Ellen K. > wrote:

: "W. Baker" > wrote in message
: ...
: > Ellen K. > wrote:
: >
: > : Correct, it is not required to eat anything that would be injurious to
: > one's
: > : health.
: >
: > : I have been trying to find a way to still be able to wash for bread,
: > with
: > : the blessing, and say the full grace after meals, on the sabbath,
: > without
: > : losing control of my BG, because it just doesn't feel "shabbosdik" to me
: > to
: > : not do this. I don't care if I don't eat bread during the week.
: >
: > : The halacha is, to make the blessing on the bread and say the full grace
: > : after meals, a kezayis of bread (based on the halachic definition of
: > bread,
: > : which is also different depending what custom one follows, but all have
: > in
: > : common that the dough must include one or more of wheat / rye / spelt /
: > oats
: > : / barley and be made with water) must be eaten. To additionally say the
: > : blessing on washing the hands prior to blessing and eating the bread,
: > two
: > : kzeisim (= a beitzah) must be eaten.

When you go to a kosher restaurant or when there is a dinner at the shul
or a wedding or other catered aaffair, there is a hand washing station
that has a bowl of small pieces of bread or those little tiny round disks
of bread for you to eat for our motzi and that qualifies you for the
bentching. This loos like much less than your half a cheet of rye matzo.
maybe your shul is more machmir than my Orthodox one in NYC, but I wonder.
No one ever told me to eat more than a pinch of the roll at a Friday night
shul dinner. I am truely puzzled. i know thaat at Pesach there are all
kinds of minimums for assorted symbolic foods, and the Jewish Diabetes
Organization gives some vry small, permissible leser quantities for those
with diabetes that are accepted. I suggest o look at that group.

Wendy