CHAPTER 6 MISHNAH 4
If many varieties were placed before him – Rabbi Yehudah says, If one of the seven is among them, he recites the blessing over it. The Sages say, He blesses over whatever he wishes.

CHAPTER 6 MISHNAH 5
If one recited the blessing over wine before the meal, he has exempted the wine drunk after the meal. If one recited a Berakhah over the parperet before the meal, he need not recite any other blessing over the parperet after the conclusion of the meal. If he recited the blessing over bread, he has exempted the parperet. Over parperet, he does not exempt the bread. Bet Shammai say: Also not any cooked dish.

CHAPTER 6 MISHNAH 4
If many varieties were placed before him – Rabbi Yehudah says, If one of the seven is among them, he recites the blessing over it. The Sages say, He blesses over whatever he wishes.

KEHATI
The mishnah below now discusses the order of priority of the various blessings.

If many varieties of food were placed before him, and he wants to eat of each kind, over which should he recite the blessing? R. Yehudah says: If one of the seven species for which Eretz Israel is praised (Wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates) is among them, he recites the blessing over it, since they have the priority. If several of these seven species were placed before him, then, according to the Gemara, the order to be followed is the sequence in which they are mentioned in the Torah (Deut. 8:8): “A land of wheat and barley and grapes and figs and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and [ honey." Since the Torah wished to praise Eretz Israel as the land producing these important foods, it enumerated them in descending order of importance (Rashi). Another rule is stated in the Gemara: Whatever is closer to the second word "land" ("land of oil-bearing olives and date honey") takes precedence over whatever is further removed from the first "land" ("land of wheat and barley"). The order would then be: Wheat, olives, barley (some place barley before olives, since the Berakhah, "Who creates diverse kinds of foods" always precedes the blessing over fruits), dates, grapes (i.e., in their natural state; grape wine, however, has a blessing of its own because of its importance, and takes precedence even over olives), figs and pomegranates.

The Sages say: He blesses over whatever he wishes to eat first. The majority opinion is that precedence is determined by personal preference.

Two opinions are cited in the Gemara: (A) the one holds that the disagreement between R. Yehudah and the Sages pertains only to such foods as are covered by the same blessing, e.g., dates and apples, for each of which the blessing is "Who creates the fruit of the tree," and by reciting the blessing over the one, he exempts the second. R. Yehudah requires the blessing to be recited over the dates, since as one of the seven species it takes precedence, and this exempts the apples. The Sages hold that the species the individual personally prefers takes precedence, hence he recites the blessing over that and exempts the other. Where the foods placed before him require different blessings, all agree that he is to recite separate blessings, but there are three differing opinions regarding the order of precedence: (1) He should recite the blessing over the variety he likes best and eat that first; (2) there is no binding Halakhah in this instance, and one may do as one pleases, and (3) the variety belonging to the seven species comes first.

(B) According to this view, R. Yehudah and the Sages differ even where there are varieties requiring different blessings. R. Yehudah states that precedence is given to the seven species, while the Sages rule that the individual should recite the blessing over the variety he likes best and eat that first.

Rambam rules: "When one has several kinds of food before him, and the blessing is the same for each of them, one says the blessing before partaking of one kind, this exempting him from repeating the blessing for the others. If the blessings vary, he says the blessing appropriate to each kind, and may begin the meal with whichever dish he pleases. If he has no preference and there is on the table one of the seven fruits (of Eretz Israel specified in the Torah), he says the blessing over it first,-and whatever appears first in the Biblical verse takes precedence in respect of the blessing" (Laws of Blessings, 8:13). The ruling of the Shulhan Arukh in (Orah Hayim, 21 Ia): "If the blessings are identical for all the fruits, and one of the seven species is among them, he should assign priority to the fruit of the seven species. If none of the fruits are of the seven species, he gives preference to the one he likes best, (i.e., which he is always accustomed to prefer). Where the blessings are not identical, he may bless and eat them as he pleases."

CHAPTER 6 MISHNAH 5
If one recited the blessing over wine before the meal, he has exempted the wine drunk after the meal. If one recited a Berakhah over the parperet before the meal, he need not recite any other blessing over the parperet after the conclusion of the meal. If he recited the blessing over bread, he has exempted the parperet. Over parperet, he does not exempt the bread. Bet Shammai say: Also not any cooked dish.

KEHATI
The mishnah now discusses the blessings arising during the meal. The principle constituent of any meal is bread, over which the Hamotzi is recited. The Berakhah exempts all other food served as part of the meal, even if one eats the latter without bread, e.g., vegetables, cheese, eggs, fish, meat. Foods which do not form part of the meal, such as fruit eaten as dessert and which are normally not eaten with, or instead of bread, are not exempted and the appropriate blessing must be recited over them. Wine drunk during the meal is also not exempted by the Motzi, even though it does form part of the meal, because "wine gives rise to its own blessing" (on many occasions wine is brought and a blessing recited over it, even though there was no need for it as a beverage, as for instance for kiddush, havdalah and the wedding ceremony [ Tosafot - Berakhot 42a]).

If someone drank wine both before and during the meal, however, he need not recite the blessing twice, since the initial blessing suffices for the entire meal. Accordingly, the blessing over wine recited as part of the kiddush, havdalah and the wedding ceremony [ Tosafot – Berakhot 42a).

The mishnah here discusses the wine and dessert coming at the end of the meal but before the Grace after Meals has been recited. In those days it was customary to finish eating the meal as such, and then drink wine and eat dessert together. The law is that blessings must be recited over these latter items, and the Motzi does not exempt them. – This law governing “refreshments” eaten after the meal is not operative for us, since it is not our custom to be done with eating bread until after the Grace after Meals. For us, everything is considered “within the meal” (Tosafot). The mish nah deals with the practices obtaining in its times, as explained above.

If one recited the blessing over wine before the meal – he drank wine before beginning his meal, and recited the appropriate blessing – he has exempted the wine drunk after the meal. He does not have to recite any additional blessing over the wine that is brought as refreshment after the meal is over but before the Grace is recited, as has been explained above. According to the Gemara, this rule applies only to Sabbaths and Festivals, when it is customary to have wine at the meal, and to tarry after the main meal is over and eat dessert and sip wine as refreshment. It is assumed that the diners intended to stay on and drink wine. Hence when one recited the initial blessing, the wine after the meal was tacitly included. During the rest of the year, however, when one is not normally accustomed to drink wine after the meal, one has to recite anew the blessing over the wine served after the meal, since he has, as it were, changed his mind and begun to sip wine once more.

If one recited a Berakhah over the parperet – the word signifies any food which accompanies bread, such as vegetables, fish, meat, cooked dishes, etc. (Bartenura). Some eat parperet before the meal as an appetizer or else after the meal as dessert. Many authorities regard parperet as food over which “Who creates diverse kinds of food” (i.e., Bore mine mezonot) is recited – such as dried breadcrumbs cooked together with soup, wafers, etc. The mishnah here teaches that once a person recites a blessing over the parperet before the meal, he need not recite any other blessing over the parperet served after the conclusion of the meal and before the Grace after Meals.
If he recited the blessing over bread, i.e., he said Hamoizi, he has exempted the parperet eaten during the meal, even though not as part of the meal, since it is subordinate to bread and the blessing over the bread renders it exempt.

If he first recited a blessing over parperet – over pastries requiring “Who creates diverse kinds of food”, as explained above, he does not exempt the bread from the requirement of having the Hamotzi recited over it, since the blessing over a subordinate food does not cover the main food. Even if he specifically had in mind to exempt the bread by reciting the blessing over the parperet, it makes no difference, and he must still recite the specific blessing over the bread. If, on the other hand, he had in mind to eat other cereal foods, such as porridge or pancakes, he need not recite any blessing over them, since they are included in the blessing recited over the parperet.

Bet Shammai say: Also not any cooked dish. According to their view, the blessing over parperet does not provide any exemption for cooked cereal dishes, just as it provides no exemption from reciting the blessing over bread (Rambam, Bartenura).

According to the Yerushalmi, Bet Shammai’s remarks are directed to the first statement: “If he recited the blessing over bread, he exempts the parperet.” Hence, Bet Shammai would maintain that the blessing over bread does not exempt cooked cereals, and obviously not parperet. All agree, however, that if he recited a blessing over parperet, he does not exempt bread or cooked dishes. In the Bavli, however, the question whether Bet Shammai direct their remarks to the first or to the latter part of the Mishnah remains unsolved (Berakhot 42b). We have, nevertheless, expounded the Mishnah in its plain sense, with Bet Sham mai’s remarks taken as referring to the latter part of the Mishnah, for so both Rambam and Bartenura have explained in their Mishnah commentaries