The Laws of Tu BiShvat
The Laws of Priority in Blessings
Priority
a. The laws of priority in blessings apply when two foods are placed before a person and he wishes to eat both of them now. If the foods are not before him, even though he intends to bring them, he may recite the blessing on the food that is before him and need not bring the other food, even if the blessing on the other food takes precedence. Likewise, foods that people customarily eat in a certain order—for example, a meal that begins with fish and continues with rice and potatoes, or if one eats cooked vegetables and afterwards eats compote—in such cases, even though the blessing on the later foods is preferable according to the laws of priority, one need not give them precedence.
The Order of Virtues
a. Priority in blessings is determined according to the virtue of the foods, and there are five virtues regarding blessings: a. A more specific blessing (for example: the blessing “Borei peri ha’etz,” which exempts only fruits, is more specific than the blessing “Shehakol,” which exempts everything). b. A food from the Seven Species. c. A whole food. d. A preferred food. e. A larger food. Below it will be explained how one should act when one virtue stands against another, such as one who has before him fruits, one of which is of the Seven Species and the other is preferred, or one whose blessing is “Mezonot” and the other is whole.
The Definition of “Preferred”
b. The Rishonim disagree regarding the definition of “preferred”: whether it is the species that is always generally preferred by him, or the one that is preferred by him at that moment. In practice, the Shulchan Aruch rules that we follow the species that is generally preferred by him (and if both are equally preferred, but at present he prefers one of them, he should give it precedence).
After the Fact
c. All the laws of priority apply lechatchilah, in the ideal manner; however, after the fact, if one first recited a blessing on a food that should have been delayed and intended to exempt the more important food with his blessing, he has fulfilled his obligation. Indeed, if he recited a blessing on one food and afterwards wishes to eat a more important food, the first blessing does not exempt the more important food unless he intended to exempt it at the time of the blessing (and likewise, if he recited a blessing on grapes and an olive was also before him, the olive is not exempted by the blessing on the grapes).
The Order of Priority: MAGA ESH
e. If several kinds of food with different blessings were before him, the order of priority in blessings is: “Mezonot,” “HaGafen,” “HaEtz,” “HaAdamah,” and “Shehakol.” The mnemonic is: MAGA ESH. The reason for this order is determined by the wording of the blessings: the more particular and specific the blessing, the more preferable it is to another.
The Order of MAGA ESH Versus the Seven Species, Whole, and Preferred
The virtue of the specific wording of the blessing is more significant than all the other virtues. Therefore, if one has before him a piece of cracker made from spelt flour, and a date that has all the other virtues—it is one of the Seven Species, whole, preferred by him, and larger—in any event, the virtue of the blessing determines the matter, and he should first recite “Mezonot” on the cracker.
An Exception to the Order of MAGA ESH — A Product of the Ground Preferred Over a Product of the Tree
f. There is an exception to the order of blessings of MAGA ESH: when a person has before him two foods, one whose blessing is “HaEtz” and the other whose blessing is “HaAdamah”—if the product of the ground is more preferred by him, it takes precedence. However, in this case the species must be preferred both generally and at this moment; but if the product of the ground is generally preferred, yet now the fruit of the tree is more preferred, or the reverse—generally the fruit of the tree is more preferred and only now the product of the ground is preferred by him—he should first recite the blessing on the fruit of the tree.
Whole and Preferred
g. If before him there is a food whose blessing is “HaEtz” and another whose blessing is “HaAdamah,” and each of them has a different virtue, there is uncertainty whether the order is: preferred, Seven Species, whole; or—whole, preferred, and Seven Species. Some say that only the virtue of being preferred determines the matter, and if both are equally preferred, he should give precedence to whichever he wishes.
The Seven Species
h. If several kinds of food whose blessings are the same were before him, he should recite the blessing on the food that is from the Seven Species. If there is no food from the Seven Species, he should recite the blessing on the whole item. If there is no whole item, he should recite the blessing on the preferred item; and if there is no preferred item, he should recite it on the larger item. The mnemonic is ZShChG (Seven Species, whole, preferred, large).
That Which Is Closest to “Land”
h. If several kinds of fruits from the Seven Species were before him, he should first recite the blessing on the species closest to the word “land” in the verse “ארץ חטה ושעורה וכו” — “a land of wheat and barley, etc.” The order of the species is: olive, date, grapes, fig, pomegranate.
Wheat That Was Not Ground
i. One who has before him fruits of the Seven Species and puffed wheat—“shaleva”—if the shaleva is more preferred by him, he should give it precedence.
Priority in Eating
j. The law of priority applies only to giving precedence to the blessing, but it does not determine the order of eating. For example, one who has before him three kinds of fruit: one of the Seven Species, one whole, and one cut—he should first recite the blessing on the species of the Seven Species, as above; but after he has recited the blessing and eaten from the fruit that is of the Seven Species, he need not first eat the whole fruit, and he may eat the cut fruit first if he wishes.
Additional Virtues
k. The poskim mention additional virtues for giving precedence in a blessing, which come after the virtues of importance mentioned above; and where the above virtues are absent (that is, the two foods before him are equally preferred, both are whole, their size is identical, etc.), one should give precedence according to these virtues.
Food and Drink
l. Food and drink whose blessing is the same: by strict law, the food does not precede the drink, but there is a virtue in preceding eating to drinking.
Doubts Regarding Priority
m. It was explained above that one who has before him two kinds of fruits—one from the Seven Species and one preferred—recites the blessing on the fruit from the Seven Species. It was also explained that one who has before him a fruit and a vegetable, and the vegetable is preferred, recites the blessing on the vegetable even if the fruit is from the Seven Species.
The Custom of Feeding Birds on Shabbat Shirah
n. One should not feed doves on Shabbat, but rather place food for them before Shabbat.
b. So it appears in Hilchot Berachot of the Ritva (chapter 3, se’if 9) and in Kaf HaChaim (there, se’if katan 5) in the name of Halachot Ketanot.
c. Siman 211, se’if 1.
d. Shulchan Aruch (there, se’if 5); see Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 32, 33). In Aruch HaShulchan (se’if 16) he writes that one who does not know the law is ordinarily considered as though he explicitly intended.
e. Shulchan Aruch (there, se’if 3).
f. Shulchan Aruch (there) and Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 18).
g. Shulchan Aruch (there, se’if 1), Mishnah Berurah (se’if katan 4, 2), and Sha’ar HaTziyun (se’if katan 8).
h. Shulchan Aruch (there, se’if 4).
i. In Shulchan Aruch (there, se’if 5), he states that wheat and barley precede the other fruits of the Seven Species only when one made from them a cooked dish or bread whose blessing is HaMotzi or Mezonot, so that one must give them precedence also because of the virtue of their blessing, even if they were not of the Seven Species. But if one chews wheat, whose blessing is Borei peri ha’adamah, he writes there that it should not be given precedence over a tree fruit. Nowadays puffed wheat—“shaleva”—is common, whose law is like wheat eaten by chewing, as explained above (siman 208, se’if 4). The Mishnah Berurah (siman 211, se’if katan 9, 18, 27) writes that from the Magen Avraham it appears that this law applies specifically if the tree fruit is more preferred by him; but if they are equally preferred, the wheat should be given precedence over the other Seven Species even though he eats it by chewing. According to his words, one who has before him shaleva and a date: if the date is preferred, he should give it precedence; and if they are equally preferred, he should give precedence to the shaleva even though its blessing is Borei peri ha’adamah. However, the view of the Gra (there) is that when their blessings are not the same, there are no laws of priority other than preference. Therefore we wrote that if the shaleva is preferred by him, he should give it precedence, for this is the law according to all opinions; but if they are equally preferred, we enter the dispute between the Magen Avraham and the Gra as to whether there is a law of priority for the Seven Species when their blessings are not the same.
j. So it appears from the Mishnah Berurah (siman 211, se’if katan 10).
k. Birkat HaBayit (sha’ar 13, se’if katan 7).
l. Kaf HaChaim (there, se’if katan 7).
m. It is reported in the name of the Chatam Sofer, and so it appears in Chiddushei HaRim (on the Torah, matters of Shabbat).
n. Pri Megadim (introduction to the laws of blessings, se’if katan 8).
o. Aruch HaShulchan (siman 211, se’if 17), that eating precedes drinking.
p. Mishnah Berurah (siman 324, se’if katan 31).
