This is the Bikim Ba'alacha, and this is the Bikim Azrahi edition, dedicated in memory of Hayim bin Mazal, may he rest in peace. His children dedicated it in his memory, and it should serve as his merit in the World of Truth. We also have Bikim Ba'alacha 7, which is dedicated in memory of Dania Qura'il, may she rest in peace.
Today is day number 62. This day is dedicated in memory of someone whose life was devoted to strengthening Jewish education. The dedication was made by his wife, children, and entire family. Amen.
We are beginning today on page 134, where we discuss eating various foods in the middle of a meal.
Suppose a person is eating a meal and is served a pickled fruit or a pickled vegetable. Pickles, olives, peppers, and similar items are considered part of the meal, and no separate blessing is required. They are included in the blessing over bread because they serve as part of the meal.
Now suppose that afterward he is served the regular, non-pickled version of that food as dessert. He ate the pickled version as part of the meal, and now he is eating an apple, quince, or another fruit in its regular form at the end of the meal as dessert. In that case, he must recite a separate blessing. That is a remarkable distinction.
The same applies if, during the meal, a person ate a salad of raw vegetables, such as cucumbers. If he is then served cucumbers as dessert, he must recite a blessing over them. Someone asked, jokingly, who serves cucumbers for dessert? It may sound strange, but if the cucumbers are being served at the end of the meal as dessert, they are being eaten in a different context. They are no longer being eaten as an item accompanying the meal.
It is preferable, when possible, to avoid this entire question by reciting the blessing over a different food of the same general category, such as a watermelon or another fruit or vegetable, before eating the food in question. It is also preferable to avoid eating a food that one has not eaten at all earlier in the meal without first clarifying whether it requires a separate blessing.
At the bottom of page 58, it is explained that vegetables are generally included among the foods that are an integral part of a meal. In practical terms, one would make the blessing over bread and then eat radishes, scallions, lettuce, and similar salad vegetables without a separate blessing. Those foods are clearly part of the meal.
However, the Beit David explains that this principle applies specifically to cooked or pickled vegetables. He is making a distinction between cooked vegetables and raw vegetables. Cooked or pickled vegetables are served to stimulate or whet a person’s appetite, and for that reason they are considered part of the meal.
If a person eats raw vegetables during the meal—lettuce, cucumbers, squash, or similar foods—he must recite a separate blessing over them. Rav Hida testified that this was the common practice.
Rav Hida added that even if a person had eaten a cooked vegetable during the meal, if he subsequently wishes to eat the raw version of that same vegetable, he must recite a separate blessing. For example, if he ate cooked tomatoes or cooked carrots as part of the meal and is then served a raw tomato or carrot, he would need to recite the blessing over the earth’s produce again.
This is a very precise ruling. If a person ate cooked carrots—perhaps carrots prepared as part of a sweet cooked dish—and then is served a regular raw carrot, he would have to recite another blessing over the raw carrot according to this opinion.
The Kessef HaDavid disagreed with this ruling. In his view, if a person ate cooked vegetables during the meal, no separate blessing is necessary when he eats a raw specimen of the same vegetable. His reasoning is that vegetables, whether raw or cooked, can always be considered a side dish accompanying the meal.
This also reflects the way we eat today. Every restaurant serves salad at the beginning of the meal. We do not consider salad a dessert or an item unrelated to the meal. Furthermore, once a person has eaten the cooked vegetable of a particular type, the raw vegetable of that same type can be viewed as a continuation of the same eating.
Zechor LeYitzchak Harari took this opinion into account and ruled that, in such a case, a person should recite the blessing over the earth’s produce on a different vegetable before eating the raw vegetable of the same type as the cooked vegetable he had eaten. If he ate cooked carrots, for example, he should preferably recite the blessing over a cucumber or another vegetable before eating a raw carrot.
This is how careful the laws of blessings can be. A person might think, “I already ate a carrot, so why would I need another blessing?” Yet the distinction between the cooked carrot eaten as part of the meal and the raw carrot eaten afterward creates a question.
All of these authorities would agree that if a person eats raw vegetables after the meal, and he had not eaten that type of cooked vegetable during the meal, he definitely must recite a separate blessing. The discussion concerns a case in which he ate the same vegetable in cooked form during the meal and then wants to eat it raw.
There is also a question when the raw vegetable is eaten at the end of the meal as dessert. The authority cited here did not take the opposing view into account, but the common practice is to recite a blessing in such a case. The custom overrides the theoretical consideration.
The specific case under discussion is one in which the person already ate the cooked vegetable of that type and now wishes to eat the raw version. If he ate cooked lettuce, for example, and then wants to eat raw lettuce, the cooked lettuce is considered part of the meal, while the status of the raw lettuce is disputed. In such a case, if possible, it is preferable to recite the blessing over a different vegetable and thereby avoid the question.
If the person is eating the vegetables at the end of the meal as dessert, everyone agrees that he must recite a blessing over them. The blessing over bread covers foods that are part of the meal, but it does not cover a food being eaten afterward as dessert. Thus, salad eaten during the meal is included, but salad brought at the end of the meal as dessert is not.
Rav Hida agreed with the ruling of the Beit David, and this is likewise the position of the Beit David himself. Shul Tzion also concurred with this ruling in practice. Nevertheless, he recommended reciting the blessing over a different vegetable, rather than over the same type of vegetable that had been eaten in cooked form during the meal. If that is not possible, however, he wrote that it is not necessary to do so.
Let us review the structure of the issue. The Shulchan Aruch includes vegetables among the foods that are an integral part of the meal. The Beit David distinguishes between cooked and raw vegetables, and Rav Hida agreed with that distinction. He further added that even when a person had eaten the cooked version during the meal, he must recite another blessing if he later eats the raw version of the same vegetable.
The Kessef HaDavid disagreed and maintained that no separate blessing is necessary in that case. The Ben Ish Chai took the stricter position into account and recommended that, whenever possible, a person recite the blessing over a different vegetable before eating the raw version of the vegetable that he had eaten cooked.
Having the intention that the original blessing should cover the later food does not resolve the matter. If a person recites the blessing over a cucumber with the intention of covering a watermelon that he will eat later, that does not automatically cover the watermelon, because it is a different type of food. Similarly, the blessing over bread covers foods that are part of the meal, but it does not necessarily cover a raw vegetable being eaten as dessert.
In practice, if a person ate a pickled cucumber during the meal and later wants to eat a regular raw cucumber, the pickled cucumber is considered part of the meal because it is pickled, while the raw cucumber raises the question. According to Rav Hida and the Beit David, he should recite a separate blessing. It is preferable to recite that blessing over another vegetable or fruit, such as a watermelon, before eating the cucumber.
One might ask: What is the difference between these two cucumbers? One is part of the meal and the other is not. The answer is that the pickled cucumber is served to stimulate the appetite and accompany the meal, whereas the regular cucumber is being eaten in a different context. Even though both are called cucumbers, they are not necessarily considered the same food for this purpose.
Now consider another case. A person ate cucumbers, lettuce, and other raw vegetables as part of a salad during the meal. After the meal, before the final blessings, the host brings out dessert. Instead of cake, sorbet, or tiramisu, the dessert consists of cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and other vegetables—the same types of foods he already ate in the salad.
What is the status of those vegetables? They are being served on a dessert plate, perhaps with sugar or in some unusual preparation, and they are now being eaten at the end of the meal. The argument is that when the vegetables were mixed into a salad, they were eaten as part of the meal. Now they have been separated and are being served in a different manner as dessert.
If another fruit or vegetable is available, it is preferable to recite the blessing over that other food first. Nevertheless, if the person already ate the same raw vegetable during the meal and now eats it again at the end, there is room to say that the original blessing should cover it. This is why the authorities present the case in such a precise manner.
The position that requires a separate blessing applies specifically to cooked or pickled vegetables, since those are considered part of the meal because they stimulate the appetite. Raw vegetables, such as cucumbers and lettuce, present a different question. Rav Hida testified that the common practice was to recite a separate blessing over them in the relevant circumstances.
The reason the discussion focuses on a person who ate the cooked version and then wants to eat the raw version is that this is the point of disagreement. If he did not eat that vegetable at all during the meal and now eats it for the first time at the end as dessert, everyone agrees that he must recite a separate blessing.
It is possible that eating practices have changed. In earlier times, raw lettuce or similar vegetables may not have been regarded as a normal part of the meal. Today, however, no one is surprised when salad is served with a meal; if a restaurant does not bring salad, people ask where the salad is. Thus, the way people eat today supports the view that raw vegetables served during the meal are part of the meal.
Accordingly, our regular practice should not be changed on the basis of this discussion. We do not ordinarily recite a separate blessing over lettuce or other raw vegetables eaten in the middle of a meal. The only serious question is when a person ate the cooked version and later wants to eat the raw version, or when he is eating the vegetable at the end as dessert. In the latter case, particularly if he had not eaten that type of vegetable during the meal, he certainly must recite a blessing.
If a person merely left some salad until the end of the meal and then eats it before the final blessings, that does not necessarily mean that he is eating dessert. He may simply be eating the food out of order. Nevertheless, there is a concern because the blessing over bread covers foods that are part of the meal, while the person’s appetite and meal may already have effectively ended. Therefore, it is preferable not to place oneself in that situation.
If, however, the person is still clearly eating the meal—for example, he is halfway through the meal and notices that one tomato or another portion of salad remains—then it is still part of the meal. The question arises only when the meal has ended and the food is now being served or eaten as dessert.
Finally, suppose a person is eating an orange at the end of the meal after reciting the blessing over a vegetable. He should ideally recite the blessing over the orange first, because the blessing over the fruit of the earth does not cover an orange, which requires the blessing over the fruit of the tree. The blessing over the fruit of the tree should therefore be recited before the blessing over the vegetable, so that the order of the blessings is proper.