DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 4.63 MB)
The Beracha of “She’ha’kol”

The Aruch Ha’shulhan (Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein of Nevarduk, 1829-1908) observes an intriguing difference between the Beracha of "She’ha’kol" and most of the other Berachot we recite before eating. Other Berachot use the verb "Bara" ("create") – "Boreh Peri Ha’adama," "Boreh Peri Ha’etz," "Boreh Mineh Mezonot." In the Beracha of "She’ha’kol," however, we use the verb "Niheya," which means "made," as opposed to "create."

To explain this difference, the Aruch Ha’shulhan writes that the verb "Bara" refers to a new creation, and we therefore use it in Berachot over food items that are produced anew each year – fruits, vegetables, grains, and so on. The Beracha of "She’ha’kol," by contrast, is recited over things like meat and fish, which come from animals – creatures that are not recreated anew. Therefore, the more appropriate verb is "Niheya," as opposed to "Bara."

There are different texts of the Beracha of "She’ha’kol," as some Ashkenazim recite, "She’ha’kol Niheyeh Bi’dbaro." The custom among Sepharadim, however, is to recite, "Niheya," not "Niheyeh," and everybody should follow his or her community’s custom.

Summary: In the text of the Beracha of "She’ha’kol," there are those who recite, "She’ha’kol Niheyeh Bi’dbaro," but Sephardic custom is to pronounce the word as "Niheya," and not "Niheyeh."

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Does Someone Count for a Minyan If He is in a Different Room?
Is There an Obligation to Live in Eretz Yisrael?
May a Woman Return Home From the Hospital on Shabbat After a “False Alarm”?
Revoking Rabbinic Edicts of Past Generations
Accompanying a Woman in Labor to the Hospital on Shabbat
May a Husband be Present During His Wife’s Labor and Delivery?
May Expectant Parents Find Out the Fetus’ Gender?
Is it Permissible to Pray for the Death of a Terminally Ill Patient Who is Suffering?
Using the Mother’s Name When Praying for a Sick Patient
“Opening One’s Mouth to the Satan”
Does One Recite Tefilat Ha’derech Before a Short Flight?
Customs to Observe After Experiencing a Miracle
The Beracha Recited Upon Entering a Cemetery
The Completion of the 13th Daf Yomi Cycle
May a Synagogue Have a Menorah With Seven Branches?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found