with it on Pesaḥ; if it does not have the taste of grain, it is not subject to ḥalla, and a person may not fulfill his obligation with it on Pesaḥ” (Mishna, Ḥalla 3:7).
According to Rambam and SA, wheat mixed with rice has a unique law. Since rice has a special property of being drawn along with wheat, one may have to separate ḥalla from the mixture even when the wheat is only a minority. As long as the mixture has the taste of grain and the total mixture reaches the ḥalla threshold, one must separate ḥalla, even if the wheat itself does not reach that threshold (MT, Laws of Bikkurim 6:11; SA YD 324:9–10). According to Rambam, the wheat need not even constitute a kezayit within akhilat pras; according to Raavad, it must.
From this case, authorities derive principles for other mixtures of grain flour with non-grain ingredients. According to Rambam, if the grain flour itself reaches the ḥalla threshold, then one must separate ḥalla from the mixture even when the grain is not the majority, provided the grain is present at the level of a kezayit within akhilat pras. Raavad maintains that the grain must also be the majority (Tevu’at ha-Sadeh 3, note 4; see MB 453:14). Rosh is understood by many Aḥaronim as going further: when the finished baked good tastes like grain and the full mixture reaches the ḥalla threshold, one may have to separate ḥalla even if the grain flour itself does not reach the threshold. According to Magen Avraham, this requires a kezayit of grain within akhilat pras; according to another view, even that is unnecessary. Others understand Rosh as agreeing with Rambam (Beit Ephraim; Avnei Nezer).
Many Rishonim, however, including Ramban, Rashba, Or Zaru’a, and others, rule in accordance with Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel as cited in the Yerushalmi: “It is never subject to ḥalla unless it contains the measure of grain” (Yerushalmi, Ḥalla 3:5). According to this view, even the unique law of wheat and rice applies only when the wheat flour itself reaches the ḥalla threshold. When it does, one must separate ḥalla from the mixture even if the wheat is not the majority; when it does not, one does not separate ḥalla from the mixture. In mixtures of grain flour with other ingredients, the requirement is stricter: the grain flour must both reach the ḥalla threshold and make up the majority of the mixture.
In practice, wheat and rice are treated as a special case. In all other mixtures of grain flour with non-grain ingredients, if the grain flour itself does not reach the ḥalla threshold, one does not separate ḥalla from the mixture. Those who wish to enhance the mitzva may nevertheless separate without a berakha in deference to the view of Rosh (see Mishpetei Eretz 1:14–16). If the grain flour does reach the ḥalla threshold but is not the majority of the mixture, one separates ḥalla without a berakha. In a wheat-and-rice mixture, however, the presence of grain taste is enough to require separation without a berakha; if the wheat itself reaches the ḥalla threshold, one separates with a berakha.
[10]. The Mishna states: “Dough kneaded with fruit juice is subject to ḥalla” (Mishna, Ḥalla 2:2). Most Rishonim understand this broadly: the same law applies to dough kneaded with any liquid (Ramban, Rashba, Rashbatz, and many in their understanding of Rambam). Rosh, however, maintains that dough is subject to ḥalla only if it was kneaded with one of the “seven liquids” that halakha treats as significant.
At first glance, SA YD 329:9 seems to follow the majority view, implying that dough kneaded with any type of fruit juice is subject to ḥalla. However, in SA OḤ 462:5, he writes that one should not knead a ḥalla-sized amount of dough with fruit juice, and some explain that he was concerned for Rosh’s view that such dough is exempt from ḥalla (MB 462:20; SHT 462:27). In practice, we are concerned for Rosh’s view, and whenever dough is kneaded with liquids that are not halakhically significant, one separates ḥalla without a berakha (Baḥ; Shakh; Panim Me’irot; AHS; R. Ovadia Yosef; Or Le-Tziyon).
Some explain Rosh even more narrowly, maintaining that in his view only dough kneaded with water is subject to ḥalla (Beit Hillel YD 329:1). Some authorities were concerned for this view as well (Ben Ish Ḥai). However, since this is a minority interpretation of a minority view, the custom is not to be concerned for it, and one separates with a berakha. Therefore, if even a small amount of water is added to fruit juice that is not one of the seven liquids, one separates with a berakha. If a small amount of one of the other six significant liquids was added, one separates without a berakha; if that liquid constitutes the majority, one separates with a berakha (Sha’ar Ha-Melekh, Laws of Berakhot 6:1; R. Akiva Eger; and many others).
