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Guidelines for When Food Falls and Becomes Inedible After One Recited the Beracha

The Shulchan Aruch (206:6) addresses a case where a person takes a grape from a bowl of grapes and recites the Beracha, but before he can eat the grape it falls to the ground and becomes inedible. If he now takes another grape from the bowl, must he repeat the Beracha, or does the Beracha recited on the first grape apply to this new grape, as well? The Shulchan Aruch rules that in such a case one must recite a new Beracha, since the first Beracha was recited only over the initial grape.

The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, Poland, 1525-1572, author of glosses on the Shulchan Aruch) comments that this ruling applies only if the individual had no intention of eating any grapes besides the one he had initially taken. But if he recited the Beracha with the intention of eating more than just a single grape, then the Beracha applies to all the grapes in the bowl, and thus he need not repeat the Beracha before eating another grape.

The later authorities are in disagreement as to whether the Rama here seeks to explain the Shulchan Aruch's position, or to take issue with the Shulchan Aruch. According to some scholars, the Rama simply clarifies that the Shulchan Aruch issued this ruling only regarding a case where the individual had intended to eat just a single grape. Others, however, maintain that the Shulchan Aruch followed the view of some earlier authorities (Tosefot, Rosh) that even if the individual had intended to eat more than just one grape, his Beracha nevertheless applies primarily to the grape he held in his hand, and he must therefore repeat the Beracha before eating another grape. According to this reading, the Rama disagrees with, rather than clarifies, the Shulchan Aruch's position. (See Kaf HaChayim Sofer, siman 206, seif kattan 42.)

Given the controversy surrounding this issue, we resort to the standard rule of "Safeik Berachot Le'hakel," that we do not recite a Beracha if there is uncertainty as to whether it is warranted. Therefore, a person in this situation does not recite a new Beracha before eating a new grape unless he had specifically intended to eat only the initial grape. Even if he had no specific intention at all when he recited the original Beracha, he does not recite a new Beracha before eating another grape. Only if the person had very clear intention to eat only a single grape would he recite a new Beracha when taking another grape from the bowl after the first one fell and became unedible. This is the ruling of several authorities, including the Bei'ur Halacha (commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Kagan, the "Chafetz Chayim," Lithuania, 1835-1933) and the Kaf Ha'chayim Sofer.

Summary: If a person had a bowl of fruits in front of him, and after he took one fruit and recited the Beracha it fell and became inedible, he does not recite a new Beracha if he then takes another fruit from the bowl, unless he had clear intention to eat only the original fruit.

 


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