Dear OK,
What is the correct brocha for Wasa crackers (crispbread)?
The OK responds:
Wasa crackers are a flat and dry type of bread, containing mostly rye flour. It is made just like matzah, but yeast is added in order to make it leavened. Even though it is made with water, according to the Mechaber and Shulchan Oruch HaRav one is allowed to be lenient and say the brocha mezonos, since it is usually eaten as a snack. However, in the Alter Rebbe’s siddur (the siddur of the Baal HaTanya), in Seder Birchos HaNehenin, which he wrote after he wrote the Shulchan Oruch he does not mention the opinion that the brocha on crackers is mezonos therefore it follows that the brocha should be hamotzi. Still, many prominent rabbonim and kashrus authorities hold that the correct brocha is mezonos. As with all Halachic rulings, please consult your local Orthodox rabbi for the right brocha.