**There was a mistake in yesterday’s Halacha entitled "The Recitation of Alenu After Shaharit".
In the Halacha we mistakenly stated that the Hesed La'alafim, Rabbi Eliezer Papo, was of Romania, 1770-1828. But, in fact, we stand corrected with the fact that Rav Papo was not from Romania, but rather he was born in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia which was then part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Sarajevo, Bosnia was part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire since it was founded in the 1450s and only became part of the Austro-Hungarian Emipre in 1878. It was never part of Romania and is indeed nowhere near Romania's borders. Rav Papo then went on to become the Rav of Selestria in Bulgaria and never lived in Romania at any point during his lifetime. Further, it is believed that Rav Papo was born in 1785 and was niftar in 1826 at the age of forty one.
We apologize about this mistake and would like to thank one of our loyal readers for bringing this to our attention. ***
Today's Halacha:
If a person ate food which requires the Beracha of Me’en Shalosh (such as cake or wine) as well as food that requires Boreh Nefashot (such as cheese), he first recites Me’en Shalosh, and then Boreh Nefashot. One reason for this Halacha is the fact that some authorities consider the recitation of Me’en Shalosh a Torah obligation. The recitation of Boreh Nefashot, by contrast, constitutes a Rabbinic obligation according to all opinions. (In fact, the Gemara in Masechet Berachot refers to Boreh Nefashot with the expression, "Ve’lo Kelum" – "nothing.") Therefore, since Me’en Shalosh applies on a higher level of obligation (at least according to some opinions), it should be recited first. Secondly, the Beracha of Me’en Shalosh is more specific, as it makes particular mention of the food which one ate ("Al Ha’mihya Ve’al Ha’kalkala" for grain products, "Al Ha’gefen" for wine, and so on). Boreh Nefashot, however, is more generic, speaking in a general sense of how God provides human beings with their needs. In this sense, too, Me’en Shalosh is the more important Beracha and is therefore given precedence.
There are, however, two exceptional cases when this Halacha does not apply. The first is a situation where one ate one of the seven special fruits that require Me’en Shalosh – such as grapes or dates – as well as other fruits, such as apples or oranges. In this case, the individual recites only Me’en Shalosh, and this Beracha covers even the fruits that are not among the special species. Since the Me’en Shalosh he recites makes mention of fruits, it covers all the fruits he ate, including the apples or oranges.
The second exceptional case is where a person ate fruits from the seven special species and vegetables. According to the Rashbetz (Rabbi Shimon Ben Semah Duran, Spain-North Africa, 1361-1444), the Me’en Shalosh recited over fruits covers even foods that grow from the ground. In his view, the term "Peri" ("fruit") in the Beracha of Al Ha’etz can refer even to vegetables, and therefore in this case one would recite only Me’en Shalosh. The Shulhan Aruch, however, disagrees, and argues that the Beracha of Al Ha’etz does not cover foods that grow from the ground, and therefore one would recite both Al Ha’etz and Boreh Nefashot in this case. Hacham Ovadia Yosef ruled that one should avoid this issue by reciting Boreh Nefashot before Me’en Shalosh in this case. Even though one should generally recite Me’en Shalosh before Boreh Nefashot (as discussed above), in this case one should reverse the sequence in order to avoid the question of whether Boreh Nefashot should be recited at all. Hacham Ovadia adds that if one recited Me’en Shalosh before reciting Boreh Nefashot in this case, he should not then recite Boreh Nefashot. Although the Shulhan Aruch requires reciting Boreh Nefashot, the principle of "Safek Berachot Lehakel" establishes that one should not recite a Beracha in a situation of uncertainty, and thus in such a case one should not recite Boreh Nefashot, in deference to the view of the Rashbetz.
Summary: Generally speaking, a person ate both food requiring Me’en Shalosh and food requiring Boreh Nefashot recites Me’en Shalosh followed by Boreh Nefashot. If, however, he ate fruits of the special seven species (such as grapes or dates) and vegetables, then he should first recite Boreh Nefashot and only then Me’en Shalosh. If he recited Me’en Shalosh before reciting Boreh Nefashot, then he should not recite Boreh Nefashot at all. If a person ate from the special seven fruits as well as other fruits, then he recites only Me’en Shalosh, as this Beracha covers all fruits.
