Brachah Basics

Prepared for print by Faigy Peritzman

I had my coffee in the morning and then decided I had enough time to also eat a yogurt. Should I make a new brachah on the yogurt?

This depends on your routine. If you never (or almost never) have anything else to eat along with your morning coffee, then you’ll need to make another shehakol on the yogurt. If, however, you sometimes eat other foods at that time, then the shehakol on the coffee will cover all the other shehakol foods you eat at that time.

If I like meatballs more than spaghetti, should I make shehakol on the meatballs first even though the spaghetti is mezonos?

Mezonos is always recited first over the spaghetti, followed by a shehakol on the meat, even if you like the meatballs better. But, if before beginning to eat, you mix the spaghetti and the meatballs together on your plate, and each spoonful contains both foods, then only a mezonos is recited over the mixture. This is because the meat is considered secondary to the spaghetti, even if you like the meatballs better.

Must I be sitting when saying a brachah acharonah or bentshing?

You’re supposed to sit while bentshing (at least until “Harachaman”) or reciting al hamichyah, even if you ate while you were standing or walking. Bedieved, if you said it while standing, you’ve fulfilled your obligation. There is no requirement to sit for borei nefashos.

At a shul kiddush, where one person makes Kiddush, am I yotzei even though the person making the brachah didn’t specifically have me in mind?

Yes. The person reciting Kiddush intends to include anyone who is paying attention to his Kiddush who wishes to fulfill her obligation of Kiddush in that manner.