Chapter 53 : Berachos Over Soup, Fruit, and Vegetable Juices

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§1

When fruits and vegetables are squeezed and juice extracted from them, you should say Shehakol over the juice. The same is true of honey that is extracted from dates; because the only juice that is called fruit is wine and olive oil. Because wine is highly regarded, a special berachah, Borei pen hagafen, was designated for it. Olive oil is also held in high esteem, and if you enjoy it in such a manner that you would have to say a berachah over it, you recite the berachah, Borei peri ha'eitz.

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§2

When you cook fruits that are usually eaten in their raw state, you say the berachah, Shehakol, over the sauce. However, fruits which are usually dried first and then cooked, — if they are plentiful, and [also] grown for that purpose, this is the halachah: if they were cooked in order to eat the fruit, and to drink the juice, you recite Borei pen ha'eitz, over the juice even if you do not eat the [pieces of] fruit. Likewise, in the case of legumes and vegetables, which are eaten after they are cooked, when the soup is also eaten, this is the halachah: over the soup you say the berachah, Borei peri ha'adamah, even if you do not eat the solid food. (Now the difference between this case and the case discussed in paragraph 1, [can be attributed], according to some authorities, to the fact that in the case mentioned in par. 1, it is not customary to squeeze the fruits or the vegetable in order to extract liquid from them, whereas in this case, [cooking] is the accepted method [to obtain the liquid]. (Other authorities suggest [as an alternative reason], [that in the case discussed in this paragraph] there is a greater input of the flavor of the fruit or the vegetable into the water in which they are cooked than in the juice that is squeezed out of them.) But if they are only cooked for the sake of the fruit or the vegetables, then, if you do not eat any of the fruit or the vegetables but only drink the juice, you recite the berachah Shehakol. If they are cooked with meat, although the cooking was done also for the sake of the soup, you still say Shehakol over the soup, because the meat is the main part [of the dish].

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§3

If you soak or cook fruits exclusively for the sake of their juice, you say the berachah, Shehakol [over the juice]. Consequently, the berachah you should say over coffee or tea is Shehakol. Also over beer, whether made from dates or from barley, [you should recite the berachah Shehakol].

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§4

If vegetables or fruits are preserved in water for the purpose of pickling although they are usually processed that way, (as, for example, cucumbers, squash, beets, and cabbage) nevertheless, over their juice you say only the berachah, Shehakol. Although the juice has the same flavor as the vegetables or the fruit, nevertheless, since the purpose of the pickling is not to flavor the water, but in order that their own [quality and taste] be improved by the pickling, you only say the berachah, Shehakol. Nevertheless, if you first ate the vegetables and said Borei peri ha'adamah, and afterwards you wanted to drink the juice, it is questionable if you have to say a berachah over it, for perhaps the berachah Borei peri ha'adamah exempted the juice also. Therefore, do not partake of juice in this manner.

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§5

Likewise, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and the like which are cooked in a liquid that has a taste of its own, as, for instance, [when they are cooked] in vinegar, borscht (beet soup), or milk, you say the berachah, Shehakol over the liquid. But if you first ate the fruit, [and said the berachah] it is questionable whether or not the liquid is exempt with the recitation of this berachah.

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§6

Some raisins have so much juice that when they are pressed juice will ooze out. If they were crushed and soaked in water for the purpose of making a beverage out of them, and not for eating the raisins, and they were soaked for three days and began to ferment, and after the three days the liquid is poured into another vessel, such liquid is considered real wine. Its berachah is Borei peri hagafen, and the after-berachah is the "three-faceted berachah." On all occasions where a cup of wine is required, you may fulfill your obligation [with this beverage]. You must see to it, however, that the raisins comprise more than one sixth part of the water. Now when you estimate [the volume] of the raisins, consider them as though they were fresh before they were dried. These guidelines only apply to wine made by soaking raisins as indicated above; but if the raisins were boiled in water, the boiling does not turn them into wine. (Soaking or boiling the raisins, for the purpose of eating the raisins as well, raises many questions as to the proper berachah to be said over the liquid.)