We are in Bikin Bahalakha, the Bikin Mizrahi edition. This is dedicated to Hayim ben Mazal, may Hashem guide him, and to Ed and Amel. It was dedicated by his children, and he also had a share in it. Today we are beginning Volume 7, which is in memory of Dania Koel, a Rabbah Shalom. Today is Day 60. Day 59 had a sponsor as well: Emil and Yaffa Ephraim, for the success of Adam and Yaffa, for their proper match, and for the success of their parents.
Today’s dedication is in memory of a person whose life was devoted to strengthening Jewish education and distributing religious books. It was dedicated by his wife, Sarita, his children Yosef, Esther, and Nina, and the Frasco family. Amen.
Now we come to something very interesting. We are discussing a case that we thought was uncommon, but it turns out to be more common than one might think. Yesterday we discussed eating fruit during a meal. We laughed about it and said, “Who eats fruit during a meal?” We said that if someone does eat fruit during the meal, it is not necessarily part of the meal in the same way as food eaten with bread. Our conclusion was that one should not eat it together with the bread; rather, if one is eating fruit during the meal, one should recite a blessing over it.
But it turns out that many of our foods contain fruit. People make yebra with apricots. They make kibbeh cherry. That is fruit. So yesterday, before we dismissed the issue and said, “Who does anything like that?” it turns out that many people do. If I am eating yebra and adding apricot to it, either together or separately, do I have to recite a blessing over the apricot? That is one interesting question.
There are also varieties of rice—wild rice, or whatever they call it—with different kinds of raisins mixed into it. If I am eating the rice and there are raisins in it, that is one case. Another case is salad. Yesterday we spoke generally about apples in a salad; today people put mangoes in salad. If someone wants to eat the mango separately, that becomes another interesting question.
Today we will study sections 11, 12, and 13. The first section is relatively straightforward: fruit served at the beginning of the meal. In the past, when people attended Ashkenazi weddings, they were often served a grapefruit on a plate, along with a spoon whose end had ridges for cutting through it. What was the purpose? That was simply the way fruit was served. Perhaps it was intended to open the appetite or change the taste of the palate. Sometimes people were served sliced honeydew, which they ate before the meal. Some say that one should recite a first blessing over it.
The Messian says that there is no reason not to recite a blessing. Some people eat this fruit first because they regard it as an appetizer. Why should it be different from a pickle or an olive, which are also eaten first? We are speaking about a person who has already recited the blessing over bread, sat down, and was served a piece of fruit as an appetizer or first course.
The question is the purpose of the fruit. Is it intended to open the appetite? If that is its purpose, perhaps it should be considered part of the meal—or perhaps not. The recommendation is that, if possible, one should cover this fruit with another item, such as another fruit. The note at the bottom discusses the entire issue. It cites Zion in his first opinion, while the halakha was stated according to the second opinion.
The Chief Rabbi, in a responsum to Pera Hashrushan, stated that sour-tasting appetizers, such as pickles and olives, are subordinate to the bread and do not require a separate blessing. Sweet fruit, however, requires a separate blessing. After demonstrating that this issue is debated, Al-Aqab al-Rakb concluded that we must follow the principle that in cases of doubt concerning blessings, we act stringently.
I would not have guessed that. If you had told me before I read this that someone placed a grapefruit in front of me before the meal, after I had washed my hands, I would have said that I should recite a blessing over it. Someone might argue that perhaps this applies only to sour fruit. Grapefruit has a certain sourness and bitterness, and perhaps that is why it is served: to open the appetite. Nevertheless, there is a strong basis for requiring a separate blessing, since sweet fruit does not whet a person’s appetite. That is the purpose of salty foods.
Peter Azouzshan explained that Sefer Zot HaBerachah compared this to the practice of beginning a meal with a shot of whiskey to whet the appetite. It concluded that even those who rule that one should not recite a blessing over the whiskey would agree that a blessing is necessary for fruit. The argument is that whiskey is intended to open the appetite, whereas fruit is sweet and is not regarded in the same way.
He supported this with a citation from Viten Berachah, explaining that nutrition experts have found that eating something sweet at the beginning of a meal does not whet the appetite at all. It may actually fill a person up. They serve the fruit saying that it is meant to open the appetite, but meanwhile the person eats it and is already full when the main course arrives. He says, “No, thank you—I’m full. By the way, where did you get those delicious grapefruits?” Perhaps they are serving the filling, inexpensive items first so that people will not eat as much of the main course.
V'zot Ha'Berachah cites both opinions and rules that it is necessary to recite a separate blessing over fruit served at the beginning of the meal. The responsum of Neh Yashvit also discusses the issue but refrains from giving a definite ruling. Since the food may have the status of an appetizer, the recommendation is that one recite the blessing over the fruit before eating the meal.
Now we understand what was meant earlier. The recommendation was not necessarily to obtain another fruit. Rather, one should eat this fruit before the meal, with a blessing. The best practice would be to take the grapefruit, recite the blessing over it, eat it, and then wash one’s hands for the meal. One should also have in mind that the blessing will cover any fruit eaten later.
Another suggestion is to eat some bread together with the fruit. If one takes the grapefruit and puts it into the bread, it is certainly covered by the blessing over bread. However, that comparison seems imperfect. In the earlier case, we were discussing fruit eaten as part of the meal, where eating a little bread might solve the problem. Here, the fruit served at the beginning may not be considered an integral part of the meal at all. Therefore, it is possible that eating some of it with bread would not help for the remainder of the fruit. The best solution is to follow the earlier recommendation and recite the blessing before the meal.
If one comes to a wedding and sees that a fruit plate is being served first, one can recite the blessing over the fruit, eat it, and then return to one’s seat for the meal. If one did not know this in advance and has already washed one’s hands, one should not simply be told not to eat the fruit. I would follow the other rabbinic opinion and perhaps place some of the fruit in bread, even though that is not the ideal solution. The reason is that the question of whether the fruit is being served to whet the appetite remains a matter of dispute. Some authorities maintain that only sour or salty foods serve that purpose.
Now let us discuss compote. In Israel, people use the word “compote” for cooked fruit, such as apricots, prunes, and raisins, sometimes cooked and served in a liquid. These are cooked fruits, and there is a difference between cooked and raw fruit. Even if one is eating the fruit without bread—for example, if the fruit was cooked with chicken, as we will discuss in a moment—and even if one wants to eat a different fruit to cover it, the strict law may permit it without a separate blessing.
Magen Avraham ruled that it is necessary to recite a separate blessing during a meal when eating fruit cooked with meat. Thus, if there is an apricot in the yebra, even though it was cooked together with the meat, according to this opinion one would still have to recite a blessing over it if eating it separately. This is also the ruling of Kedon David.
Mishnah Berurah, however, stated that no separate blessing is necessary, since the fruit has become part of the main course. Exactly: when the fruit is cooked with the meat, the cooked dish itself is the meal. It is not a separate item being eaten to whet the appetite, and it is certainly not dessert. Nevertheless, someone who wishes to avoid the doubt should recite a blessing over a raw fruit. If there is no raw fruit available, that person should eat bread together with the cooked fruit.
This is also the position of the Ben Ish Chai. As we said in yesterday’s halakha, if someone wants to eat an apricot in the yebra, the strict halakha permits it because it is cooked as part of the main dish. However, another opinion creates a concern. The Ben Ish Chai therefore says that if one wants to eat the apricot, one should take a piece of bread, place some of the apricot with it, and eat them together. At the end of the meal, if one eats the fruit again, one should also eat a little of it with bread so that it is part of the meal. Whatever is eaten in between is then covered.
With kibbeh cherry, it may be difficult to make a kibbeh-cherry sandwich. One could take a cherry and place it in bread, but that is not necessarily practical. According to the strict law, however, one may eat it because it is part of the main dish.
Al-Aqab wrote that in modern society people consider compote to be a side dish that is part and parcel of the meal. Therefore, even though the earlier authorities ruled theoretically that a separate blessing should be recited over fruit cooked with meat, the way we rule nowadays is that one should eat a piece of bread with the compote. Although Al-Aqab did not want to say that the ruling had changed, he recognized that today, when cooked fruit is served as part of the meal, it is generally considered part of the meal. Thus, the fruit added to the dish should technically not present a problem, but he nevertheless recommends eating a little bread with it.
This also answers the question that Benny Cohen asked me yesterday, immediately after the class we gave in Miami. I did not answer him then because I knew we would be discussing it today. If you want to know the strict law, you do not have to recite a separate blessing over the apricot in the yebra. It was cooked as part of the main food and is part of the meal. Nevertheless, the recommendation is to eat a little bread with it.
What about almonds and raisins cooked in rice? According to this discussion, no separate blessing is necessary for almonds or raisins cooked in rice. Even the authorities who rule that fruit is not subordinate to meat when cooked together would agree that fruit added in small amounts is subordinate to the rice, because these are minor additions to the main dish. The same applies to wild rice prepared with various additions: if the fruit is cooked into the rice, it is part of the dish.
There is one more case: someone eats fruit as the main course of the meal. I do not know how common that case is, but if a person has washed and the main course is fruit—if the person is having an actual fruit meal—then no separate blessing is necessary before eating it, because the fruit itself is the meal. The authorities may nevertheless say that it is preferable to eat some bread with the first bite.
Let us summarize the rules from the past two days. If someone wishes to eat fruit as the main course of the meal, it is not necessary to recite a separate blessing over the fruit, whether or not the person eats bread with it. This could apply, for example, to someone following a diet: a dietitian tells the person to eat cantaloupe and watermelon for breakfast without bread, mangoes and plums for lunch, and perhaps something else for dinner. The fruit is the person’s main meal. It is nevertheless recommended to eat bread with the first bite.
If someone eats fruit as a side dish, but not as the main course, a blessing must be recited over the fruit unless the person eats bread with the first bite and the final bite. We explained this earlier, but the best practice is to eat the fruit first, recite a blessing over it, and thereby avoid the various questions.
If someone eats fruit as dessert after the meal, a separate blessing is required. There is no question about that unless the fruit is eaten with bread. Cooked fruit served together with the food, such as apricots in yebra, cherry in kibbeh, or raisins cooked into rice, is part of the meal. Nevertheless, if one wishes to avoid the doubt, one should eat a little bread with it first so that it is covered.
Finally, fruit served at the beginning of the meal is a more complicated case. According to many authorities, it is not truly an appetizer, because sweet fruit does not whet the appetite. Therefore, it is preferable to recite the blessing over the fruit before reciting the blessing over bread, while having in mind that it should also cover any fruit eaten later. In that way, one avoids all the questions. May the Merciful One sustain us and grant us the benefit of this world. Amen and amen.