Chapter 59 : Laws Relating to the Berachos Shehecheyanu and Hatov Vehameitiv

---

§1

If you receive good tidings from a reliable eye-witness, and needless to say, if you witness the event yourself, if you are the only one who benefits from the tidings, you recite the berachah Shehecheyanu [Who kept us in life]. But if it is good for you and others as well, you say the berachah Baruch ata Adonoy Elokeinu melech ha'olam hatov vehameitiv, [Blessed are You Hashem, our God, King of the universe Who is good and does good]. In other words, He is good to you and He also does good to your fellow man. If at the time that you see or hear the tidings, you are unable to utter the berachah, either because of your physical condition or because of the place where you happen to be, then you may recite the berachah later. This rule applies also to the berachah Dayan ha'emes [the true Judge] [which is said over bad tidings].

---

§2

It is our duty to express our blessing to Hashem, blessed be His Name even on bad tidings, as it is said: "Love Hashem, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your possessions." "With all your heart" means with your two inner drives, with the good and the bad inclination. (that is, even when you are engaged in worldly pursuits, you should fulfill the command: "Affirm Him in all your undertakings." (See Chapter 31 above). "With all your soul" [means] even if He takes away your life. "With all your possessions" means with all your resources. Another meaning of the words uvechol me'odecha is with any measure that He metes out to you, whether it is a measure of goodness or a measure of punishment, express your gratitude to Him. What berachah should be said? Upon hearing bad tidings, the berachah said is: Baruch ata Adonoy Elokeinu melech ha'olam dayan ha'emes, [Blessed are You Hashem, our God, King of the universe, the true Judge]. If many tidings are received at the same time, whether good or evil, one berachah is sufficient for all. The blessing for adversity must be expressed in a spirit of unquestioning acceptance as is done when good tidings arrive, as it is said, "Of kindness and judgment will I sing, to You, Hashem, will I sing." If you bestow kindness on me, I will sing, and if You render judgment, I will, likewise, sing. Because an evil fate, too, to the true servant of God is a source of joy and a favor, since [the believer] willingly accepts whatever God has decreed, firmly convinced that his suffering is an atonement for his sins. Thus, in accepting this misfortune he is, in fact, serving God, and serving God is a source of joy to him.

---

§3

If something fortunate happens to someone or he receives good news, even though it is likely that this benefit will give rise to evil, as when he finds a precious object, and, if the king were to discover this fact, he would confiscate all his possessions; nevertheless, he should say Hatov vehameitiv. So, also, if disaster strikes or someone receives bad news, even though, most probably this adversity will turn to his advantage, as when his fields are flooded, and his crops are ruined, but the subsiding flood water is of great benefit to him because it waters his fields, nevertheless, he should say Dayan ha'emes, since berachos are not made for future events. [A berachah is said] only over something that occurs here and now.

---

§4

You should accustom yourself to say always, "Whatever the Almighty clods is for good."

---

§5

When the wife gives birth to a son, the father says the berachah Hatov vehameitiv. The mother, too, should say this berachah. If the mother dies in childbirth, the father says Shehecheyanu, because the good has come only to him. Likewise, if the father dies before she gives birth, she recites Shehecheyanu (when the child is born).

---

§6

Upon the death of a father or other relative, or even an unrelated, observant Jew, and certainly [on the death of] a Torah scholar whose death distresses us, we recite the berachah Baruch ata Adonoy Elokeinu melech ha'olam dayan ha'emes. On the death of a person whose demise does not cause as much anguish, Baruch dayan ha'emes should be said, omitting the Divine Name and Kingship. If a father leaves property to his son as an inheritance, the son also says the berachah Shehecheyanu. If there are other brothers who share the inheritance, then, instead of Shehecheyanu, he says Tov vehameitiv.

---

§7

If you built or bought a house or you bought vessels or valuable clothes, even if you already own similar possessions, as long as you have never owned these objects, (this excludes objects you sold and then bought back) and you take pleasure in owning them, you say the berachah Shehecheyanu. The berachah should be recited at the time you make the purchase or upon the completion of the building, even though you have not yet made use of them, for the berachah is said over the happiness you experience when you acquire them.

---

§8

When you put on a new garment [for the first time] you say the berachah Malbish arumim [Who clothes the naked]. Even though you have said Malbish arumim in your morning prayers, you repeat it when you put on [your new clothes]. However, if you had the new garment on in the morning, the berachah in the morning prayers exempts you [from saying it again]. Some authorities hold that when you buy a hat, and you wear it [for the first time], you should say the berachah Oteir Yisrael besif'arah [Who crowns Israel with splendor], and when putting on a new belt you say Ozeir Yisrael bigevurah [Who girds Israel with strength]. Other authorities disagree with this opinion. Therefore, it is best to put them on for the first time in the morning, [and to have its mind] to exempt them when you say those berachos [in your morning prayers]. If you buy a new tallis, then, after you tie the tzitzis to it, you recite the berachah Shehecheyanu. If you did not say it at that time, you should say it when you wrap yourself in it for the first time, following the herachah Lehis'ateif batzitzis [to be enwrapped in tzitzis].

---

§9

When you buy articles that will be used by the entire household, you say the berachah Tov vehameitiv.

---

§10

When you receive a gift, you say the berachah Hatov vehameitiv for you will benefit from it and the donor benefits from it as well. If the recipient is poor the donor has the satisfaction that the Almighty has enabled him to give charity, and if the recipient is wealthy, the donor is pleased by the fact that the rich man accepts his gift.

---

§11

When you buy new sacred books, you need not say Shehecheyanu, as the things with which you perform mitzvos are not for physical enjoyment.

---

§12

On purchasing an article of minor value such as a shirt, a pair of shoes, or socks, you should not recite a berachah. This is true even if the buyer is a poor man who derives pleasure [from these new possessions]. If a rich man buys new vessels (or garments] that an average man would be happy to own but to which a rich man attaches little importance and in which he finds no joy, he should not say a berachah.

---

§13

It is customary to say to a person who puts on a new garment, "May you wear it out and acquire a new one." [But to someone] who puts on new shoes or a new garment made of fur or leather, even if the fur or leather is from an unclean animal and even if the fur or the leather are only used as lining, do not say "May you wear it out and acquire a new one," because a new garment like this one requires the killing of a living creature, and it is written, "And His mercies are on all His works."

---

§14

The first time you eat a new fruit from a tree which reproduces annually, you say the berachah Shehecheyanu. First you say Shehecheyanu and then the berachah over the fruit. If you forgot and first said the berachah over the fruit, you may say Shehecheyanu afterwards, and this is not considered an interruption. But if you failed to say Shehecheyanu the first time you ate the new fruit, you should not say it [when you eat the same fruit] later. If there are before you several kinds of new fruit, one Shehecheyanu is sufficient for all. Concerning two kinds of fruit, although they slightly resemble each other, such as cherries and small plums, or even if they are called the same name, but only differ in taste, such as white figs and black figs, [the rule is] that if you said Shehecheyanu over one kind and later you wish to eat of the other, you repeat the berachah Shehecheyanu, since you enjoy [each fruit] separately.

---

§15

If you said Shehecheyanu over grapes, some authorities hold that you need not repeat it when you drink new wine, since both are one of the same pleasure, as wine is made out of grapes. But others hold that even so, you should say Shehecheyanu over the new wine as well, because wine gives you greater pleasure than grapes. Therefore, the best course to follow is, if you already said Shehecheyanu over grapes and then you wish to drink new wine, that you first say Shehecheyanu over some new fruit [and keep in mind] to include the wine. But if you have said Shehecheyanu over new wine, all agree that you need not repeat it over grapes. This law applies only when you drink new wine [not fully fermented] that can easily be recognized as new, but if you drink [new wine] that is fully fermented, even if you have not said Shehecheyanu over grapes, you do not say Shehecheyanu over [this wine], because you cannot distinguish between new and old [wine].

---

§16

Over unripe grapes you may not say Shehecheyanu. [This berachah may be said] only when the clusters are fully ripe; and so must any fruit be fully ripe, [for a shehecheyanu to be said].

---

§17

It is customary not to say Shehecheyanu over new vegetables or turnips because they can last a long time by being kept in the ground or in sand, and also since they are always available, we do not have great pleasure [when eating the new ones].

---

§18

You should not say Shehecheyanu when you smell a fragrant scent, for only the soul senses delight from the scent and the soul is eternal.

---

§19

[In the World to Come,] every man will have to answer for all the [delicacies] his eye beheld which he declined to eat. Rabbi Eleazar would save small coins and buy everything [at least] once a year and eat it.

---

§20

When you see a very close friend after a separation of thirty days, and especially, [when you see] a person who is superior to you, like your father or teacher, and you take pleasure in seeing him, you should say Shehecheyanu, even if in the interim, you received a letter from him. If the separation has been twelve months, you recite Baruch ata Adonoy Elokeinu melech ha'olam mechayei hameisim. [Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe Who revives the dead] and you do not say Shehecheyanu. This berachah is made because after twelve months he was forgotten, just as the dead are forgotten, as it is written, "I have been forgotten as a dead man, from the heart, I have become like a useless vessel." Just as when a man loses a vessel and does not find it within twelve months, he gives up hope of ever finding it, so are the dead forgotten after twelve months. But if you received a letter from [your loved one] during the [twelve months] interval or you had word concerning his well being, you do not say Mechayei Hameisim but Shehecheyanu. This applies to men and women alike. Even if a man sees his wife or his mother, or his sister, or his daughter, or if woman sees her husband or her father, or her brother, or her son, [in all these cases Shehecheyanu] should be said.

---

§21

[In the case of] a friend whom you have never met, but by way of correspondence with each other you became friends; when you come together for the first time, you need not say a berachah; for since you have never seen each other before, face to face your love cannot be so strong that you should feel true gladness when meeting him.