Tu BiShvat

On Tu BiShvat, I often find myself sitting before a plate of different fruits, trying to remember on which fruit to make the brocha of “bori pri hoetz”.

This happened to me a few days ago, and I had to frantically look up the halacha on the spot.

So, I thought I would type the Halacha here, so I have it ready for next time. If it helps someone else, even better.

When faced with a plate of fruits and deciding which to make the brocha “borei pri hoetz” on, consider the following:

Check if all fruits on the plate require the same brocha, specifically “borei pri hoetz” (note: different rules apply if any fruit requires the brocha “borei pri ha’adamah”).

Determine if you intend to eat each fruit on the plate, since you are not obligated to eat a fruit if you prefer not to.

Then, select the fruit to make the brocha “borei pri hoetz” on as follows:

If any of the fruits are from the seven species (olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates), prioritize these. If the plate features multiple fruits from the seven species and you plan to eat them all, make the brocha on the fruit that appears first in this order: olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates. For instance, if you have both a date and a grape, make the brocha on the date.
If there are no fruits from the seven species on the plate, or you do not wish to eat the seven species fruit present (e.g., due to taste preferences), or all fruits are of the same species from the seven species (like a plate of only olives) but vary between whole and cut, then make the brocha on a whole fruit.
If the above conditions don’t apply (e.g., none of the fruits are from the seven species and all are either whole or cut), choose the fruit you prefer most to make the brocha on.