לרפואת יהודה בן מרגלית שרה
Beracha on Vegetable Soup
What beracha do I make on vegetable soup when I consume just the broth? What beracha do I make on vegetable soup when I consume just the broth?
We will not presently
discuss soup with mezonot elements (e.g., croutons, noodles), which
complicates matters.)
The gemara
(Berachot 39a) says that the “water of boiled vegetables [has the same
beracha] as the vegetables (i.e., Borei Pri Ha’adama).”
Therefore, we would think that this clearly answers your question. However, the
Rishonim are bothered by an apparent contradiction, as the
gemara (ibid. 38a) says that the beracha of most fruit juices
is Shehakol. The distinctions various opinions provide are crucial to
answering your question.
The Rashba (Berachot
38a) says that the gemara refers to vegetables that are normally eaten
cooked, whereas fruit are normally eaten whole and not as juice. The Rosh
(Berachot 6:18) says that cooking provides more qualitative taste of the source
food than squeezing.
Another factor is the
focus on the vegetables vs. on the broth. The Rosh (Shut 4:15) says that the
broth “deserves” Ha’adama when it is normal for most people to cook the
vegetables to eat them. (The Mishna Berura (205:10) seemingly cites this opinion
as requiring the individual to cook it with the intention to eat the
vegetables). The Rambam (Berachot 8:4) puts the stress in the other direction –
if one has in mind when cooking to drink the broth, the broth is important
enough to merit Ha’adama. The simple reading of these Rishonim
(V’zot Heberacha, p. 270 cites dissenters, but apparently overstates their
strength) is that when one has in mind to both eat the cooked vegetables and
drink the broth, Ha’adama is appropriate for both elements. (One
beracha suffices when they are eaten together.) Thus, the classic
ruling is that on soup that is based entirely on vegetables, which are normal to
be used for making soup, the beracha is Ha’adama, even on the
broth (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 205:2), and my recollection of the
minhag where/when I grew up was like that.
On the other hand,
several classical and contemporary Acharonim advise against this
ruling, based on other opinions and possible distinctions, as follows. The
Mordechai (cited by the Magen Avraham 205:6) says that only vegetable broth that
is used for dipping foods warrants Ha’adama. The Ra’ah (cited, but
rejected, by the Mishna Berura (Sha’ar Hatziyun 202:66)) and other important but
minority Rishonim understand the gemara statement that water
of boiled vegetables has the same beracha as the vegetables as just
meaning that the beracha made on the soup’s vegetables covers the
broth, but if the broth is eaten alone, one recites Shehakol. This was
enough for some poskim, including the Kaf Hachayim (OC 205:11; see
Birkat Hashem 7:20), to invoke the rule that we avoid “going out on a limb”
regarding berachot. The common application is to refrain from a
beracha when it is unclear if it is warranted. Here its application is
that since Shehakol works after-the-fact for all foods, whereas
Ha’adama is ineffective for a food whose beracha should be
Shehakol, we recite Shehakol in a case of doubt between the
two.
Important contemporary
poskim (see V’zot Haberacha p. 270 in the name of Rav Auerbach; Rav
Elyashiv reportedly agreed) claimed that the vegetables in today’s soup often do
not provide discernible enough taste to make the majority water worthy of the
beracha of Ha’adama. (Some cite the precedent that the
beracha on beer is Shehakol rather than Mezonot.)
Although I view most vegetable soups I have eaten as full of vegetable taste,
these opinions push the direction of practice toward reciting the “safer”
Shehakol on the broth of vegetable soup. (When one eats the soup’s
vegetables as well (at least a significant amount of them – see V’zot Haberacha,
p. 119) the consensus is that Ha’adama covers the broth too (see Sha’ar
Hatziyun 205:66).) However, one whose practice has always been to recite
Ha’adama on the broth is not wrong if he continues, as this is
the fundamentally stronger opinion, which is still followed by significant
authorities.
[from Machon Eretz Chemda]
