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The Mishnah in Brachos (35a) asks a simple question – how do we make berachos (blessings) on fruit? The Mishnah then distinguishes between fruits of the tree (פירות האילן) and fruits of the earth (פירות הארץ). This second group – fruits of the earth – seems a bit strange. Don’t only trees give forth fruit, not the ground? What then does the Mishnah have in mind when it speaks of fruits of the earth?

The continuation of this Mishnah compounds its difficulty. The Mishnah speaks of the Beracha that we make on Yerakot (ירקות). Evidently Yerakot are not considered fruits of the earth even though they grow from the ground. It seems then that Chazal divided up vegetation into (at least) two distinct groups – fruits of the earth and Yerakot. The problem is that we have no idea what each of these groups are nor why Chazal felt it was necessary to distinguish between them (particularly with regards to the blessings we make on food).

Last night in shiur one of our students (Dr. Yaakov Silverstein) gave an explanation of these terms which I think sheds light on them all. To understand his explanation it is important to first understand how the Gemara (in Berachos) distinguishes between fruits of the tree and fruits of the earth (this Gemara is found at the bottom of Daf 40a – thanks to Allan Goldernberg, another student in our shiur, for pointing this Gemara out).

The Gemara notes that some trees (such as an apple tree) are able to produce fruit year after year from the same trunk (גווזא in Aramaic). These fruits are the fruits of the trees that our Mishnah mentions and their Beracha is Borei Pri Ha’Eitz (Creator of the Fruit of the Tree).

Other “trees” (such as a cucumber plant or even the Banana tree), however, are not able to produce fruit year after year from the same trunk. Either these trees never produce fruit again or the roots bring forth a new trunk which produces new fruit the following year. The fruit of these trees are considered the fruit of the earth (seemingly because it is the earth that is seen to bring forth these fruits, not the tree). Therefore, the appropriate Beracha is Borei Pri Ha’Adoma (Creator of the Fruit of the Ground).

We can now understand why the Mishnah uses the term Fruit for both of these trees, as each tree produces fruit (as Dr. Silverstein describes it – they both produce “fleshy” foods which contain seeds). The distinction in the Beracha stems from the stability of the tree – fruit from a stable tree we associate with the tree, fruit from an instable tree we associate with the earth. It is this distinction which the Mishnah had to clarify. That’s why it starts by asking how do we make Berachas on fruit – because it knows that not all fruit is created equal (beracha-wise, that is).

What, then, are Yerakot? They are leaves like lettuce and spinach, explains Dr. Silverstein. Leaves are not fruit and as such we would never think that we might have to say a Borei Pri Ha’Eitz on them (unlike fruits of the earth where we might have thought otherwise if it weren’t for the clarification of our Mishnah). This food is clearly a product of the ground and therefore the appropriate beracha is either Borei Pri Ha’Adamah (like the position of the Tana Kamma in our Mishnah) or Borei Minei Deshaim (Creator of different types of vegetation – the position of Rabbi Yehuda).

Recapping – it seems that the Mishnah is dealing with two issues:

1) How to determine on which fruits we say Borei Pri Ha’Eitz and on which fruits we say Borei Pri Ha’Adomah

2) The Machloket between the Tana Kamma and Rabbi Yehuda about food which grows from the earth, but is not a fruit.

א וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם:  אֵלֶּה, הַדְּבָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָה, לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם.  ב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן, לַיהוָה; כָּל-הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה, יוּמָת.  ג לֹא-תְבַעֲרוּ אֵשׁ, בְּכֹל מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם, בְּיוֹם, הַשַּׁבָּת.

This weeks parsha begins with Moshe Rabbeinu gathering together the Jewish people. The Chumash phrases this as follows: ויקהל משה – a phrase that Rashi feels compelled to explain. From the words of Rashi there seem to be two issues that need to be addressed:

The first issue - when did Moshe Rabbeinu gather together the Jewish people?

Rashi wants us to understand that this gathering happened on the day after Yom Kippur when Moshe Rabbeinu came down from Har Sinai. But this is curious – why does Rashi want us to know this? Would we have thought that Moshe Rabbeinu gathered the Jewish people together on a different day and, if so, so what? Would it really be so terrible if we didn’t know the exact date of this gathering?

Seemingly, there is some message or lesson that we need to derive from the fact that this gathering happened specifically on the day after Yom Kippur when Moshe came down from Har Sinai? But what that is we do not know. Furthermore, how does Rashi know that this happened on the day after Yom Kippur – what is his source and/or proof for this?

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“And it was in the days of Achashveros…”

The Megillah begins in a strange way, although that strangeness is not readily apparent at first glance. The days of Achashveros – sounds innocent enough, but there’s one troubling word in that phrase – “Achashveros”. Why is he, of all people, the temporal reference point for our story? Why not and it happened in the days of Mordechai or Esther or even Haman?

Mordechai, Esther and Haman are the central figures of our tale – they are the active participants who create the drama and determine it’s outcome. Achashveros, on the other hand, is a much more passive personality – a drunkard who easily accepts whatever suggestions is put his way and is (seemingly) incapable of coming up with an idea of his own. Why then does the Megillah refer to the time setting of our story as the days of Achasveros and not of the seemingly more important subjects of our story?

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For years I have been asking Rabbis about the differences between the various types of Hechsherim (certificates of Kashrut).  And while I have gotten some general guidelines, I’ve found it difficult to get specific details. 

As such, I was excited when yesterday I met someone who recently switched from a Rabbanut Mehadrin Hechsher to a more stringent, although somewhat obscure, Hechsher (Rav Zaritzki if that means anything to you).  Upon meeting the owners of this restaurant I asked them what differences they noted between the two certifications.  Here are three differences that they reported:

1. The Mashgiach
   With Rabbanut Mehadrin they had two different Mashgiachim (the Mashgiach is the representative of the organization which certifies that a place or product is Kosher.  His job is to ensure that the establishment meets the criteria set down by the Kashrut organization).  The first one came in once a day (at a random time), ate a sandwich (which he wasn’t suppose to do), didn’t look around (which he was suppose to do) and cost 500 shekels a month. 

   This Mashgiach eventually got replaced by a second Mashgiach who also came in once a day (also at a random time), didn’t eat a sandwich and did look around.  He would check different things on different days (the labels, how they prepared the food, etc.) and then leave.  He was there for a few minutes each day and cost 1000 shekels a month.

   With the new Hechsher (which costs much more than 1000 shekels a month, although I don’t know exactly how much), the Mashgiach is there every day from opening until close (although I did notice he stepped out for a short while when I was there - but there may have been someone else there at the time who works for him, I’m not sure).  

   He also actively supervises what goes on in and around the Kitchen (although when I was there I didn’t seem him step foot in the kitchen).  I did, however, see him speaking with the owners of the store, answering their questions and (seemingly) explaining various halachic points to them (I didn’t listen in to their conversation).

2. Which products can be used
   The new Mashgiach is much more stringent about which products they can and cannot use (dry spices are out - bugs, leaving sugar overnight is out - bugs, raisons are out - bugs, and so on). 

   Interestingly enough, the store still sold Sushi under the Rabbanut Mehadrin Hechsher (the owners didn’t want to give up the business they got from the Sushi).  The new Hechsher won’t certify Sushi because of (you guessed it) - bugs.  The deal is that they can sell Sushi in the store, but it can’t be eaten in the store.  I.e., take out only.

3. Sifting flour and checking for bugs
   Another difference is that with the new Hechsher the Mashgiach sifts the flour (or appoints someone he trusts to do it for him).  I seem to remember them saying that the Rabbanut Mehadrin Hechsher also required that the Mashgiach oversee (or actually sift) the flour, but in practice that didn’t happen. 

   He also checks other products for bugs - and when he checks, he does so next to a powerful light.  And yes, they have found some of our multi-leg friends.  [That, in fact, was something I was most curious about - did they actually find anything.  It's nice to be stringent about checking, but if you never find anything it becomes a bit curious]. 

There are other details that they mentioned, but I don’t recall them off hand.  At the end of the day, the impression I got was that there was a real qualitative difference between the Hechsherim.  Now, I do not know (but I hope to find out), what this means in terms of halachic obligations.  Higher standards, while potentially beneficial, are not always obligatory.  But it’s good to know that in this case the difference between the Hechsherim (and the cost) is not just one of politics, but rather of standards.

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