Prayer and Blessings
Does one need to recite the same blessing again on the same kind of food
Question
Does one need to recite the same blessing again on a food that was not before him when he made the blessing? For example, if one ate soup and recited Shehakol over it, and afterward wants to eat fish, and they were not before him when he made the blessing over the soup, does he need to recite Shehakol again?
Answer
To the honor of the questioner,
Please forgive the delay in the response.
If everything was in your home at the time of the blessing, and you were able to take the second food, one blessing is sufficient, because a person has in mind all that is available to him in his home. However, if the first food is not of the same type or kind of food at all as the second food, then a new blessing is indeed required. This is the wording of the Mishnah Berurah, siman 206, seif katan 21: "If one recited a blessing over fish and they brought him beer, which is a completely different kind, even though their blessings are the same, nevertheless they are not exempted by his blessing by default unless he explicitly intended to exempt them with the blessing, or they were at least before him on the table when he recited the blessing." Therefore, regarding soup and then eating fish, since they are completely different kinds, it seems that one should recite the initial blessing again, unless your intention was explicitly to exempt all kinds of food under Shehakol at the time you recited the blessing the first time.
With blessing,
Rabbi Nachum
