As we have discussed in previous editions of Daily Halacha, there are circumstances in which a person who leaves his place while eating must recite a new Beracha when he resumes eating. Specifically, if a person eats food requiring the recitation of "Boreh Nefashot," and before reciting "Boreh Nefashot" he leaves, upon returning he will, under certain conditions, be required to recite a new Beracha before he resumes eating.
The Halachic authorities address the question of whether or not this applies when a person leaves an apartment and then returns without leaving the building. For example, while eating such a food a person goes out for a few minutes to a neighboring apartment, the stairwell or lobby, but without leaving the building. Must he recite a new Beracha before he resumes eating upon returning home? This question also applies if somebody is eating in a hotel room, or, Heaven forbid, in a hospital.
Hacham Bentzion Abba Shaul (Jerusalem, 1923-1998), in his Or Le’siyon, as well as Rav Betzalel Stern (1911-1989), in his Be’sel Ha’hochma (as cited by Hacham David Yosef, in his Halacha Berura), ruled that as long as one remains under the same roof, he is not considered to have left his home with respect to the Halachot of Shinui Makom (leaving during a meal). Changing locations within the same building is akin to moving from one room to the next, which does not require a new Beracha before one resumes eating. By contrast, Rav Shelomo Zalman Auerbach (Jerusalem, 1910-1995) and Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (1910-2012) are cited as ruling that leaving an apartment is equivalent to leaving the building, and constitutes "Shinui Makom," thus requiring a new Beracha before one resumes eating.
As for the final Halacha, we apply the famous rule of "Safek Berachot Le’hakel," that we do not recite a Beracha in situations of Halachic uncertainty. Therefore, if one left his apartment while eating a "Boreh Nefashot" food and returned without leaving the building, he does not recite a new Beracha before he resumes eating. Preferably, one should avoid this issue by having in mind as he recites the Beracha when he begins eating that he might go outside the apartment during the meal. This way, according to all views he will not require a new Beracha when he resumes eating. This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef, as recorded in Yalkut Yosef (p. 88; listen to audio recording for precise citation).
Summary: It is preferable when one begins eating a food requiring "Boreh Nefashot" to have in mind as he recites the Beracha that he might leave the room or the apartment in the middle of the meal. But even if he did not have this intention, and he left while eating, he does not recite a new Beracha when he returns and resumes eating, as long as he did not leave the building.
