Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 211

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 211 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 11. The laws of precedence in blessings over fruit, comprising six sections: If several types of fruit are before him and their blessings are equal, and among them is one of the seven species, he gives precedence to the seven species even if it is not as beloved to him as the other type; and if none of them are from the seven species, he gives precedence to whichever he finds most beloved; but if their blessings are not equal, even if one of them is from the seven species, such as a radish and an olive, he may give precedence to whichever one he wishes, even if it is not the beloved one; and there are those who say that even in this case he must give precedence to the beloved one; and "beloved" means the type that is generally beloved to him, even if at this moment he actually desires the other type.
2. 22. And according to the Rambam, if one type is more beloved to him, whether their blessings are equal or not equal, whether among them is one of the seven species or not, he gives precedence to whichever is beloved to him at that moment; and if he does not desire one more than the other, then if among them is one of the seven species, he recites the blessing over it first.
3. 33. If they brought before him something whose blessing is Borei Pri HaEtz and something whose blessing is Shehakol, Borei Pri HaEtz takes precedence because it is the more distinguished blessing, since Shehakol does not exempt anything except for that one item; and likewise if they brought Borei Pri HaAdama and Shehakol, Borei Pri HaAdama takes precedence; and if they brought before him Borei Pri HaEtz and Borei Pri HaAdama, he may give precedence to whichever he wishes; and there are those who say that Borei Pri HaEtz takes precedence.
4. 44. Whatever comes first in the verse "a land of wheat and barley" takes precedence in the blessing, and the second "land" interrupts the matter, so that whatever is adjacent to it is more distinguished than what comes later relative to the first "land"; therefore dates take precedence over grapes, since grapes are second relative to the second "land" while dates are third relative to the first "land." Rama: This applies specifically when one eats the grapes as they are, but if he made wine from them, which establishes its own blessing of Borei Pri HaGafen, that blessing is more distinguished and it takes precedence to bless over it first; but a cooked dish made from the five grain species is more distinguished than the blessing over wine. Whatever is mentioned adjacent to the first "land" takes precedence over what is mentioned adjacent to the second "land," once it is equal to it in proximity to that "land" [Tur].
5. 55. The rule that wheat and barley take precedence applies only when one made from them a cooked dish or bread, but one who chews raw wheat, whose blessing is Borei Pri HaAdama, that blessing does not take precedence over Borei Pri HaEtz. Rama: The blessing of HaMotzi takes precedence over Mezonot, and certainly over other blessings (Agur), even if the second item is more distinguished or more beloved to him (and this can likewise be inferred precisely from the words of the Hagahot Maimoniyot chapter nine, and from the Smak which the Tur, Kol Bo, and Beit Yosef cite in the name of the Rambam); and all that we have said that one takes precedence over another applies specifically when he intends to eat from both of them, and therefore he should give precedence to the beloved or the more distinguished one, but if he does not intend to eat from both of them he recites a blessing only over that which he wishes to eat, even though the second item is also sitting before him (Terumat HaDeshen, siman 33); and all of this requirement to give precedence applies only at the outset, but if one already went ahead and recited the blessing over the second item, then if the blessings are equal he has fulfilled his obligation and need not go back and bless over the one he should have given precedence to, provided that his intention at the time of the blessing also included that item (Beit Yosef, siman 206, and in this siman in the name of the Rashba).
6. 66. If before him there is a cooked dish made from spelt flour, oat flour, or rye, along with grapes, figs, and pomegranates, since he recites Borei Minei Mezonot over the cooked dish, its blessing takes precedence, even though those others are from the seven species and spelt, oats, and rye are not among the seven species; nevertheless, since they are distinguished in that bread can be made from them and one recites HaMotzi over such bread and Birkat HaMazon afterward, that blessing takes precedence even though he did not make bread from them in this instance.

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