The Blessing of Shehecheyanu - Rabbi Shaul Silam shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Hello. Our shiur is about the blessing of Shehecheyanu on fruit, primarily according to the Alter Rebbe’s ruling, though we’ll also touch on other opinions. There are important disagreements. We’re going to do something a little unusual. You hear “Shehecheyanu on fruit” and think, well, how many halachos can there be? So, to challenge you to listen to the shiur all the way through, I’ll start with a quiz: twelve questions. If you can answer at least eight, that’ll be good. Suppose someone has eaten canned pineapple all year—even this morning—and now someone brings him a fresh pineapple. When he sees it, does he say Shehecheyanu? That’s the first question. You can take a sheet of paper and write: Question one, pineapple. Write your answer: yes or no, does he say Shehecheyanu or not? We’ll run through twelve questions like that, and then we’ll begin the shiur itself. You’ll see how important these matters are. Second question: Do we say Shehecheyanu on dried fruit? This comes up very often on 15 Shvat. There are all kinds of dried guavas. Do we say Shehecheyanu on them or not? Usually, the person hasn’t eaten those fruits for a long time. Third question: Take someone who hasn’t eaten apples for two years and is now going to eat one. A year has passed—more than that, even two years. Does he say Shehecheyanu on the apple or not? That’s the third question. Fourth question: Do you think there’s a minimum amount required to say Shehecheyanu? This comes up: sometimes there’s one mango and thirty guests, and each person gets less than a kezayis. Do they say Shehecheyanu or not? That’s the fourth question. Fifth question: Someone is eating apricots. He has plenty of them. He ate

02:17 Speaker 2 one apricot and forgot to say the blessing. He even finished eating it. Now, before he eats the second apricot, he remembers. Does he say Shehecheyanu, or is it too late? He already ate one without the blessing, so the second apricot isn’t something new anymore, and he missed his chance to say it. That’s the fifth question: does he say Shehecheyanu on the second apricot or not? Sixth question: In what order do we say the blessings? There’s Borei Pri Ha’eitz or Borei Pri Ha’adamah, and Shehecheyanu. Do we start with Shehecheyanu and then say the blessing on the fruit, or start with the blessing on the fruit and then say Shehecheyanu? That’s the sixth question. Seventh question: Someone brings me a plum. I have plums that perhaps I picked from the tree too early, and they’re not ripe. They’re not really edible, but I can cook them into preserves. When I cook them into preserves and then eat them, do I say Shehecheyanu on the jam or not? The question is broader than that: it might not be jam at all. The fruit might still be whole after cooking. It was barely edible when I picked it because it wasn’t ripe. I cooked it. Now that it’s cooked, do I say Shehecheyanu on it or not? Eighth question: The same question, but with a quince. You have to cook a quince, right? That’s the difference. So do I say Shehecheyanu on a cooked quince or not? Ninth question: Do I say Shehecheyanu on a peach-plum? It’s a hybrid fruit. I’m speaking specifically about a peach-plum. Do we say Shehecheyanu on a peach-plum or

04:25 Speaker 2 not? Tenth question: I haven’t eaten mango. Now mangoes are in season, and I go to a shop where they make mango juice from fruit they squeeze in front of me. They take a mango and squeeze it, and I have a glass of mango juice. Do I say Shehecheyanu on it? I still haven’t eaten a mango. Do I say Shehecheyanu on this juice or not? And the eleventh question: After drinking the juice, I now eat a mango. Of course, the answer here also depends on the answer to the previous question. But now, after drinking juice from a mango squeezed in front of me, I eat a piece of mango. Do I say Shehecheyanu on the mango or not? That’s the eleventh question. Twelfth question: I’ll name a few fruits and ask whether we say Shehecheyanu before eating them. A coconut: if I certainly haven’t eaten one for a long time, and haven’t eaten one at all this season, do I say Shehecheyanu on it? What about an esrog that I eat—say, if someone prepares an esrog at home—do I say Shehecheyanu on that? Do I say Shehecheyanu on a carob? Those three items make up the twelfth question. Those are the questions. I’m sure you have your answers written down. Now we’ll learn the subject, and as we go, we’ll address the questions we asked. The second topic is that we say Shehecheyanu specifically when eating the fruit. That seems fairly obvious to us; it’s what we know. But it’s actually a novel development. In the Gemara in Eruvin, and also in the Rambam, none of those early sources say to recite Shehecheyanu when eating the fruit. What the Gemara says, in Eruvin 40, is that Rav Yehudah said that when he sees a new kara, he says Shehecheyanu.

06:43 Speaker 2 When he sees a new pumpkin, he says Shehecheyanu. A kara is a pumpkin. Incidentally, that’s interesting, because people think we don’t say Shehecheyanu on vegetables. Usually that’s because they keep well, so it isn’t apparent that they’re new, and for other technical reasons. But in principle, we do. The example given in Eruvin is specifically a pumpkin. Interesting. So we see that the Gemara says you recite Shehecheyanu when you see the new fruit, and the Rambam also speaks about seeing the fruit. The practice of waiting until later appears much later. The Beis Yosef cites the Rosh, who cites Maharam of Rothenburg, the Rosh’s teacher. Maharam’s practice, which he introduced more broadly, was to say Shehecheyanu only when eating the fruit, not when seeing it. That’s interesting, because seemingly it’s not what the Gemara says or what the Rambam says. The later authorities discuss at length how it came about that we say Shehecheyanu only when eating the fruit, rather than earlier, upon seeing it. Let’s mention the main answers they give. It’s very interesting. Some say that we simply aren’t proficient at judging when a fruit has finished growing. As we’ll see later, the fruit has to be fully grown; it has to be ripe before we can say Shehecheyanu. Now, when I eat it, produce sellers have generally put only ripe fruit on the market. So there’s no problem: by the time it reaches my plate, it’s clear that the fruit is ripe. But I might see a fruit on the tree, or one I’ve picked up that didn’t come from the market. We aren’t proficient at determining whether it’s ripe or not. According to some of the later authorities, that’s why the practice was established to say Shehecheyanu only when eating it.

08:48 Speaker 2 Some say it is for another reason. Often you see fruit without remembering that you saw it—you didn’t pay attention—and when you later make Shehecheyanu, it is no longer the first time you are seeing it. That presents a bit of a problem. So the practice was changed to make the blessing when eating. Even when it comes to eating, I think we all know how this goes: you ask your wife, “Wait a second, have we eaten peaches this year? Have we eaten grapes this year?” Often we don’t pay attention. So noticing when you first see a fruit is even less likely. According to some poskim, that is why Shehecheyanu was deferred until eating. Another reason appears in the Aruch Hashulchan, and it is very beautiful. He says that Shehecheyanu calls for joy: “Who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this time.” In earlier times, people would see a new fruit and rejoice in Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s creation. What a wonderful thing—Hakadosh Boruch Hu makes new fruits! Today, though, we are so focused on the physical that a person is not happy until the fruit reaches his stomach. I don’t want to put it quite so bluntly, but that is what the Aruch Hashulchan says in gentler words. The point is that our joy today is much more tied to the physical, and that is why we wait until eating. We will finish specifically with the reason the Alter Rebbe gives. The Alter Rebbe says that since a person really has to derive enjoyment, it is very difficult, when it comes to seeing the fruit, to distinguish between someone who enjoys seeing a new fruit and someone who does not. That, by the way, connects to what we said in the name of the Aruch Hashulchan. How can you really tell whether I enjoyed seeing the fruit or not? So, says the Alter Rebbe, they established something that applies to everyone: when a person eats a fruit, he enjoys eating it. There is not much room to debate whether he enjoyed it or not,

10:47 Speaker 2 that is the point. So we make the blessing specifically when we eat the fruit and do not consider seeing it sufficient. The second point is that we make Shehecheyanu specifically at the time of eating. This seems quite straightforward to us; it is what we know. But it is actually a novel practice, because neither the Gemara in Eruvin nor the Rambam says to make Shehecheyanu when eating the fruit. In those early sources—in the Gemara and the earliest Rishonim—that is not what it says. The Gemara in Eruvin, page 40, quotes Rav Yehudah saying that when he sees a kara chadta, a new gourd, he makes Shehecheyanu. Kara means a gourd. Incidentally, that is interesting, because people think we do not make Shehecheyanu over vegetables. Usually, that is because they keep well, so it is not apparent that they are new, along with other practical considerations. But in principle, the example given in Eruvin is actually a gourd. Interesting. So what we see is that the Gemara says you make Shehecheyanu when you see the new fruit, and the Rambam also speaks about seeing the fruit. Much later, the Beis Yosef cites the Rosh, who cites the Maharam of Rothenburg, the Rosh’s teacher. He was the one who customarily made Shehecheyanu only when eating the fruit, not when seeing it, and introduced that practice. It is interesting, because on the face of it, that is not what appears in the Gemara or the Rambam. The later authorities discuss at length why we make Shehecheyanu only when eating the fruit, rather than earlier, when seeing it. Let us mention the main answers given to this question; they are very interesting. Some say

12:57 Speaker 2 that we simply cannot reliably tell when a fruit has finished growing. As we will see later, the fruit must be fully developed and ripe in order to make Shehecheyanu. Now, when I eat a fruit, it has generally come through sellers who market only ripe fruit. By the time it reaches my plate, it is clearly ripe. But I might see a fruit on a tree, or one I picked up somewhere other than at the market. We cannot reliably tell whether it is ripe or not. According to some of the later authorities, that is why the practice was established to make the blessing only when eating. Some give another reason: often you see fruit and do not remember seeing it. You did not pay attention, and afterward you make Shehecheyanu. But that was not the first time you saw it, which presents a bit of a problem. So the practice was changed to make the blessing when eating. Even with eating, I think we all know how it goes. You ask your wife, “Wait a second, have we eaten peaches this year? Have we eaten grapes this year?” Often we do not pay attention. So noticing when you first see a fruit is even less likely. According to some poskim, that is why Shehecheyanu was deferred until eating. Another reason appears in the Aruch Hashulchan, and it is very beautiful. He says: Shehecheyanu calls for joy—“Who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this time.” In earlier times, people would see a new fruit and rejoice in Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s creation. What a wonderful thing: Hakadosh Boruch Hu makes new fruits! Today, though, we are so focused on the physical that a person is not happy until the fruit reaches his stomach. I do not want to put it quite so bluntly, but that is what the Aruch Hashulchan says in gentler words. The point is that our joy today is much more tied to the physical, and that is why we wait until eating. We will finish

15:03 Speaker 2 specifically with the reason the Alter Rebbe gives. The Alter Rebbe says that since a person really has to derive enjoyment, it is very difficult, when it comes to seeing the fruit, to distinguish between someone who enjoys seeing a new fruit and someone who does not. That, by the way, connects to what we said in the name of the Aruch Hashulchan. How can you really tell whether I enjoyed seeing the fruit or not? So, says the Alter Rebbe, they established something that applies to everyone. When a person eats a fruit, he enjoys eating it, and there is not much room to debate whether he enjoyed it or not. That is the point. So we make the blessing specifically when we eat the fruit and do not consider seeing it sufficient. The third topic is quantity. Regarding quantity, the Chida writes in his responsa Yosef Ometz—and it is also brought in Kaf Hachayim—that there is no minimum amount. This was the fourth question we were asked: if I take less than a kezayis, do I make Shehecheyanu? Say, just a little bit of mango. The answer is yes. There is no minimum amount, just as with blessings before eating: I make Borei Pri Ha’eitz regardless of how much I eat. Minimum amounts apply to the blessing after eating. Shehecheyanu follows the same rule. Even if I eat a tiny bit of the fruit, I make Shehecheyanu. It is important to know, because these are things we ask ourselves. There is no answer in the Shulchan Aruch or in the Alter Rebbe’s Seder Birchos Hanehenin, but it is discussed in the Chida’s responsa and in Kaf Hachayim, and that is what we rely on. The fourth topic: what happens if I forgot to make Shehecheyanu when I ate a new fruit, or I remember in the middle of eating it? Or—and I deliberately chose the example of an apricot; we will soon see why—I took

17:09 Speaker 2 Take this example. So we’ll take the definition from the author of the Shulchan Aruch, yes? He says the following, and many later authorities also quote it. The question is whether you are still engaged in that same eating. What does it mean to be engaged in the same eating, rather than a new eating? Suppose I’m served something fairly large: peaches. There are several peaches. I take one peach, and I see there aren’t many peaches, while there are lots of guests at the table. I intended to eat one peach. I finish the peach, and that’s it—its time has passed. I didn’t say Shehecheyanu, and I didn’t intend to eat another peach. So to try to get clever and say, “Oh, now I’ll say Shehecheyanu and take another piece of peach”—no, that opportunity is over. You’re no longer in the first eating. The first eating was defined by what you intended to eat. You intended to eat one peach, and you finished it. If you remember in the middle of eating the peach—you certainly haven’t finished it after just one bite—you’re still considered to be in the first eating, and so you say Shehecheyanu. But once you’ve finished the peach, that opportunity is over. Apricots, though, which I used in the question, are different: a person generally doesn’t eat just one apricot; he eats several. Right? Three, four—whatever he intended. So after one apricot, even though he’s finished that new fruit, the question isn’t whether he finished the new fruit or not. If he finished one fruit but intended to eat many, as with grapes, for example, he’s still considered to be in the same eating and therefore still says Shehecheyanu. Right? That’s also the answer to the fifth question we asked, about the apricot. The fifth topic: Do we first say the blessing over the fruit, or the blessing of Shehecheyanu? There are arguments both ways, and what you wrote here is correct,

19:07 Speaker 2 because this really is a dispute among the halachic authorities. So what you wrote is certainly correct according to one of them. The dispute is mainly between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic authorities. Among the Sephardic authorities, the blessing over the fruit comes first. That’s what the Chida writes, what the Chessed La’alafim writes, and what Rabbi Ovadia writes in his responsa Yechaveh Daas. First you say Borei Pri Ha’eitz and then Shehecheyanu, or Borei Pri Ha’adamah and then Shehecheyanu. This is based on a rule in halachah: when one thing is more frequent than another, the more frequent one comes first. Borei Pri Ha’eitz is said much more frequently than Shehecheyanu, so I begin with the more frequent blessing, Borei Pri Ha’eitz, and then say Shehecheyanu. That’s the rule, and that’s how the Sephardic authorities rule, as well as some Ashkenazic authorities—the Avnei Nezer, Mas’as Sova[?], and the Gra. They aren’t the majority of Ashkenazic authorities, but some do rule that way. Someone who follows the Gra also follows this Sephardic approach: first the blessing over the fruit, and then Shehecheyanu. But the other view, that of the Alter Rebbe—and the Mishnah Berurah and the Pri Megadim agree with the Alter Rebbe—is that we first say Shehecheyanu and then the blessing over the fruit. There’s a logic to this, apart from the rule about the more frequent blessing. That rule is valid, as we said, but here there are two considerations. The first is that this way, the blessing over the fruit is immediately followed by eating it. Shehecheyanu doesn’t come between them. Not that saying it in between is always a problem—we often do say Shehecheyanu in between—but there is an advantage here. We begin with “Shehecheyanu, Borei Pri Ha’eitz,” and then eat the fruit. But there’s another reason given in the Aruch Hashulchan, a very beautiful reason.

21:12 Speaker 2 It explains this practice of beginning specifically with Shehecheyanu and then saying the blessing over the fruit. The Aruch Hashulchan says the following: Originally, in the Gemara, as we saw in Eruvin, Shehecheyanu was instituted to be said when one sees the fruit. It’s true that this isn’t our practice, but according to the original law, when was Shehecheyanu to be said? When one sees the fruit. The blessing over eating it, Borei Pri Ha’eitz, is said when I eat. So, in a sense, the obligation of Shehecheyanu—at least originally—arises first. It isn’t that both obligations arise together and I have to decide which to begin with. Originally, I became obligated to say Shehecheyanu the moment I saw the fruit. So although we don’t practice saying it when we see the fruit, we still put Shehecheyanu first. Whatever the reason—whether to keep Borei Pri Ha’eitz immediately adjacent to eating, or the reason I just gave in the name of the Aruch Hashulchan—the result is that according to the Ashkenazic authorities, including the Alter Rebbe, the Mishnah Berurah, and the Pri Megadim, and in Chabad practice, we begin with Shehecheyanu and then say Borei Pri Ha’eitz or Borei Pri Ha’adamah. The Sephardic authorities we mentioned—the Chida, Rabbi Ovadia—and also some Ashkenazic authorities, the Avnei Nezer and the Gra, hold that we begin with Borei Pri Ha’eitz and then say Shehecheyanu. That’s the fifth topic. The sixth topic is the condition of the fruit over which we want to say Shehecheyanu. Here the Shulchan Aruch states explicitly that the fruit must have finished ripening. In other words, I cannot say Shehecheyanu over an unripe fruit, and cooking it into jam afterward won’t help. So regarding the seventh question I asked: I picked an unripe plum from the tree, and I want to cook it afterward and make jam from it. I cannot say Shehecheyanu over it. Right? That won’t help. We go by the fruit’s condition. An unripe fruit isn’t considered a fruit for this purpose, so even if I prepare it afterward, I cannot say Shehecheyanu. But regarding a quince, which was the eighth question, it’s different. This point isn’t in the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruch speaks of fruit that is ripe, but the Chida, in Birkei Yosef, notes that some fruits are always eaten cooked. A quince isn’t eaten raw, even when it’s considered ripe. The fact that it isn’t edible is a separate matter; it isn’t unripe. So what the Shulchan Aruch says remains in force: I say Shehecheyanu only over ripe fruit. But “ripe” doesn’t mean edible raw. A quince, for example, is ripe but isn’t edible at that point; it becomes edible only after I cook it. Therefore, regarding a quince—and that was the eighth question—once I cook the quince, I certainly say Shehecheyanu. That’s explicit in Kaf Hachayim and Birkei Yosef. That’s the point.

23:10 Speaker 2 The seventh topic is grafted fruits. We also asked—this was the ninth question—whether we say Shehecheyanu over grafted fruits. Right? I asked about a peach. Now, why did I ask about a peach? There are differing opinions on this among the later authorities. We won’t go into it at length. What we want is the practical ruling. There is a discussion about it,

24:59 Speaker 2 Generally, the guideline is this: If the fruit I’m eating comes from a tree that was itself grafted—that is, from the very tree on which the grafting was done—we do not say Shehecheyanu over such fruit. It’s fairly rare, but it can happen that someone grafted a tree. Of course, many kinds of grafting are forbidden and some are permitted, but that isn’t the subject now, because even forbidden grafting does not make the fruit forbidden. So if the fruit really comes from a tree that was itself grafted, I will not say Shehecheyanu over it. But there are fruits that originated through grafting long ago. They did not exist at the time of Creation, but now there is a new variety in the world. Incidentally, there are many varieties. It is known that of the citrus fruits, only the esrog existed at Creation. A lemon is considered a fruit that came about through grafting; so is an orange, and a peach certainly is too. But now there are trees that produce these fruits without our having to graft them again, and the custom is to say Shehecheyanu over such fruits. There are differing opinions among the poskim; not everyone agrees with what I’m saying. But the accepted ruling is as I’ve just stated: we do say Shehecheyanu over these fruits. The eighth topic—we actually didn’t ask any questions about this one—is what happens if I have several new fruits in front of me. This has significant practical implications, and often we don’t notice it. It can happen on 15 Shvat, on Rosh Hashanah, on Shabbos—many times. Summer comes, and wow, we’ve gone shopping and bought peaches and peaches and all sorts of new fruits, and we put them all on the table on Friday night. Now

26:48 Speaker 2 on Friday night I ate only one of those fruits, but they were all on the table. Shabbos day comes, and I say, “Oh, I didn’t eat this fruit yesterday. Can I say Shehecheyanu?” Here’s the point: Since all those new fruits were on the table when I said Shehecheyanu over one of them, I already covered every fruit on the table, even those I didn’t eat. It’s true that we say the blessing when eating, but because they were on the table, even the ones I didn’t eat were included in the blessing. So when I come to eat that fruit the next day—and this is very common; people often don’t know about it—it’s already too late. It was on the table yesterday when I said Shehecheyanu. I should have—merely seeing it isn’t the deciding factor. If I want to say Shehecheyanu a second time, I should make sure to put only one fruit on the table. Or, if there are two, I should put the one I don’t want to eat now back in the refrigerator. When I say Shehecheyanu, it covers the fruits now in front of me. The other fruit, which I want to eat tomorrow rather than now, I’ll bring out tomorrow, and tomorrow I’ll say Shehecheyanu. But if several fruits were on the table, even though I ate only one, my Shehecheyanu already covered them all, and tomorrow, when I eat a different fruit, I cannot say Shehecheyanu over it. That’s what the Kaf Hachayim writes, as does Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in Igros Moshe, and that is the ruling. The ninth topic: What if I have several varieties of one fruit, not necessarily at the same time? There are all sorts of varieties

28:28 Speaker 2 of grapes, of peaches, and so on. I ate one variety and said Shehecheyanu. A week later, a day later, or a month later, I buy another variety. Do I say Shehecheyanu over it? Possibly. This depends on a dispute among the poskim, so let’s define the criteria. According to the Alter Rebbe, based on the Levush and the Magen Avraham, it is enough for the varieties to differ either in taste or in appearance. If you say they differ in appearance, you could argue that every piece of fruit looks a little different. I’m not talking about one being slightly bigger or smaller; I mean fruit of a different color. It has the same name, yes, but it really looks different. The difference is noticeable. So I say Shehecheyanu over each variety. A difference in either taste or appearance is enough for it to count as a different fruit for the purposes of Shehecheyanu. That is the Alter Rebbe’s opinion. According to the Shulchan Aruch, the Chida, and several other poskim, for Sephardim that is not enough. The fruit must also have a different name—even a distinguishing name, such as peach variety A and peach variety B. Once that type of fruit has its own name, in addition to a difference in appearance—of course, if it has a different name, its appearance or taste will be different. But according to the Sephardic poskim, a difference in appearance or taste alone isn’t enough. It needs a difference in appearance or taste and a different name. According to the Alter Rebbe, as we said, the name is not a requirement. A difference in appearance or taste is enough to say Shehecheyanu. The tenth topic is juice. Two questions were asked about juice. I’ll repeat the questions and use them to explain the issue. The questions were: Someone squeezes a fresh mango in front of me

30:42 Speaker 2 and gives me the juice, and I haven’t eaten mango this season. Do I say Shehecheyanu over the juice? And the second question was: I drank the juice—again, this depends on the answer to the first question, but never mind. I’ve now drunk this juice, and I want to eat mangoes. Do I say Shehecheyanu over the mango or not? Those were the questions. I’ll actually start with grapes, where everyone agrees. I haven’t eaten grapes this season, and someone now squeezes grapes in front of me. They give me a cup of grape juice—not grape juice whose source isn’t apparent. Here it is apparent: they took the grapes and squeezed them right in front of me, then poured the juice into a cup. I say Shehecheyanu over it. According to Chabad custom, Shehecheyanu comes first, followed by Borei Pri Hagafen. According to Sephardic custom, Borei Pri Hagafen; some Sephardim also say Hagafen and then Shehecheyanu. In any case, I say Shehecheyanu over the juice from these new grapes that were squeezed in front of me. If I eat grapes afterward, I do not say Shehecheyanu, because I already said Shehecheyanu over the juice. True, it was accompanied by a different blessing, Borei Pri Hagafen, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve already said Shehecheyanu over grapes. After saying Shehecheyanu over the grape juice, I don’t say it again when eating grapes. More than that: If I missed the chance and did not say Shehecheyanu over the grape juice, and I finished drinking it without intending to have any more, I can no longer say Shehecheyanu over the grapes either. What about the mango? You might say it’s the same thing: someone squeezes a mango in front of me, so I’ll say Shehecheyanu over the glass of juice. The answer is no, because over mango juice we say

32:31 Speaker 2 Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro, and Shehecheyanu was not instituted for something over which we say Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro. So although the mango juice squeezed in front of me is very similar to the grape-juice case, I do not say Shehecheyanu over it. I don’t say Shehecheyanu; I certainly do say Shehakol. But there is another point. At first glance, I might say, “Fine, we’ve answered the tenth question: Do I say Shehecheyanu over mango juice squeezed in front of me? No, because its blessing is Shehakol.” But it’s more complicated than that, because even when I eat a mango afterward, I can no longer say Shehecheyanu. I’ve missed my chance to say Shehecheyanu over the mango. Why? That is the answer to the eleventh question. I don’t say Shehecheyanu over the juice, and after drinking mango juice squeezed in front of me, I won’t say Shehecheyanu over the mango either. Why? Because strictly speaking—and here I need to digress, though it’s interesting in its own right—the fact that we say Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro over mango juice, apple juice, or orange juice is a matter of custom. Seemingly, by the letter of the law, we should say Borei Pri Ha’eitz over them. But custom is decisive when it comes to blessings over food. Again, we say Shehakol over juices, but the Gemara in chapter six of Berachos discusses date juice. What do we make of that? The Gemara says date juice is merely “sweat.” It isn’t considered the fruit’s juice in that sense. Even if you extract something from the dates, it is considered “sweat.” You wouldn’t say Borei Pri Ha’eitz over it; you say Shehakol. That rule was then applied to all fruits. But seemingly, when you take an orange, its juice really is

34:22 Speaker 2 Unlike date juice. Yes, there was a very strong case for saying that orange juice—especially when you’ve squeezed the whole fruit, and particularly when the trees were planted for their juice—has every reason to require the blessing borei pri ha’eitz. Incidentally, some halachic authorities do rule that way. But that is not the practice according to most authorities. In Chabad, we say shehakol. Still, strictly speaking, there was a strong case for saying borei pri ha’eitz over it. So with mango juice, it’s true that I say shehakol and do not say Shehecheyanu, because its blessing is shehakol. But when I later eat the mango, since there was originally some basis for saying borei pri ha’eitz and Shehecheyanu over the mango juice, I’ve lost that opportunity. It’s a somewhat intricate argument, but the result is that I’ve lost the Shehecheyanu blessing over a new fruit. To sum up this rather intricate point: If a new fruit is squeezed in front of me and I ask whether to say Shehecheyanu, then if it’s grape juice, we said that we say Shehecheyanu and borei pri hagafen afterward, and there’s no problem. But if it’s any other new fruit being squeezed in front of me, I won’t say Shehecheyanu, because Shehecheyanu was not instituted over something whose blessing is shehakol. That answers questions ten and eleven, and that was our tenth topic. The last topic we’ll address is various fruits. Yes, and that will also answer question twelve. We asked about a coconut, an esrog and a carob: Do we say Shehecheyanu over them? I’m sorry to disappoint, but a coconut is often the fruit over which we say Shehecheyanu on Tu BiShvat. Yet we do not say Shehecheyanu over a coconut. Why not? Because, as we said, one of the conditions is that the fruit must be

36:17 Speaker 2 seasonal, and coconuts are on the tree all year round. It’s true that we only see them on Tu BiShvat—after all, how tasty is a coconut? We eat it for the occasion. Many coconuts are imported into the country for Tu BiShvat, so it seems seasonal to us, but it really isn’t a seasonal fruit. Therefore, we do not say Shehecheyanu over a coconut, as we discussed at the beginning. What about an esrog? All right, an esrog is seasonal, isn’t it? We know that—in Kfar Chabad, there aren’t esrogim all year round. Fine, it’s a seasonal fruit, but what’s the issue? We don’t say Shehecheyanu over an esrog either. Why not? It depends: If you eat an esrog before Sukkos, then yes. But when we said Shehecheyanu over the four species on the first day, we had an esrog in front of us, and that also covered the Shehecheyanu blessing over the esrog as a fruit. It sounds strange, but that’s how it works. It’s true that the Shehecheyanu was for the mitzvah, but it also covered eating the esrog. So when I eat an esrog after Sukkos—the wife takes her husband’s esrogim, everyone’s esrogim, and the whole lot ends up in a pot, and we eat delicious jam. Incidentally, there are various segulos associated with that jam. People often wait until Tu BiShvat, but we do not say Shehecheyanu over the jam. Even if we eat pieces of the esrog, we do not say Shehecheyanu, because we’ve already said it. And among us, women also say the blessing over the four species and say Shehecheyanu. So if someone did not say it, she would say Shehecheyanu now, right? But

37:57 Speaker 2 anyone who did say Shehecheyanu over the four species, men or women, will not say Shehecheyanu now. As for Sephardic women—let me digress on this too; it’s very interesting—there is an opinion that Sephardic women do not say blessings over time-bound positive mitzvos. That is what the Shulchan Aruch says, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was very insistent on this point. But many halachic authorities, including Sephardic authorities such as Rabbi Messas and others, hold differently. And regarding the four species in particular, Shu”t Min HaShamayim says there is something special about this mitzvah, for which women do say the blessing. I’m not talking now about Shehecheyanu; I’m talking about the blessing over the four species in general. So you can’t make a blanket statement about Sephardic women. But let’s say that Sephardic women who did not say the blessing over the four species, and certainly did not say Shehecheyanu, eat an esrog after Sukkos, or whenever they eat it: they would say Shehecheyanu over the fruit. But anyone who already said Shehecheyanu for the mitzvah will not say Shehecheyanu over the fruit.