Ask the Rabbi
- Halacha
- Meals and Brachot
- General Questions on Brachot
Question
What is the reason we make a general bracha of Shehakel on fruit and vegetable Juices? One may incorrectly think to make a Ha’Etz or Hadamah since the juice is so closely related to its’ origin. Are there any rabinical arguments regarding this in halacha? Also, could you please tell me the source in halacha and/or Talmud that I could learn more information on this topic?
Answer
Shalom and Birchat HaShem,
We say the bracha of "shehacol" over juices as is explained in Tractate Bruchot 38:1: What oozes from a date is not a beverage, but a mere oozing, a "sweat" in Talmudic language. Only the wine, "tirosh" (new wine), and the olive oil, "yitzhar", the first oil squeezed from the olives, mentioned in the Torah, are classified as beverages, whereas all other juices are considered mere oozing ("sweat"). However, there have been those who disagreed and reasoned that when the juice is squeezed one should say the bracha of the fruit being squeezed. There are also rulings that if the majority of the fruit [grown in the country where the juice is produced] is intended for juice then the bracha is that of the fruit. According to this method, in Israel, where most of the oranges are intended for juice, the bracha for orange juice would be "borei pri haetz". Everywhere the custom is to say the bracha of "shehacol" over juice even though there is a disagreement over what one is accustomed to squeeze. See Tractate Brachot 38:1; Shulhan Aruch Siman 202, Sa'if 8; Shulhan Aruch 205, Sa'if 3; and the book VeZot HaBrucha.
Birchat HaTorah v'HaAretz
HaRav Yehuda HaLevi Amichai

Torah & Land Institution
Land-dependent commandments

When is the next yovel?
19 Cheshvan 5763

Terumot & Maasrot for Private Garden Herbs
13 Sivan 5765

Laws for Pat Yisroel and Chalav Yisroel
25 Cheshvan 5763

Shehakol on Fruit and Vegetable Juices?
2 Adar II 5763

Amen over the phone
Rabbi Yoel Lieberman | Sivan 18, 5784

Bracha for a banana
Rabbi Jonathan Blass | 27 Sivan 5763
Follow up question on granola: can’t find the blessing
Rabbi Moshe Leib Halberstadt | Cheshvan 1, 5780



