Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

In Second Place

November 21, 2024

Q If I start eating in my car and wish to continue after I exit it, do I need another bracha?

A A person who is eating and changes his location (shinui makom) is reckoned to have finished eating (except in the case of certain foods; see below). He must make a new bracha in order to eat at the new location. The classic example of shinui makom is leaving a house (O.C. 178:1).

A new bracha is required even if the move was planned at the time of the initial bracha (Mishnah Brurah ibid. 39). In the case of a minor change of location, a new bracha is not required, even if there was no intent to relocate. But lechat’chilah one should have kavanah during the bracha that he will move (Biur Halacha ibid. 1). Whether a relocation is minor or major depends on factors that are mostly beyond the scope of this article.

For holchei drachim (travelers), the rules of shinui makom don’t apply, because their move doesn’t indicate that they’re finished eating—at least for someone traveling on foot. It’s often different for someone traveling by car, because a vehicle is a contained area, and exiting it entails entering a new place. The halachos are as follows (Piskei Teshuvos ibid. 17, based on Shu”t Betzeil Hachochmah 6:73-74):

• If you begin your meal while driving, the rule of holchei drachim applies, so you can continue eating without a new bracha even after exiting the car and relocating.
• If you stop the car to eat, the rules of shinui makom If you begin eating in the car and continue outdoors, the move is considered minor, and a new bracha is not required. But lechat’chilah, while you make the bracha you should intend to move—unless the car is within view of the new location. If you enter a building or an enclosed outdoor area, the move is major, and a new bracha is required even if you had kavanah.
• If you begin eating while the car is stationary, then you start driving and continue eating, don’t make a new bracha; though the vehicle moves during the meal, the occupants remain in place.

For foods that require Birkas Hamazon or Meiein Shalosh, the Rama rules that shinui makom rules do not apply, and a new bracha is not required (O.C. ibid. 2). Lechat’chilah, though, one should recite a bracha acharonah before doing shinui makom (Rama ibid.).