Halacha Date: 11 Shevat 5773 January 22 2013
Summary of the Laws Explained Thus Far
In the previous Halachot we have explained that there is an order of priority regarding blessings, sometimes because of the innate importance of the food and sometimes because of the importance of the blessing. Thus, if there are two fruits in front of a person, one fruit belonging to the Seven Species of fruits that the land of Israel was praised with such as a fig, and another regular fruit such as an apple, although the blessing on both of these fruits is “Borei Peri Ha’etz”, one must take care to bless upon the fig first and this blessing will subsequently exempt the apple as well. This is regarding a situation where the two foods in front of a person possess the same blessing and one must therefore be careful to make the blessing on the more important food.
Another situation may arise where there are two foods in front of a person and neither food is innately more important than the other, for instance cheese and an apple, where there is no innate difference between them in significance, still one must first bless upon the apple for the blessing of “Borei Peri Ha’etz” is more specific than the “Shehakol Nihya Bidvaro” blessing.
We have also explained in the past about a situation where there are two different foods requiring two different blessings in front of a person and one must recite one of the blessings before the other, for instance if one has bread and an apple before him, he must first recite the blessing on the bread because of its innate significance and only after he tastes a piece of bread may he bless upon the apple and partake of it. This is a synopsis of the laws we have learned thus far.
Priority of “Borei Peri Ha’etz” over “Borei Peri Ha’adama”
The only thing left to explain is the proper procedure to follow when there are both fruits of a tree and fruits of the ground in front of a person. If, for instance, one has in front of him pineapple (which requires a “Borei Peri Ha’adama blessing) and an apple or a cucumber and a date, does one have precedence over the other?
Indeed, there is a dispute among the Rishonim about this and some are of the opinion that since the blessing of “Borei Peri Ha’adama” includes in it fruits of a tree as well (for trees indeed grow from the ground), the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing is considered less specific than the “Borei Peri Ha’etz” blessing and the more specific blessing of “Borei Peri Ha’etz” must thus be recited first. The Ba’al Halachot Gedolot and others are of this opinion.
Most Rishonim, however, hold that there is no priority in such a situation for only regarding the “Shehakol” blessing which is all-inclusive and therefore of minimal significance does the blessing of “Borei Peri Ha’etz” have priority, nevertheless the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing is considered no less important than “Borei Peri Ha’etz” and one does not have priority over the other. This is the opinion of Rav Hai Gaon, the Rif, and others.
Maran HaShulchan Aruch rules like the majority of the Rishonim that there is in fact no priority of the “Borei Peri Ha’etz” blessing over the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing. Thus, if one has fruits of a tree and fruits of the ground in front of him, he may bless on whichever one he wants first, taste it, and subsequently bless upon the other. Therefore, in the above situation where one has pineapple and an apple in front of him, he may bless on whichever one he wants first.
Priority of a Fruit of the Seven Species over a Vegetable
This that we mentioned that one need not recite the blessing on fruits before vegetables (or other fruits of the ground) applies even when the fruit is a member of the Seven Species, for instance in the above situation where there were cucumbers and dates placed in front of a person, even though cucumbers require the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing and dates require the “Borei Peri Ha’etz” blessing and it is one of the Seven Species, one still need not bless on the dates first. The reason for this is because the only time that the Seven Species take precedence over another food is only when we are dealing with another fruit that shares the same blessing, for instance dates and apples. However, if the two foods have different blessings, for instance cucumbers and dates, the dates do not take precedence over the cucumbers.
Summary: Nevertheless, Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef Shlit”a writes that since there are those who hold that “Borei Peri Ha’etz” does have priority over “Borei Peri Ha’adama”, it is proper to first recite the “Borei Peri Ha’etz” blessing before the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing unless one likes the vegetable (or other fruit of the ground) better, in which case he should bless on the one he enjoys better first. Thus, in the above situation where one has in front of him cucumbers and dates, it is preferable to first recite the “Borei Peri Ha’etz” blessing on the dates first and only then recite the “Borei Peri Ha’adama” blessing on the cucumbers. However, if he enjoys the cucumbers more, he should first recite the Beracha of “Borei Peri Ha’adama” on the cucumbers and eat a little bit of them and only then should he bless on and partake of the dates.
