If a person boils a fruit or vegetable, and then wishes to drink the water which now has the flavor of the fruit or vegetable, which Beracha does he recite?
Generally speaking, one who drinks the juice extracted from a raw fruit – such as orange juice – recites the Beracha of "She'hakol," rather than "Bore Peri Ha'etz," because drinking a fruit's juice is not considered equivalent to partaking of the fruit itself. Would this principle apply as well to juices extracted by boiling a fruit, or might we distinguish between the two cases?
The Rosh (Rabbenu Asher Ben Yehiel, Germany-Spain, 1250-1327), in his work on Masechet Berachot (6:18), writes that over juice extracted from cooking one must, in fact, recite the Beracha of "Bore Peri Ha'etz" (or "Bore Peri Ha'adama" when dealing with a vegetable). He contends that the taste imparted into the water during the process of boiling is far stronger and more potent than the taste of the juice extracted from a raw fruit. The juice produced by cooking is thus deemed equivalent to the fruit itself, and it therefore warrants the same Beracha as one would recite over the actual fruit. The Rosh cites as proof to his ruling the Gemara's comment, "Maya De'shalke Ke'shalke" – "the water of boiled fruits or vegetables is like the fruits or vegetables." This comment clearly establishes a Halachic parity between a fruit and the water in which it was boiled.
The Ra'a (Rabbi Aharon Halevi, Spain, 1235-1300), however, disagreed, and held that the juice extracted through boiling is no different from the juice produced from a raw fruit. In his view, the Gemara's comment "Maya De'shalke Ke'shalke" refers to a case where a person recited a Beracha over a cooked fruit or vegetable, eats it, and then drinks the water in which it was boiled. The Gemara here establishes that the Beracha of "Bore Peri Ha'etz" or "Bore Peri Ha'adama" that one recites over a boiled fruit or vegetable covers the liquid, as well, and thus after eating the fruit he would not recite a separate Beracha over the liquid. However, if one only drinks the water in which a fruit was boiled, and does not eat the fruit, he recites the Beracha of "She'hakol," and not "Bore Peri Ha'etz."
The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 202:10) cites both views. Rabbi Moshe Halevi (Israel, 1961-2001), in his work Birkat Hashem (vol. 3, 7:50), applies here the rule of "Safek Berachot Le'hakel," requiring that one avoid reciting a Beracha if it is subject to controversy. Given the debate surrounding juice extracted from boiling a fruit, one who drinks such juice should recite the Beracha of "She'hakol," which according to all views suffices to fulfill one's obligation.
Earlier (7:45), Rabbi Moshe Halevi addresses a case of one who eats compote – cooked fruits – and then drinks their juice. In light of the previous discussion, he rules that the Beracha of "Bore Peri Ha'etz" recited over the compote covers the juice, as well, and therefore one who eats compote and then drinks the juice does not recite a separate Beracha over the juice.
Summary: One who drinks juice produced by boiling a fruit or vegetable recites the Beracha of "She'hakol," just as one does over juice extracted from a raw fruit or vegetable. If, however, one first eats the cooked fruit or vegetable and then proceeds to drink the juice, such as one who eats compote and then drinks the juice, he does not recite any Beracha at all over the juice, since the Beracha recited over the fruit or vegetable covers the juice, as well.
