Chapter 50: 10-12
Blessings Before Eating
10. The following rules apply if a person forgot and put food into his
mouth without reciting a blessing first: If the food will not become
undesirable if he spits it out, he should release it into his hand, and
then recite the blessing. He should not recite the blessing while it is
still in his mouth, for [Psalms 71:8] states: "My mouth will be filled with
Your praise."
If the food will become undesirable if he spits it out, he should move it
to the side of his mouth and recite the blessing, for it is forbidden to
waste food.
If such a situation occurred regarding beverages which cannot be moved to
the side of his mouth, then, if he has more of these beverages, he should
spit out what is in his mouth even though it will become wasted. If he has
no more of these beverages and wants the small amount which is in his mouth
very much, he may swallow it and recite the b'rochoh rishonoh afterwards.
(Since he remembered while food is still in his mouth, it is still as if he
recited the blessing before partaking of it.) However, he should not recite
a b'rochoh achronoh unless the beverages is wine. In the latter case, if he
drank a revi'is, he should also recite a b'rochoh achronoh.*
* { The Mishnoh B'rurah 172:3, 5 writes that in such a situation a b'rochoh
rishonoh is no longer appropriate, and only a b'rochoh achronoh should be
recited.}
11. A person who is served two types of food which have the same blessing -
e.g., nuts and apples - and thus can recite one blessing and cover both of
them, is obligated to do so. He is forbidden to recite the blessing over
one with the specific intention not to include the other, so that he will
have to recite a separate blessing over it, because it is forbidden to
cause a blessing to be recited unnecessarily.
He should recite the blessing over the most important food (as will be
explained in Chapter 55), and thus the other food is included, even though
he did not have the specific intention of including it. However, if one
recited a blessing over the less important food, the more important food is
not included in the blessing, unless one has the specific intention of
including it. Hence, if one recited the blessing without any specific
intention,one must recite a second blessing over the more prominent food.
The blessing over the less prominent food does not include the more
prominent food, unless it is recited with the specific intention that it
should.
12. Different rules apply when the foods are two different categories -
e.g., fruit that grows on trees and vegetables or fruit that grows in the
ground, or food which requires the blessing shehakol. Even though, after
the fact, if one recited shehakol over any food or if one recited borey pri
ho'adomoh over fruit that grows on trees, one has fulfilled one's
obligation nevertheless, at the outset, it is forbidden to do this. Rather,
one must recite the appropriate blessing for each particular type of food.
Thus, the blessing borey pri ho'eitz should be recited fist. (See Chapter
55, Law 4.)
After the fact, it is also acceptable to have recited the blessing borey
pri hagofen on grapes. However, at the outset one should not do so. Even if
both wine and grapes are present before one and one desires to drink the
wine first, one should not intend for this blessing to include the grapes
as well. Rather, one should intend not to include the grapes, so that one
may recite the proper blessing for them, borey pri ho'eitz.
