The Blessing of Shehecheyanu on a New Fruit During Shiva

Is it permissible for a mourner to eat a new fruit during Shiva and recite the Shehecheyanu blessing?

There is no prohibition for a mourner to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing on a new fruit during Shiva. However, the mourner should not lead the congregation in the Shehecheyanu blessing.

The Mishnah Berurah, Siman 592, S"K 1, writes: "If a mourner reads the Megillah, he should bless after the blessings because of the Shehecheyanu blessing, as the mourner does not bless to lead many in the Shehecheyanu blessing, and the mourner should read the Megillah himself." Similarly, the Taz, Orach Chaim, Siman 671, S"K 8, writes that R"M Mintz in Teshuvot, Siman 43, states that if a mourner prays on the eve of Chanukah, he should light after the candles because of Shehecheyanu."

However, the Magen Avraham, Siman 551, S"K 42, writes regarding the three weeks that one does not bless Shehecheyanu: "The reason for the prohibition seems to me to be because that time is a time of calamity, and one should not bless Shehecheyanu for that time, but the reason is not because of mourning, as we do not find that a mourner is forbidden to bless Shehecheyanu." Thus, it is clear that there is no prevention for a mourner to bless Shehecheyanu.

The Chatam Sofer, Siman 671, writes in a note on the words of the Taz, who forbade a mourner to light on the first day of Chanukah in the synagogue because of Shehecheyanu: "This applies only to the congregation, but for himself, the mourner also blesses Shehecheyanu, as above in Siman 223, Section 2. And see in Magen Avraham above, Siman 551, S"K 42." It also implies that in Mishnah Berurah, Siman 592, it is written: "that the mourner does not bless to lead many in the Shehecheyanu blessing," indicating that individually there is no prevention for a mourner to bless Shehecheyanu, even in the reading of the Megillah, which he can hear from another. Similarly, in the case of a new fruit, there is no need to wait until after the year of mourning.

Similarly, it is written in Biur HaGra, Orach Chaim, Siman 551, Section 17, on the words of the Shulchan Aruch, who wrote that it is good to avoid saying Shehecheyanu during the three weeks: "This is an excessive stringency, as they are not more stringent than mourning on the day of death, and we say in the chapter of Ro'eh: 'If his father died, etc.,' and only if there is another with him, otherwise he blesses Shehecheyanu, even if the Magen Avraham himself does not consider it anything, and see above, Siman 223, Section 2." Thus, it implies that just as he blesses Shehecheyanu when his father dies and he inherits, so too in the case of a new fruit, there is no need to avoid saying Shehecheyanu and to postpone eating the fruit. Even for Magen Avraham, who forbids the fruit because of calamity for the world, this does not apply to the mourner.