This year we will be eating the Shabbos meal on Erev Pesach. One who is continuing to eat his seuda after the zman of issur chometz, does not have to make a new brocha on what he is eating even though he is no longer eating bread. Since this meal was started with bread, the brocha on the bread exempts the other foods from a brocha. This is the psak of R’ Elyashiv zt”l.
What is the halacha if one eats the bread in one place so the chometz shouldn’t get all over the place, and afterwards goes to a different place to finish his seuda, does he have to make a new brocha? The halacha is (Mechaber 177:2) that when one removes himself from eating bread and the table is taken away, he must make a new brocha on what he eats afterwards. Does this halacha apply in our case as well? Rabbi Shmuel Felder shlit”a says that there is a big difference. That halacha is going on the minhag where they would finish eating the bread and remove the table because they were finished eating the meal. Then they would continue with dessert. This obligates a new brocha since what they are eating now has no connection to the meal. But if there would still be bread at the table what they are eating would be considered “tafel” to the bread and would not need a new brocha. In our case however the main part of the seuda was not yet eaten, rather they only removed themselves from eating bread, therefore even though they moved to a new table they still do not have to make a new brocha. This is also the opinion of R’ Elyashiv.
If one switched places in middle of the seuda [for example he went from one room to the other or from the porch into his house] where should he bentch? The Mishnah Berura [184:1) says that if there was a reason why he could not bentch in the room where he ate, he may bentch in the adjacent room as long as he can still see the place where he ate. Also if at the time of making the brocha he had in mind that he will bentch in a different room, then if there is no other alternative [the room where he ate is not clean] he may be lenient and bentch in another room even if he can’t see the place where he ate.
Rabbi Felder says that it seems from the Mishnah Berura that in a case where he has both maalos, where he can see the place where he ate and he had in mind to bentch somewhere else, then he may bentch in the second place even l’chatchila. Therefore in our case one may bentch in the second place where he ate. Even though there is a machlokes if a porch has the same halacha as a different room in the house, still since we are only using this reasoning for a l’chatchila [because b’dieved it is ok even if he did not go back and bentch], and it is also a bother for the whole family to go back to the other room, one may be lenient. This is especially true since it is easier to have kavanah bentching in the house rather than on the porch.1
Prepared by R’ Avrohom Yehoshua Ziskind
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1Sources: Shiurei Halacha