- If you are bentching with at least 3 people (zimun) it is best to bentch over wine. If you don’t have any, the minhag haolam is to be lenient – you don’t need to go searching for wine. (MB4)
- If you only have wine for Kiddush and Havdalla don’t use it for Birkas Hamazon. (MB14)
- If wine is not so common in your city you can use for kos shel beracha an enjoyable beverage that people regularly drink. This is called chamar medina. Water doesn’t count. (ShA2 – MB7,8,9)
- The kos shel beracha needs just to be placed on the table in front if the person bentching. It is even a better mitzvah to hold the cup. (MB15)
- Wine in the cup mustn’t be “pogoom”. Pogoom is a disqualification that comes when someone sips from the cup. (ShA3 – MB17)
- The following cases do not make the kos pogoom:
a. Dipping your finger into it to taste it.
b. Pouring some into your hand to taste. (ShA3)
- Sipping wine from any size container makes the entire contents pogoom. (ShA3 – MB21)
- The best way to fix the pogoom wine is to pour a little more wine (or any drink that isn’t pogoom) into the cup, then pour it all back into the bottle. Make sure the wine in the bottle has more volume than what you will pour back. Now you can use it again for kos shel beracha according to all opinions. (ShA6 – MB27 – ShaH24,28,30,31)
- A less preferred option is to pour the pogoom wine into a smaller kos that still holds a reviis. If you don’t even have that, use the kos pogoom – it’s better than no kos at all. (ShA7 – MB32)