Women, Kiddush and Bracha Acharonah | Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Beit Midrash

Family and Society
Women in Judaism

קטגוריה משנית

Jewish Laws and Thoughts
Brachot on Food and on Smell

Arriving in my shul office one day, I check my schedule to see what the day’s activities will bring. The schedule notifies me that Leah Greenberg (not her real name) has an 11 o’clock appointment. I am curious what issues she plans to bring me today. Leah is highly intelligent and usually has interesting questions to discuss.

An 11:05 knock on my door announces her arrival. After she seats herself in my office, I ask her what has brought her this morning.

"As you know, I do not come from an observant background," she begins. "Although I have been observant now for many years, I always feel that I am missing information in areas of halacha that I need to know. Instead of asking you these questions over the phone, I wanted to discuss all the questions I have on one subject matter, in person, at one time. - I thought that this way, you could perhaps explain to me the halachos and the issues involved."

It would be nice to spend a few moments doing what I enjoy most, teaching Torah. I encouraged Leah to read me her list.

"My first two questions have to do with kiddush Shabbos morning. I believe I was told years ago that I should make kiddush before I eat Shabbos morning. Recently, someone told me that this was not necessary. What should I do?"

"Many prominent poskim rule that a married woman does not need to recite kiddush until her husband has finished davening (Shu’t Igros Moshe, Orach Chayim 4:101:2). In their opinion, there is no requirement to recite kiddush until it is time to eat the Shabbos meal, which, for a married woman, is when her husband is also ready. Others contend that she should recite kiddush before she eats (Shu’t Minchas Yitzchok 4:28:3; Shmiras Shabbos Kehilchasah 2:153)."

"Not questioning what you have told me, which is what I intend to do, I know very religious women who do not recite kiddush until the Shabbos meal. Some of them are not married, so the reason you told me above would not apply to them."

"In some places, there is a custom that women who eat on Shabbos morning before the meal do not recite kiddush, and, therefore, you should not say anything to women who follow this practice (Daas Torah 289). But what you are doing is definitely preferable."

"My next question has to do with a mistake I made last week. Last Shabbos morning, after I made kiddush and ate mezonos to fulfill the kiddush properly, I recited the after bracha on the cake, but forgot to include al hagafen for the wine I drank. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to recite the bracha acharonah again, in order to say the al hagafen, or whether I should do nothing."

"What did you end up doing?" I inquired, curious to see how she had resolved the predicament.

"Well, I didn’t have anyone to ask, so I waited until my son came home from hashkamah minyan and made kiddush, and then I had him be motzi me in the bracha acharonah."

"That was a very clever approach. You actually did what is optimally the best thing to do, provided that you have not waited too long for the bracha acharonah. But let me ask you first: Why were you uncertain what to do?"

"Well, I know that after eating cake and drinking wine or grape juice we recite the long after bracha beginning and ending with both al hamichyah (for the food you have provided us) and al hagafen (for the vine and its fruits). I had recited this bracha, but I left out the parts referring to wine. So, I was uncertain whether I had fulfilled the mitzvah with regard to the wine, since I had only mentioned al hamichyah, which refers only to the cake."

"Your analysis of the question is very accurate," I responded. "I hope that you do not mind that I am going to answer a question with a question. What happens if you only drank wine and ate nothing at all, and then afterwards recited al hamichyah and did not mention al hagafen at all? Or for that matter, what happens if you recited the full bensching after drinking wine. Did you fulfill your responsibility?"

"I would think that you did not fulfill the mitzvah, since you did not recite al hagafen," Leah responded. "But, because of the way you asked the question, I guess I am wrong. I told you that I don’t have the strongest halacha background."

What a beautiful neshamah! Leah was always eager to learn more about Yiddishkeit and halacha, and she always felt humble. This is how we should always feel before the Almighty. In truth, she was usually far more knowledgeable than most people who take their Yiddishkeit for granted.

I return to our conversation.

"I presented you with two cases. If someone bensched a full bircas hamazon after drinking wine but not eating anything, we paskin that he should not recite a new bracha acharonah, since wine does provide satisfaction (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 208:17). However, many other foods, such as most fruit, are not satisfying enough to be to be included in bensching. Therefore, the bracha of bensching is inappropriate for them, and one must recite the correct bracha acharonah.

"In the case of someone who recited al hamichyah instead of al hagafen, there is a dispute whether he must recite al hagafen or not. Most poskim contend that one has fulfilled the mitzvah and should not recite a new bracha" (Levush 208:17; Elyah Rabbah 208:26; cf., however, Maadanei Yom Tov and Pri Megadim [Mishbetzos Zahav 208:16] who disagree and rule that one must recite al hagafen.)

"Then it would seem that I should not have recited al hagafen, and I did not have to wait for my son to come home. Why did you say that I did what was optimally correct?"

"Actually, your case is a bit more complicated than the ones I just presented."

"How so?"

"In the two cases I mentioned, reciting full bensching or al hamichyah after wine, one did not eat anything at all that would require bensching or al hamichyah, so the bracha can have referred to the wine only. The halachic question in this case is whether this bracha can ever refer to wine or not. If the bracha can never refer to wine, then it has the status of a bracha levatalah, a bracha recited in vain.

"However, when you drank wine and ate cake, you were required to include two different themes, one for the wine and the other for the cake, but you included only one. Here our question is whether one theme will fulfill both bracha requirements."

"I find this rather confusing. Either the bracha al hamichyah works for wine or it does not. How can it sometimes work and sometimes not?"

"Let me give you a different example that will be more familiar. What happens if you recite the bracha of borei pri ha’adamah on an apple?"

"I have been told that one isn’t supposed to do this, but if you did, one should not recite a new bracha."

"That is exactly correct. Now, let me ask you another question. What happens if you plan to eat an apple and a tomato, and you recited borei pri ha’adamah on the tomato? Do you now recite a borei pri ha’eitz on the apple, or is it covered with the borei pri ha’adamah that you recited on the tomato?"

"I understand," replied Leah. "One is not supposed to recite ha’adamah on an apple, but if one did, he fulfilled his requirement. However, if one is eating an apple and a tomato, and recited ha’adamah and then ate the tomato, he still must recite ha’eitz on the apple."

"Precisely."

"But why is this?"

"The ha’adamah does not usually apply to the apple, which does not grow directly from the ground. However, when there is nothing else for the ha’adamah to refer to, it does apply to the apple, since it grows on a tree which grows from the ground. Therefore, when one recites ha’adamah on an apple, one does not recite a new bracha. But when one recited the ha’adamah on a tomato, the bracha does not include the apple."

"Are there any other examples of this rule?"

"There are many. Here’s one. As you know, the correct bracha after eating grapes is al ha’eitz ve’al pri ha’eitz (for the land and for the fruits of the land), not al hagafen ve’al pri hagafen (for the vine and for the fruits of the vine), which refers specifically to wine. However, if one recited al hagafen after eating grapes, one should not recite a new bracha, since the literal wording of the bracha includes all fruits of the vine, which also includes grapes (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 208:15). But, what happens if someone finished a snack in which he ate grapes and drank wine?"

"I believe he is supposed to recite al hapeiros ve’al hagafen," Leah interposed.

"Correct. But what happens if he recited just al hagafen and forgot to say al hapeiros? Must he now recite a bracha of al hapeiros, because of the grapes, or was he yotzei with the al hagafen that he recited?"

"Based on the direction that you are leading me, it would seem that he must recite al hapeiros, since the bracha of al hagafen referred only to the wine he drank, just like the ha’adamah referred only to the tomato and not to the apple (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 208:14)."

"Excellent."

"May I conclude that someone who recited al hamichyah on wine fulfilled his requirement if he drank only wine, but did not fulfill the requirement to recite a bracha acharonah on the wine, if he also ate cake?"

"Some poskim reach exactly this conclusion (Shu’t Har Tzvi, Orach Chayim #105). However, others rule that one has fulfilled the requirement of a bracha acharonah on the wine, also, and should not recite al hagafen. They reason that al hamichyah includes any food that satisfies, even while eating another food (Kaf Hachayim 208:76). That is why I told you that having someone be motzi you in the bracha acharonah is the best option, since it covers all bases."

"This whole discussion is very fascinating, and I think it leads into the next question I want to ask. I know that the correct bracha after eating grapes is al ha’eitz ve’al pri ha’eitz, but the correct bracha after eating most fruit is borei nefashos. What do you do if you eat both grapes and apples as a snack? Somehow it does not sound correct that you make two brachos."

"You are absolutely correct. Although the bracha after eating an apple is borei nefashos, when one recites al ha’eitz ve’al pri ha’eitz anyway, that bracha also covers the apples or other fruit that one ate (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 208:13)."

"What happens if I ate an apple and drank some grape juice at the same time? Do I recite one bracha or two afterwards?"

"This a really good question – Rav Moshe Feinstein actually has a teshuvah devoted exactly to this question. But before presenting his discussion, we first need to discuss a different shaylah." I paused for a few seconds before I continued.

"What is the closing of the bracha we recite after drinking wine?"

"All I know is what it says in the siddurim and the benschers. There it says to recite "al ha’aretz ve’al pri hagafen."

"We follow this version (Taz, Orach Chayim 208:14), but actually there is another text to the bracha that is also acceptable."

"What is that?"

"Some poskim rule that one should close with al ha’aretz ve’al hapeiros, meaning that the closing of the bracha on wine is the same as it is on grapes, dates, or olives. According to this opinion, the bracha after drinking wine begins with al ha’aretz ve’al pri hagafen and ends with al ha’aretz ve’al hapeiros (Rambam). Although I have never seen this text printed in any benscher or siddur, poskim quote it as a perfectly acceptable version (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 208:11). However, according to both opinions one begins the bracha with the words al hagafen ve’al pri hagafen."

"May I ask you something at this point," Leah interjected. "You told me before that if someone ate grapes and apples he recites just one bracha al ha’eitz ve’al pri ha’eitz for both the grapes and the apples. Could one recite only one bracha after drinking wine and eating apples? Even according to the opinion that after drinking wine one concludes by mentioning fruit, the bracha begins with the words al hagafen ve’al pri hagafen and does not mention fruit until its end. Can one recite one bracha that mentions both al hagefen and al hapeiros after consuming wine and an apple?"

I must admit that I was astounded by the pure brilliance of her analysis. Leah was unaware that she had just unraveled the core issue in Rav Moshe Feinstein’s teshuvah (Shu’t Igros Moshe, Orach Chayim #72) on the subject, and that she had zeroed in on a dispute among the poskim whether an after bracha that begins with a reference to grapes and ends with a bracha on fruits suffices to fulfill the requirement after one drank wine and ate a fruit other than grapes.

"Now I can explain the shaylah you asked whether someone who ate an apple and drank grape juice at the same time makes one bracha or two. Rav Moshe says that it depends which bracha he recites at the end of the bracha after drinking the grape juice. If he recites al ha’aretz ve’al pri hagafen, then he should recite a borei nefashos afterwards, because neither part of the bracha referred to fruit, only to grapes. However, if he concludes with al ha’aretz ve’al hapeiros, there is a dispute what to do and one should not recite a borei nefashos.

"May I ask one last question?"

"Feel free to ask as many as you like. My greatest pleasure in life is answering questions about Torah."

"I know that when we eat fruit that grew in Eretz Yisroel, we modify the end of the bracha acharonah to reflect this fact. Do we do the same thing if we drink wine produced in Eretz Yisroel?"

"After drinking wine or grape juice produced from grapes that grew in Eretz Yisroel, one should recite al ha’aretz ve’al pri gafnah, for the land and for the fruit of its vine, or al ha’aretz ve’al peiroseha, for the land and for its fruit, thus praising Hashem for our benefiting from the produce of the special land He has given us.

"What bracha do we recite after eating cake or crackers made from flour that grew in Eretz Yisroel?"

"Some poskim contend that one should recite "al michyasah" on its produce, after eating flour items that grew in Eretz Yisroel (Birkei Yosef 208:10; Shu’t Har Tzvi #108). However, the prevalent practice is to recite "al hamichyah" and not "al michyasah" after eating pastry or pasta items, even if they are made from flour that grew in Eretz Yisroel (Birkei Yosef 208:10)."

"Why is there a difference between flour and wine?"

"When eating fruit and drinking wine, the different nature of the source country is very identifiable. Therefore, these brachos should reflect a special praise of Eretz Yisroel. However, when one makes a product from flour, the source of the flour is not obvious in the finished product. Thus, praising Hashem for the special grain His land produces is inappropriate."

"I have really enjoyed this conversation, and if possible would like to continue it at a different time with other questions."

"It will be my pleasure."

Leah left with a big smile on her face, having now mastered a new area of halacha. Although I was technically the teacher of the meeting, I learned a tremendous amount from her in terms of enthusiasm for mitzvos and humility in serving Hashem.

This Shiur is published also at Rabbi Kaganof's site

Brachot on Food and on Smell

Women in Judaism