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| HILCHOS BRACHOS 1. The Blessing "Shehechianu" On Fruit 2. "Shehechianu" On Fruit Part 2
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Halachos of Brachos
Translated from "Vezos Habrachah" – the most popular Hebrew sefer on Hilchos Brachos - Shiur #3
Chapter One -
Preparation for the Brachah
Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi (died 1341) writes in
his classic work The Kuzari that a person benefits by saying
brachos. ‘One of the
benefits of blessings, to one who is consistent to say them with
concentration and preparation, is that the person will ponder all the good
that he receives. Joy will then increase within him…And so should the pious
one consider the content of every blessing and how he will be elevated
through it.”
The sages established six brachos for the various types of
food. The purpose of every
brocho is to stir up a person’s heart to contemplate the wonders of that
food, in order that he can joyously thank Hashem for the wonderful
providence that He has bestowed upon us.
The “Lavush” (Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, died 1611) wrote (Siman
212), “This is the order of the blessings: The bracha for bread,
hamotzei lechem etc, is the most important one since on this alone can one
live, according to the word of G-d. Borei
minei mezonos is next, being close to bread in as much as it is for foods
which sustain man. Afterwards
is borei pri hagofen, since wine can gladden G-d and man.
Then is borei pri ha’eitz, the most specific of the fruits, and
then borei pri ho’adamah.
Giant leaps are being made in food processing.
Every day we are witness to amazing advances and discoveries in
agriculture and food storage. Our generation enjoys delicacies that our forefathers never
dreamed of. We should
therefore give proper thanks to Hashem Who has bestowed us with these
gifts in order “that they conjure from the physical pleasure a praise in
the soul.”
Preparations Before the Brachah:
Preparing One's Body
A person needs to prepare himself before he makes a bracha
to G-d; we should envision ourselves as standing before the Honorable King.
These are the preparations which the sages required:
1)
The mouth must be clean from all food, as it is written in
Tehillim 71, “My mouth should be full of Your praises.” (M.B. 172:7)
It is proper to rinse out ones mouth in the morning in order to mention
the great name of G-d with holiness and purity. (S.O 4:17)
2)
One must cover one’s head before making a brocho.
This shows reverence and respect to G-d. (S.O. 91:3) [See Igros Moshe O.C.
1, 1, that essentially one need not cover the majority of the head, rather that
the head should be called “covered.” He
who wishes to be stringent should cover the majority of his head.]
3)
In the case when one has nothing with which to cover his
head, he should use his hand and his sleeve.
Alternatively, he should ask of a friend to put his hand on the other’s
head.
Please note that the above is written in connection to
brochos, but the Jewish people have already accepted the custom to always go
with a head covering. If one is
involved n an activity that is done with the head uncovered, swimming for
example, the head should be covered while making a blessing
4)
It is proper for a person to be dressing before making a
bracha. One should be especially
careful when saying Birchos HaMazon to be dressing in honorable clothes covering
the entire body. (Ohr LeTzion 13:3) In
extenuating circumstances, for example that one is swimming and does not have a
robe, one may make a blessing even though the upper part of the body is
uncovered. (S.O. 74:6)
5)
One must sit while saying Birchos HaMazon.
(S.O. 183:9) Some opinions say that one must also sit while saying
Ma’ein Shalosh. (M.B. on S.O.
183:10) It is preferable that all
brachos be said while sitting. (Kaf HaChaim 183:5).
6)
One should not make a bracha if one’s hands are dirty,
even if they are dirty from the food that he has just eaten. (ShHTz 181:32)
PREPARING
THE FOOD
1)
One should have the food in front of him when he makes a blessing,
thusly the words connect with the food.
If one said a bracha before the food was present, one must make
another bracha. (S.O. 206:5)
2)
If the food is in a box or in the next room, this is considered to
be “in front of him.” In
all cases that the food will surely reach the person we consider that a
good connection has been made to the food. (M.B.19)
3)
Similarly, if one wants to drink water from a functioning faucet,
even if the water was turned off for the moment, the bracha is
sufficiently connected to the water. (ibid.)
4)
The most preferred method is to always hold the food in one’s
right hand as he makes the blessing.
If one is drinking from a water fountain, and no cup is available,
it is best to say the blessing while the water is running.
If one finds that the waste of water disturbs one’s
concentration, recite the blessing while the water is not running. (ibid.)
5)
If while one was in the middle of making a bracha someone brought a
more desirable food of the same type, one should still eat from the first
food, since the bracha was connected to this item.
THE
FOOD SHOULD BE FIT FOR EATING
1)
In order to insure that the bracha will be connected to the food
one must check that the food is edible.
If there is a possibility that it is bug-infested or rotten, one
must first check the condition of the fruit. (Kaf HaChaim 206:41)
2)
If one made a bracha and then realized that the food was rotten, or
it fell on the floor and was ruined, one must make a new bracha since the
first one failed to connect with anything.
If, however, one intended from the beginning to eat other fruits of
that type of blessing or there were such fruits on the table, one should
eat from those other fruits and not make a second bracha. (S.O. 206)
MINIMIZING
THE DELAY BETWEEN THE BRACHA AND THE EATING
1)
The food should be ready to be eaten immediately.
If, for example, one wants to eat almonds, the first one should
already be shelled. Similarly
an orange should be peeled, a whole watermelon cut and prepared. If the food is wrapped, like a chocolate bar, the wrapping
should be removed. If a
beverage is in a bottle, one should first pour a glassful.
If the food or drink is too hot or cold to consume, one should wait
to make a bracha
until the food has reached a desirable temperature. (Oruch HaShulchan
202:11)
2)
If the food needs salt or spices, first add them and then make the
bracha. Thusly the bracha is
made on a food in its finished state. (Sha’arei T’shuvah 202:1)
A
WHOLE ITEM
1) One
should make an effort to make the bracha on a whole item. If one wants to eat half of an apple, one should first make a
blessing on a whole apple, and then cut it in half. The same holds true for a meat patty. (Rav Mordechai Eliyhu)
2) A
peanut is considered to be whole even after the hard, outer shell has been
removed.
3) If one
first broke a fruit open, to check for bugs, one should still hold it
together while making the bracha. (Kaf HaChaim 202:4)
THE
BRACHA ITSELF
HOW TO HOLD THE ITEM
1)
As one is about to make the blessing, one should hold the item in
his right hand; a left-handed person in his left hand. (O.C. 206:4) All Sfardim should always hold the item in their right hand.
(Kaf HaChaim 206:31) Something
normally held in a spoon should be held in a spoon.
In accordance with Kabbalah, one should not stick a knife into a
fruit while the bracha is to be made, even if one holds the knife with the
right hand. (M.B. 206:18)
RECITING THE BRACHA
1)
One should say the blessing in a slow, deliberate manner, as if he
is counting money. No letters
should be blurred or swallowed, and raising one’s voice is helpful for
concentration. (M.B. 172:7) Preferably
one should say the blessing loud enough that he can hear himself, but the
bracha is still effective if he can not hear it. (O.C. 175:2)
There should be no interruption of speech while making the bracha,
not even to answer to “Kaddish.” (Kaf HaChaim 5:4)
2)
One should not do any activity while making a bracha.
These means not to set the table, play with a baby, dry one’s
hands, wink or motion to someone, so that the bracha is not itself just a
passing activity. (M.B. 191:5) However,
walking is not forbidden.
3)
In order to say the bracha with concentration sometimes one can do
some light activity. One can
motion to a child to be quiet, or to a friend that he should wait a moment
until the person finishes his bracha.
In these cases one should pause during the bracha, motion, and then
return to finish the bracha.
4)
There should not be any interruption between the bracha and the
eating. If one says even one
word—not connected to the act of eating—one must repeat the bracha.
One should also be careful to swallow some of the first bit before
speaking. (At the very least
one must chew the food before speaking.) Even silence should not last for
more time than it takes to say, “Shalom Aleichem Rebbe.”
If there was a long, silent pause one need not repeat the bracha as
long as one did not change from his intention to eat the food. (M.B.
206:12)
INTENTION
DURING THE BRACHA
1)
The “heart” of every bracha is mentioning of the name of H-shem. A person should know which bracha he is going to make before
he begins the bracha, in order to say the name of H-shem with total awareness of
the thanks that he is about to give. (S.O. 6:1)
2)
It is not proper to say a bracha by rote.
One should contemplate the great good that the Creator has done by
providing us with this food. (M.B. 5:1)
3)
One should say the bracha slowly and understand the plain meaning of the
words. When one says the name
A-D-O-N-O-Y he should consider the meaning of the word as it is pronounced:
Master of the universe, and preferably also the word as it is written: He Who
Was, Is, and Will Be. (S.O. 5, and M.B. 5:1) When one says the word “Elokim”
he should concentrate on its meaning: The
Mighty One, Omnipotent, Master of All Forces.
4)
If it is too difficult to concentrate on these meanings every time, then
one should make an effort to do so at least the first time one makes a bracha
every morning. Then one should
state a condition that all of that days brachos will be said as if they were
said with these intentions. (B’Tzeil HaChochmoh 4:1)
5)
Since we see that a bracha necessitates concentration, one should avoid
speech that will disturb the person making the bracha. (V’Ten Bracha 2, 18:3)
6)
It is proper to realize (before making a bracha) that saying a bracha is
a mitzvah. All of the brachos are
of rabbinical origin, except for Birchas HaMazon which is a mitzvah from the
Torah. (M.B. 60:10)