Making a Bracha on a Food Mishmash: Which food comes first?

Making a Bracha on a Food Mishmash: Which food comes first?

I sit down for a meal or a snack, and I am faced with an assortment of foods all requiring the same brachah. (A mix of varying brachos has its own rules of precedence, beyond the scope of this article). Which do I select for reciting the brachah?

A food that is chaviv (favored) receives the brachah, except if another food is a shalem (a whole fruit, or a complete loaf or pastry); in that case the brachah is recited on the complete specimen over its imperfect mates.

If presented with a fruit from the shivas haminim (the five fruit of the seven celebrated species of Israel), it is first in the lineup. When consuming more than one of the shivas haminim, there is a specific order of preference: olives first, then dates, grapes, figs and pomegranates (see Halachah #225 for details). There are other laws of kedimah (precedence) discussed by poskim aside from the shivas haminim which are also based on elements of status—for example, a baked pastry wins over cooked pasta.

If faced with the choice between chaviv and shivas haminim, there is a halachic machlokes (dispute) over which takes precedence, so eizeh sheyirtzeh yakdim (one begins with whichever they prefer) since both choices have merit.

If a particular food currently grabs my fancy, do I choose it over a regular favorite? The designation of chaviv is debated among poskim, whether it defines the usually favored item or the current predilection. We should choose it first by either definition—and when posed with both a typical and a spur-of-the-moment preference, either option is okay.

https://halacha2go.com?number=613

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.