Halachos of Daily Living

Is
a knish considered pas (bread)?

There are two ways to
make knishes. Most home-made recipes for knishes involve folding meat or
vegetables into a pocket of dough and then baking the knish. Because the dough
is baked, this type of pastry is called pas haba’ah
b’kisnin
 (bread
with a filling), and is subject to the laws of pas palter (non-Jewish bread) and pas Yisroel (Jewish
bread). Pas haba’ah b’kisnin is a form of bread
that is usually served as dessert. As such, the bracha is normally borei
minai mezonos
,
but if one is kovaya seuda (eats a substantial
amount which constitutes a meal), the bracha is hamotzi.

However, there is another
method which is commonly followed for retail knishes. Instead of baking the
dough, the knish is deep fried in oil. Because the dough is fried in oil and
not baked, halachically, this type of knish is
not considered pas (bread). Even if one were to eat an
entire meal of these knishes, they would require only mezonos,
and not hamotzi. Therefore, these
knishes are not included in the laws of pas
palter/pas Yisroel
,
but rather the prohibition of bishul akum (foods cooked by a
non-Jew without Jewish involvement) would apply. Bishul akum applies only to food that might be served at a
fancy dinner. Since knishes are served at fancy dinners, the prohibition
of bishul akum would apply. For this reason, all OU
fried knishes are bishul Yisroel, with a Jew involved in
the frying process.