Question: At a meal where one has already recited "ha-motzi", is dessert (cake, fruit, ice-cream etc.) considered to be included within that meal, or should a separate blessing be recited for it?

Answer: The blessing of "ha-motzi", recited over bread, exempts all other foods from requiring a blessing. This ruling is based upon the following three halakhic sources:

a. According to Rashi, bread is always considered the primary food of the meal (especially in Europe during Rashi's times, when meat was served quite rarely) and therefore the bread over which "ha-motzi" is recited exempts everything else in the meal (based on the principle of primary and secondary components).

b. The Ba'alei ha-Tosfot rule that since most people eat every meal together with bread, the bread exempts the other foods from requiring blessings (since they are, in essence, considered flavorings for the bread).

c. According to the Ra'avad, bread is the sign of a formal meal; therefore, it exempts all the other foods in that meal from blessings.

According to the first two opinions, since desserts such as cake or fruits are not usually eaten together with bread, it would be proper to recite the appropriate blessing before partaking of them. (The Mishna Berura in fact recommends that dessert be eaten together with bread, so as to avoid this question. This presents a real problem for dieters…) But according to the Ra'avad, we do not recite a blessing over dessert because the dessert is an inseparable part of the meal, and therefore it is included within the "ha-motzi" blessing. My revered Rabbi and teacher, Rav Soloveitchik ztz"l, advised me to rule in accordance with the Ra'avad.

In order to comply with all of these approaches, it is a good idea to recite Birkat ha-Mazon (Grace After Meals) following the main course, and then there can be no doubt that a blessing must be recited both prior to and after dessert.

(For dieters, the recommended procedure is to simply conclude the meal and forget about the dessert …)