Hilchos B'rachos part XV

Soups and fruit juices – Part I

These shiurim are usually geared towards halacha lema’ase, without presenting the groundwork of the Rishonim. In this case however, I would like to present the various opinions of the Rishonim and only then present the halacha lema’ase (next week be”H).  Since this shiur is not halacha le'ma'se it was not shown to Rav Sternbuch.

            Gemora:

B’rachos 39a îéà ãëåìäå ùì÷é ëëåìäå ùì÷é, the b’racha recited over the cooked broth of all cooked (vegetables) is the same as the b’racha recited over the vegetables.

            We see from this gemora that cooked vegetable soup acquires the b’racha of the vegetables, and yet we learn from -

B’rachos 38a äàé ãåáùà ãúîøé îáøëéï òìåéä ùäëì, one recites shehakol on honey that seeped or was squeezed from dates and Tosefos [1] says that one recites shehakol on all fruit juices except for those emanating from grapes and olives.

Why this discrepancy? Why is it that broth acquires the b’racha of the vegetables and fruit juice loses its original b’racha and shehakol is recited?

            Rashba

The Rashba explains [2] that common practice determines the b’racha. It is common to cook vegetables and thus the broth has the same status as the vegetables, but it is not common to cook or squeeze fruit, because in most cases fruit is eaten and not squeezed for juice and thus the beverage produced loses its status of fruit.

            We can understand the Rashba based on another halacha that says [3] items that are usually cooked and were eaten raw, lose their b’racha, and instead of ha’adama one recites shehakol. Likewise, items that are eaten raw and were eaten cooked also lose their b’racha.

Rosh

The Rosh [4] differentiates between squeezed and cooked juices. Squeezed juices do not contain the fruits’ essence, thus the gemora refers to such juice as æéòà áòìîà – sweat of the fruit. Cooking vegetables in liquid extracts the essence, thus the broth contains a strong flavor of the vegetable. Since the broth has absorbed a major part of the cooked item, it shares the same b’racha.

According to the Rosh it would seem that cooking fruit would render the liquid the same as the fruit and the b’racha would be the same as the fruit, but it is not so simple. The Rosh wrote the following: åàôùø, ùàí áéùì äôøé åðëðñ èòí äôøé áîéí îáøê òìéäí áôä"ò, meaning that it is possible that one will recite boreh p’ri ha’eitz over broth cooked with fruit. Why did he write it is possible? Is it not the resultant halacha of the above?

Several acharonim explained the Rosh, each one in his own way.

Beis Yosef

The Beis Yosef learns [5] that Rosh was indeed in doubt, [6] and as a result one recites shehakol on fruit soup, but adds that it is a problem with regards to b’racha acharona, when one cooks one of the seven species and the b’racha acharona is òì äòõ, not áåøà ðôùåú.

            Bach

The Bach says that even though the Rosh used the word àôùø, the Tur (the Rosh’s son) understands that the Rosh was not in doubt, because the Tur wrote in siman 205 that one recites ha’adamah on vegetable soup, based on the Rosh, without raising any doubts.

            Taz

The Taz learns [7] that Rosh was not in doubt and the àôùø refers to Tosefos. [8]

            Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch writes [9] - even though when fruit is marinated or boiled in water, and the fruit’s flavor permeates the water, one recites shehakol on the water. The Rosh wrote that it is possible, if fruit flavor permeates the water, one recites boreh p’ri ha’eitz.

In another siman the Shulchan Aruch writes [10] - on broth that vegetables were cooked in, one recites the same b’racha as one would on the vegetables, even though the vegetables merely flavored the broth.

Based only on Shulchan Aruch we would conclude that the b’racha on vegetable soup is ha’adamah (like the vegetables) and the b’racha on fruit soup is shehakol, because the first opinion in Shulchan Aruch cited is the foremost one.

Magen Avraham

The M”A cites Rishonim who add certain prerequisites.

The Rosh in his teshuvos [11] writes that one will only recite ha’adamah on broth when the water is used for the sake of the vegetables, but if the vegetables are merely used to flavor the broth, one would recite shehakol.

            The Mordechai differentiates between vegetable soup and beverages, where the vegetables flavor as food and fruit that flavor for a beverage.

We will see be”H next week halacha l’ma’ase which b’racha to recite on soups and the vegetables eaten with them.