Dramatic teaser:
Second paragraph of note 31 in Dirshu edition of Mishna Brura to si'ef koton 20 in the Mishna Brura commenting on siman 206, si'ef 5 in the Orach Chaim section of the Shulchan Aruch.
I had the z'chus to hear many divrei torah from R' Henoch Leibowitz, ztz"l. The rosh yeshiva was once explaining the chazal, "yagati u'matzati" -- if someone says that he worked hard and found the solution, believe him. "Which is it? Yigi'a (exertion) or m'tzi'a (a find)? Either you work hard and develop a solution, or you find a solution; not both! What does it mean? Solutions and understanding in torah cannot be developed, they are all a find; like a beautiful gem. However, HaShem only gives you the gem if he sees you will appreciate it; which you do by working hard. If you work hard (enough), HaShem will surely reward you."
I have had a question for months. Suppose you have an apple and a banana in front of you, you plan to eat both, and you like them equally well. L'chatchila, you should make a bracha on the apple first, then the banana. So you pick up the apple in your right hand and with intent to eat the apple, accidentally make the bracha "borei p'ri ha'adama". Now what? On the one hand, borei pri adama works (b'di'avad) for an apple, so you can eat that, but what about the banana? Do we say that since you were going to eat the banana anyway and you accidentally made the appropriate bracha, that you can now eat it? Or do we say that since you had intent to eat the apple, the bracha has no relevance to the banana, and so you need to make another borei pri ha'adama on the banana? On the other hand, there are poskim who hold that borei pri ha'adama doesn't work for apples -- even l'chatchila -- so maybe you should eat the banana first and then make a borei pri ha'eitz on the apple.
This question hasn't kept me up nights, but it has occupied many hours of my waking and biking time over the last several months. Every time I learned a new si'ef on brachos I would think about how it could apply to my question. (That's what generated those possibilities.) Then, this morning, out of the blue, right there in the econd paragraph of note 31 in Dirshu edition of Mishna Brura to si'ef koton 20 in the Mishna Brura commenting on siman 206, si'ef 5 in the Orach Chaim section of the Shulchan Aruch. My question. R' Shteinman, shilta, says b'stama you can't eat the banana without making another bracha. I'll add that just to cover all bases, you can firmly decide not to eat the banana just yet; then when you change your mind and decide to eat it, everyone agrees you need to make a new borei pri ha'adama.
I am walking around glowing today. That was one little question. I have many, many more and much, much bigger questions regarding very serious issues in my life. If I am this happy with one little gem, I can't even imagine what the next world is going to feel like when I get answers to those! Whoa! Talk about "az y'malei s'chok pinu" -- then our mouths will be filled with laughter!
Second paragraph of note 31 in Dirshu edition of Mishna Brura to si'ef koton 20 in the Mishna Brura commenting on siman 206, si'ef 5 in the Orach Chaim section of the Shulchan Aruch.
I had the z'chus to hear many divrei torah from R' Henoch Leibowitz, ztz"l. The rosh yeshiva was once explaining the chazal, "yagati u'matzati" -- if someone says that he worked hard and found the solution, believe him. "Which is it? Yigi'a (exertion) or m'tzi'a (a find)? Either you work hard and develop a solution, or you find a solution; not both! What does it mean? Solutions and understanding in torah cannot be developed, they are all a find; like a beautiful gem. However, HaShem only gives you the gem if he sees you will appreciate it; which you do by working hard. If you work hard (enough), HaShem will surely reward you."
I have had a question for months. Suppose you have an apple and a banana in front of you, you plan to eat both, and you like them equally well. L'chatchila, you should make a bracha on the apple first, then the banana. So you pick up the apple in your right hand and with intent to eat the apple, accidentally make the bracha "borei p'ri ha'adama". Now what? On the one hand, borei pri adama works (b'di'avad) for an apple, so you can eat that, but what about the banana? Do we say that since you were going to eat the banana anyway and you accidentally made the appropriate bracha, that you can now eat it? Or do we say that since you had intent to eat the apple, the bracha has no relevance to the banana, and so you need to make another borei pri ha'adama on the banana? On the other hand, there are poskim who hold that borei pri ha'adama doesn't work for apples -- even l'chatchila -- so maybe you should eat the banana first and then make a borei pri ha'eitz on the apple.
This question hasn't kept me up nights, but it has occupied many hours of my waking and biking time over the last several months. Every time I learned a new si'ef on brachos I would think about how it could apply to my question. (That's what generated those possibilities.) Then, this morning, out of the blue, right there in the econd paragraph of note 31 in Dirshu edition of Mishna Brura to si'ef koton 20 in the Mishna Brura commenting on siman 206, si'ef 5 in the Orach Chaim section of the Shulchan Aruch. My question. R' Shteinman, shilta, says b'stama you can't eat the banana without making another bracha. I'll add that just to cover all bases, you can firmly decide not to eat the banana just yet; then when you change your mind and decide to eat it, everyone agrees you need to make a new borei pri ha'adama.
I am walking around glowing today. That was one little question. I have many, many more and much, much bigger questions regarding very serious issues in my life. If I am this happy with one little gem, I can't even imagine what the next world is going to feel like when I get answers to those! Whoa! Talk about "az y'malei s'chok pinu" -- then our mouths will be filled with laughter!
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