DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 956 KB)
Berachot Order of Varying Types of Food & Fruit

If one sits down to eat different kinds of fruits, all of which require the Beracha of "Borei Peri Ha'etz," over which fruit should he recite the Beracha, and thereby cover all the other fruits?

If one of the fruits is included among the seven special species of Eretz Yisrael (listed in the verse in Parashat Eikev – Devarim 8:8), such as grapes, then this fruit takes precedence over other fruits. For example, if a person eats grapes and apples, he would recite the Beracha of Ha'etz over the grapes, and this would cover the apples, as well.

If one sits down to eat several fruits which are all among the seven special species, over which fruit should he recite the Beracha?

Halacha requires reciting the Beracha in such a case over the fruit that is mentioned closer to the word "Eretz" ("land") in the verse that lists the seven species. The verse describes the Land of Israel as "a land [Eretz] of wheat and barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land [Eretz] of oil-laden olives and date-nectar." The species closest to the word "Eretz" in this verse is given precedence over species situated further away from the word "Eretz." For this reason, when one eats both a Mezonot food (from wheat or barley) and fruits from the seven species, he first recites the Beracha over the Mezonot food, since wheat and barley are situated closest to the word "Eretz" in this verse. Among fruits, olives, which are mentioned immediately following the second instance of "Eretz," takes precedence over all other fruits. Then comes dates, followed by grapes/wine, figs, and, finally, pomegranates.

If one eats a fruit that requires the Beracha of "Borei Peri Ha'etz," and another food – such as watermelon – that requires "Borei Peri Ha'adama," which food should he eat first?

In this case, one should preferably first recite Ha'etz and partake of the fruit, and only then recite Ha'adama over the watermelon. If, however, the watermelon is "Chaviv" for this individual, meaning, he likes it better than the other food he wishes to eat, then he should first recite Ha'adama and partake of the watermelon, before partaking of the fruit.

Summary:
If one eats a fruit from the seven species and another fruit that is not among the seven species, he recites the Beracha of Ha'etz over the fruit from the seven species, which covers the over fruit, as well.

If one eats several fruits from among the seven species, then he chooses the fruit upon which to recite Ha'etz (and thereby cover the others, as well) based on the following sequence of priority: olives, dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates.

If one eats a fruit requiring Ha'etz and another food requiring Ha'adama, then he first eats of the food requiring Ha'etz, unless he has a stronger liking for the other food, in which case he first partakes of that other food.

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 211, Seif 1-4

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Succot- The Mitzvah of Building the Succah
Succot- The Proper Way To Shake The Lulav in Halel
The Proper Time To Say Selichot
Customs of Elul
The Shofar as an Alarm Clock
Hatarat Nedarim – Annulling Vows Before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Reciting Tehillim During the Month of Elul and During the Ten Days of Repentance
Some Laws and Customs for the Month of Elul
The Proper Procedure for Reciting Selihot Without a Minyan
Selihot – The Recitation of the “Yag Middot”
Selichot and Tikun Hasot
Reciting the “Yag Midot” Without a Minyan
Performing Teshuva Each Day; Repenting for Negative Character Traits
Can a Man Represent His Wife in Hatarat Nedarim?
The Structure of the Selihot Service; Health as a Reward for Charity
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found