Monday, January 28, 2013

KOL HASHONEH HALACHOT BECHOL YOM MUVTACH LO SHEH'HOO BEN HA'OLAM HABA


Yesterday's Halachot:
Taken from Rav Ovadia’s Halacha Emails:

1. The land of Israel was praised with seven species of fruits as the verse (Devarim 8,8) states, “A land of wheat and barley, grapevines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey.” (“Honey” here refers to dates as is explained in the Talmud Yerushalmi Chapter 1 of Masechet Bikurim, Halacha 3). The blessing on any one of the Seven Species precedes
all other fruits. For instance, if one has oranges and dates or almonds and raisins (raisins are considered one of the Seven Species for they are a derivative of the grapevine) in front of him, he must first recite a blessing on the fruit that is from the Seven Species and he may then continue to eat whatever he pleases. Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef Shlit”a writes that even if the fruits that are not from the Seven Species, for instance the apple or almond in the above case, are dearer to him (for example, if one enjoys apples more than dates or almonds more than raisins) still in all the blessing must be recited on the fruit that is one of the Seven Species first. This is because their precedence in berachot is not because they are dearer, rather it is because of their innate significance in that they were mentioned in the above verse; this significance does not vary from person to person.

2. The Torah states: “A land of wheat and barley, grapevines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of oil-bearing olives and honey”. The word “land” is mentioned twice in this verse. If so, the fruit of the “olive” is mentioned first after the word “land” (“a land of olive oil”) while the fruit of the “grapevine” is mention third after the word “land” (“A land of wheat and barley, grapevines”). Thus, if one has olives and grapes in front of him, he must recite the blessing on the olives first for they are closer to the word “land” in the verse, as opposed to grapes which are further away from the word “land” so they are of lesser importance. 

Just as olives come before grapes, similarly dates come before grapes as well for dates were written second after the word “land” (“a land of olive oil and dates”) while grapes are only mentioned third after the first “land” in the verse (“A land of wheat and barley, grapevines”). For the same reason, dates take precedence over figs and pomegranates for the importance of a fruit is measured by its proximity to the word “land” in the verse.

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