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Bracha on Candy

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Rabbi David Sperling

Nisan 28, 5775
Question
Dear Rabbi, I was just wondering, if I make a Shehakol on a piece of candy, would it be best to make a new bracha if I wanted to have a drink (or any other food that requires Shehakol)?
Answer
Shalom, Thank you for your question. In general one should try to have in mind when making a blessing that it will be open ended – that is, that when you say the blessing on the candy you should not think "I'm saying this blessing ONLY for this piece of candy", but rather "I'm saying the blessing Shehakol for all the foods and drinks I will partake of at this time". If one has such a thought, then the blessing you said will cover all the other foods and drinks you eat. This is the best thing to do, and you should try to make it a habit to have this thought in mind whenever you say a blessing. If though you had a specific thought when saying the blessing, to eat only the piece of candy, then you certainly need to say a new blessing when having other food or drink. The third scenario is where you said the blessing on the candy without any particular thought, not thinking to include all other foods, nor thinking to limit your blessing just to the candy. In such a case the law depends on various factors. If the other foods or drink were in front of you at the time of the first blessing, then no additional blessing is needed for them. If they were not in front of you, then it depends – if it is more of the same type of food (more candy in your case), no new blessing is needed. If it is a different type of food (say you now want some ice-cream), then if some of the first food remains, no new blessing is needed. But if the first food is finished, then you need a new blessing on the ice-cream. And even if some of the first food does still remain, if the second food is of a completely different class, it will need a new blessing. So, if the first blessing was on a solid food, and now you desire a drink, even if some of the original solid food remains, you will need a new blessing on the drink, because food and drink are of such different classes. As you can see it is much easier (and better) just to train yourself to have open ended intent when saying a blessing, and then all the foods and drinks you will have in that session are covered. I hope this will be of some help to you – Blessings.
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