We have already discussed on several occasions that after one eats “the appropriate amount” of any food, one must recite an “After-Blessing” after eating that food. The “appropriate amount” of food that one must eat in order to become obligated to recite an after-blessing is that of a “Kezayit,” an olive’s volume, which is approximately twenty-seven grams. Thus, if one eats a Kezayit of vegetables, one must recite the after-blessing of “Boreh Nefashot Rabbot” (printed in Siddurim) after eating. Similarly, if one eats this amount of fruit, one must likewise recite the “Boreh Nefashot Rabbot” blessing afterwards. If one eats fruits belonging to the Seven Species, such as dates or grapes, one must recite the “Al Ha’etz Ve’al Peri Ha’etz” blessing after eating, as we have already discussed.
We have also discussed in the laws of mistaken blessings that the proper blessing for fruits of the tree is “Boreh Peri Ha’etz” whereas the proper blessing for fruits of the ground (vegetables) is “Boreh Peri Ha’adama.” If one recites a “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” blessing on any food, one has fulfilled his obligation, for all foods were created by the word of Hashem and this blessing includes all the other blessings.
Let us now discuss a scenario where one eats half (meaning less than) a Kezayit of fruit belonging to the Seven Species, for instance, if one ate one date which did not amount to a Kezayit, and an apple, which is not one of the Seven Species, alongside it. The total amount of both fruits one ate equals more than a Kezayit. What shall one do in this case? Should one recite the “Boreh Nefashot Rabbot” after-blessing which is similar to the “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” blessing in that it exempts all of the after-blessings, including that of the date, recite the after-blessing of “Al Ha’etz Ve’al Peri Ha’etz,” or should one not recite any after-blessing at all?
Halachically speaking, Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l deals with this matter at length (in his Chazon Ovadia-Berachot, page 262) and concludes that in this scenario, one should not recite any after-blessing at all, for halachically, the “Boreh Nefashot” blessing does not exempt the “Al Ha’etz” blessing. Thus, although one has eaten a Kezayit form the two types of fruit together, nevertheless, since their after-blessings vary, one would not recite any after-blessing at all.
Although some Poskim (including the Kenesset Ha’Gedolah and the Magen Avraham) are of the opinion that one should recite the “Boreh Nefashot” after-blessing in such a case, nevertheless, since most Poskim disagree, we follow the great rule of “when in doubt, do not bless.”
Thus, halachically speaking, one who eats less than a Kezayit of fruits not belonging to the Seven Species and less than a Kezayit of fruits which do, for instance, if one eats twenty grams of an apple and ten grams of a date, one would not recite any blessing at all after eating.
