Why a Level 4 devoted to the Alter Rebbe ? The Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch is not a commentary on the Mehaber (מחבר) — it is a complete, self-standing Shulchan Aruch, written by the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Habad, disciple of the Maggid (מגיד) of Mezeritch). Its singularity: it combines halakhah (הלכה) + טעמי המצוות + the inner dimension in a single work, and it decides with a unique talmudic rigour.
For Habad, the Alter Rebbe is הפוסק האחרון — his psak is the deciding authority. This page gathers the Rav’s way on siman ר״ה — דִּינֵי בִּרְכַּת יְרָקוֹת (the laws of the blessing over vegetables), which unfolds in the Rav over ו׳ סְעִיפִים (six seifim): from the principle that a vegetable keeps “borei pri ha’adamah” raw as well as cooked — and that what decides is neither the cooking nor the rawness but the way the species is eaten — to garlic and onion grown old, which burn the mouth and fall to “shehakol” like vinegar; from the rule of changing for the worse and the question of where the improvement comes from — from the thing itself or from the dish that accompanies it, where the whole distance lies between the nut preserved in honey and the garlic cooked in meat — to cabbage, gourd, beets and turnips, which only cooking makes edible; from dry legumes and their pods, where everything turns on the intent with which they were sown, to the two waters — the one pressed from the vegetable and the one it was cooked in; and up to the cut vegetable, whose blessing the knife does not change.
שולחן ערוך הרב — סימן ר״ה — דִּינֵי בִּרְכַּת יְרָקוֹת
The full text of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch
שולחן ערוך הרב, סימן ר״ה — דִּינֵי בִּרְכַּת יְרָקוֹת — וּבוֹ ו׳ סְעִיפִים
The Alter Rebbe’s own text (Sefaria source Shulchan_Arukh_HaRav,_Orach_Chayim.205), followed by our English translation. The siman comprises six seifim (ו׳ סְעִיפִים ; seif k → .205.k).
סעיף א עַל הַיְרָקוֹת "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה" חַיִּין וּמְבֻשָּׁלִים — וְשׁוּם וּבָצָל שֶׁהִזְקִינוּ.
דִּינֵי בִּרְכַּת יְרָקוֹת, וּבוֹ ו׳ סְעִיפִים:
עַל הַיְרָקוֹת מְבָרֵךְ "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה", בֵּין חַיִּין בֵּין מְבֻשָּׁלִים, וְכֵן מִינֵי קִטְנִיּוֹת שֶׁטּוֹבִין חַיִּין וּמְבֻשָּׁלִים. וַאֲפִלּוּ מִינֵי יְרָקוֹת וְקִטְנִיּוֹת שֶׁטּוֹבִים מְבֻשָּׁלִים יוֹתֵר מֵחַיִּין, אִם דֶּרֶךְ רֹב בְּנֵי אָדָם לְאָכְלָם גַּם כֵּן כְּשֶׁהֵם חַיִּין — מְבָרֵךְ "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה" גַּם כְּשֶׁהֵם חַיִּין.
(וַאֲפִלּוּ מִינֵי יְרָקוֹת שֶׁאֵין דֶּרֶךְ רֹב בְּנֵי אָדָם לְאָכְלָם חַיִּין אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי פַּת אוֹ דָּבָר אַחֵר, כְּגוֹן בְּצָלִים וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם, וּבָא לְאָכְלָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן).
וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם, שׁוּם וּבָצָל שֶׁהִזְקִינוּ וְאֵינָם רְאוּיִם לְאָכְלָם חַיִּין בְּלֹא פַּת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהֵם שׂוֹרְפִים בִּמְאֹד — מְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "שֶׁהַכֹּל" (כְּמוֹ עַל הַחֹמֶץ, הוֹאִיל וְנִשְׁתַּנּוּ לִגְרִיעוּתָא).
וּכְשֶׁהֵם מְבֻשָּׁלִים מְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה", אֲפִלּוּ בִּשְּׁלָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם מְבֻשָּׁלִים הוּא לִתְּנָם בַּתַּבְשִׁיל וְלֹא לְאָכְלָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן, מִכָּל מָקוֹם, כֵּיוָן שֶׁגַּם כְּשֶׁהֵם בַּתַּבְשִׁיל דַּרְכָּם לְהֵאָכֵל וַאֲכִילָתָם חֲשׁוּבָה, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהִיא טְפֵלָה אֵצֶל הַתַּבְשִׁיל — הֲרֵי דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם זוֹ [מַ]חְשִׁיבָתָם לְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה" בְּלֹא פַּת.
וְאֵין דּוֹמִין לְשֶׁבֶת וְכַמּוֹן וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם שֶׁכְּשֶׁהֵם בַּתַּבְשִׁיל אֵין אֲכִילָתָם חֲשׁוּבָ[ה], שֶׁאֵינָן עֲשׂוּיִן לַאֲכִילָה כְּלָל, לְפִיכָךְ אַף כְּשֶׁבִּשְּׁלָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן, אוֹ אֲפִלּוּ אוֹכְלָם חַיִּים — אֵינוֹ מְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶלָּא "שֶׁהַכֹּל", כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּסִימָן ר״ד:
The laws of the blessing over vegetables, and it comprises six seifim. Over vegetables one blesses “borei pri ha’adamah,” whether raw or cooked; and likewise the kinds of legumes that are good raw and cooked. And even the kinds of vegetables and legumes that are better cooked than raw, if the way of most people is to eat them also when they are raw — one blesses “borei pri ha’adamah” when they are raw as well.
(And even the kinds of vegetables that most people do not have the way of eating raw except by means of bread or of something else, such as onions and their like, and he comes to eat them on their own.)
Nevertheless, garlic and onion that have grown old and are no longer fit to be eaten raw without bread because they burn exceedingly — one blesses over them “shehakol” (as over vinegar, since they have changed for the worse).
And when they are cooked one blesses over them “borei pri ha’adamah,” even if he cooked them on their own. And although the way of eating them cooked is to put them into the dish and not to eat them on their own, in any event, since even when they are in the dish their way is to be eaten and their eating is significant — even though it is subordinate alongside the dish — behold, this way of eating them makes them significant enough to bless over them “borei pri ha’adamah” without bread.
And they are not like dill (shevet), cumin and their like, whose eating, when they are in the dish, is not significant, for they are not made for eating at all; therefore even if he cooked them on their own, or even if he eats them raw — one blesses over them only “shehakol,” as was explained in siman ר״ד.
סעיף ב שׁוּם וּבָצָל שֶׁלֹּא הִזְקִינוּ שֶׁנִּתְבַּשְּׁלוּ — "שֶׁהַכֹּל", שֶׁנִּשְׁתַּנּוּ לִגְרִיעוּתָא.
אֲבָל שׁוּם וּבָצָל שֶׁלֹּא הִזְקִינוּ, וְכֵן כְּרֵשִׁים וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם, שֶׁהֵם טוֹבִים חַיִּים, וּכְשֶׁמְּבַשְּׁלִים אוֹתָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן הֵם מִתְקַלְקְלִים וְאֵין טַעֲמָן טוֹב כְּמוֹ חַיִּין — מְבָרְכִים עֲלֵיהֶם "שֶׁהַכֹּל", כֵּיוָן שֶׁנִּשְׁתַּנּוּ לִגְרִיעוּתָא. וַאֲפִלּוּ נִתְבַּשְּׁלוּ עִם בָּשָׂר אוֹ דָּבָר אַחֵר וְנִשְׁתַּבְּחוּ, כֵּיוָן שֶׁאֵין הַשֶּׁבַח מִצַּד עַצְמָן — אֵין מוֹעִיל לָהֶם לְבָרֵךְ "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה".
וְאֵינָן דּוֹמִין לֶאֱגוֹז שֶׁנִּתְבַּשֵּׁל בְּמַיִם וְנִשְׁתַּנָּה לִגְרִיעוּתָא וְאַחַר כָּךְ טִגְּנוּהוּ בִּדְבַשׁ וְנִתְקַן, שֶׁמְּבָרְכִים עָלָיו "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָעֵץ" אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין הַתִּקּוּן וְהַשֶּׁבַח אֶלָּא מֵהַדְּבַשׁ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּסִימָן ר״ב, לְפִי שֶׁהָאֱגוֹז הוּא עִקָּר וְהַדְּבַשׁ הוּא טָפֵל אֵלָיו לְתַקְּנוֹ וּלְהַכְשִׁירוֹ, מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּשׁוּם וְכַיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ, שֶׁהַתַּבְשִׁיל שֶׁמַּשְׁבִּיחָן הוּא עִקָּר וְהֵם מְקַבְּלִים טַעַם מִמֵּילָא:
But garlic and onion that have not grown old, and likewise leeks (kreishim) and their like, which are good raw, and which, when one cooks them on their own, spoil and their taste is no longer as good as raw — one blesses over them “shehakol,” since they have changed for the worse. And even if they were cooked with meat or with something else and were thereby improved, since the improvement is not from their own side — it does not suffice for blessing over them “borei pri ha’adamah.”
And they are not like a nut that was cooked in water and changed for the worse, and afterwards was fried in honey and restored, over which one blesses “borei pri ha’etz” even though the mending and the improvement come only from the honey, as was explained in siman ר״ב — for the nut is the ikkar and the honey is tafel to it, to mend it and to make it fit; which is not so with garlic and its like, where the dish that improves them is the ikkar, and they merely receive the taste as a matter of course.
סעיף ג כְּרוּב דְּלַעַת וּתְרָדִין וּלְפָתוֹת — חַיִּין "שֶׁהַכֹּל", מְבֻשָּׁלִים "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה".
יֵשׁ מִינֵי יְרָקוֹת שֶׁאֵין דֶּרֶךְ לְאָכְלָם חַיִּין (אֲפִלּוּ עִם פַּת) אֶלָּא מְבֻשָּׁלִים, אוֹ מְלוּחִים אוֹ כְּבוּשִׁים שֶׁדִּינָם כִּמְבֻשָּׁלִים, כְּגוֹן כְּרוּב דְּלַעַת וּתְרָדִין וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם — מְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם כְּשֶׁהֵם חַיִּין "שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיָה בִּדְבָרוֹ", וּמְבֻשָּׁלִים אוֹ כְּבוּשִׁים — "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה".
וְכֵן מִינֵי לְפָתוֹת (שֶׁקּוֹרִין ריבי״ן [ו]מערי״ן) דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם הוּא לְאָכְלָם מְבֻשָּׁלִים, וּמְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה" כְּשֶׁהֵם מְבֻשָּׁלִים אוֹ כְּבוּשִׁים בְּחֹמֶץ אוֹ בְּחַרְדָּל. וַאֲפִלּוּ אִם הָיוּ מִשְׁתַּנִּים לִגְרִיעוּתָא אִם הָיוּ מְבֻשָּׁלִים בְּלֹא בָּשָׂר וְנִשְׁתַּבְּחוּ מֵחֲמַת הַבָּשָׂר, כֵּיוָן שֶׁדַּרְכָּם בְּכָךְ לְבַשְּׁלָם עִם בָּשָׂר כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתֵּן טַעַם בָּהֶם — הֲרֵי דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם זוֹ מַחְשִׁיבָם לְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה". מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּשׁוּם וְכַיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ, שֶׁאֵין דַּרְכָּם לִתְּנָם בַּתַּבְשִׁיל כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתֵּן הַתַּבְשִׁיל בָּהֶם טַעַם, אֶלָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתְּנוּ הֵם טַעַם בּוֹ, לְפִיכָךְ אֵין דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם זוֹ מַחְשִׁיבָתָם יוֹתֵר מֵחֲשִׁיבוּתָם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן. וּכְשֶׁהֵם חַיִּים — מְבָרֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם "שֶׁהַכֹּל", שֶׁאֵין זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם שֶׁעַל דַּעַת כֵּן נוֹטְעִים אוֹתָן:
There are kinds of vegetables that are not eaten raw (even with bread) but only cooked, or salted, or pickled — whose law is like that of cooked ones — such as cabbage, gourd and beets and their like: one blesses over them, when they are raw, “shehakol nihyah bidvaro,” and cooked or pickled — “borei pri ha’adamah.”
And likewise the kinds of turnips (which are called rivin [and] merin): their way of being eaten is to eat them cooked, and one blesses over them “borei pri ha’adamah” when they are cooked, or pickled in vinegar or in mustard. And even if they would change for the worse were they cooked without meat, and they were improved on account of the meat — since their way is indeed thus, to cook them with meat so that it should give taste in them — behold, this way of eating them makes them significant enough to bless over them “borei pri ha’adamah.” Which is not so with garlic and its like, whose way is not to put them into the dish so that the dish should give taste in them, but rather so that they should give taste in it; therefore this way of eating them does not make them more significant than their own significance on their own. And when they are raw — one blesses over them “shehakol,” for this is not their way of being eaten, since it is not with that intent that they are planted.
סעיף ד קִטְנִיּוֹת יְבֵשִׁים — "שֶׁהַכֹּל" ; רְטֻבִּים שֶׁל גִּנּוֹת — "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה".
וְכֵן קִטְנִיּוֹת יְבֵשִׁים, הָאוֹכְלָם חַיִּים — מְבָרֵךְ "שֶׁהַכֹּל", שֶׁאֵין זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם. אֲבָל בְּעוֹדָם רְטֻבִּים — מְבָרֵךְ "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה", אֲפִלּוּ עַל הַשַּׁרְבִיטִין הָרְאוּיִם לַאֲכִילָה. בַּמֶּה דְּבָרִים אֲמוּרִים? בְּשֶׁל גִּנּוֹת, שֶׁהֵן נִזְרָעִים עַל דַּעַת לְאָכְלָן חַיִּים, אֲבָל הַנִּזְרָעִים בַּשָּׂדוֹת, דַּרְכָּם לְהַנִּיחָם וּלְהֵאָכֵל מְבֻשָּׁלִים, וּלְפִיכָךְ אֵין מְבָרְכִים עֲלֵיהֶם כְּשֶׁהֵם חַיִּים, אֲפִלּוּ בְּעוֹדָם רְטֻבִּים, אֶלָּא "שֶׁהַכֹּל", בֵּין עַל הַקִּטְנִיּוֹת בֵּין עַל הַשַּׁרְבִיטִין:
And likewise dry legumes: one who eats them raw — he blesses “shehakol,” for this is not their way of being eaten. But while they are still moist — he blesses “borei pri ha’adamah,” even over the pods (sharvitin) that are fit for eating. In what case is this said? Of those of gardens, which are sown with the intent of eating them raw. But those that are sown in the fields, whose way is to leave them and to be eaten cooked — therefore one does not bless over them, when they are raw, even while they are still moist, but only “shehakol,” both over the legumes and over the pods.
סעיף ה יְרָקוֹת שֶׁסְּחָטָן — "שֶׁהַכֹּל" ; מֵי בִּשּׁוּלָם — "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה".
יְרָקוֹת שֶׁסְּחָטָן — מְבָרֵךְ עַל מֵימֵיהֶם "שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיָה בִּדְבָרוֹ" כְּעַל שְׁאָר מֵי פֵּרוֹת. אֲבָל עַל מֵי בִּשּׁוּלָם — מְבָרֵךְ "בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה", כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּסִימָן ר״ב:
Vegetables that he squeezed — one blesses over their juice “shehakol nihyah bidvaro,” as over other fruit juices. But over the water in which they were cooked — one blesses “borei pri ha’adamah,” as was explained in siman ר״ב.
סעיף ו יָרָק מְחֻתָּךְ — לֹא נִשְׁתַּנֵּית בִּרְכָתוֹ.
יָרָק מְחֻתָּךְ, אֲפִלּוּ נֶחְתַּךְ לַחֲתִיכוֹת קְטַנּוֹת — לֹא נִשְׁתַּנֵּית בִּרְכָתוֹ, וְעַל דֶּרֶךְ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּסִימָן ר״ב:
A cut vegetable, even if it was cut into small pieces — its blessing has not changed, and along the lines of what was explained in siman ר״ב.
הלכה למעשה — מנהג חב״ד
The practical Habad conduct
Points of conduct that follow directly from siman ר״ה in the sensibility of the Alter Rebbe and Habad — presented at the level of principle, referring to the Rav for the detail of cases.
For the Habad Hassid — Siman ר״ה (דִּינֵי בִּרְכַּת יְרָקוֹת)
- ① Seif א. The vegetable does not depend on cooking: one blesses “borei pri ha’adamah” over vegetables raw as well as cooked, and likewise over legumes that are good in either state; and those that are better cooked still keep “ha’adamah” when raw, so long as most people eat them that way too. But garlic and onion grown old, which burn exceedingly and are no longer eaten raw without bread, leave their blessing as wine turned to vinegar does — “shehakol.” Cooked, they return to it, even cooked on their own: their presence in the dish is still a significant eating — unlike dill and cumin, which are not made to be eaten at all and remain “shehakol” (siman ר״ד).
- ② Seif ב. The rule of changing for the worse (nishtanu ligri’uta): young garlic and onion, and leek, good raw, spoil in cooking and fall to “shehakol.” And improvement coming from outside does not raise them: cooked with meat, it is the dish that improves them that is the ikkar, and they merely receive the taste as a matter of course. Not so the nut fried in honey (siman ר״ב): there the nut is the ikkar and the honey is only the tafel that comes to mend it — which is why it keeps “borei pri ha’etz.”
- ③ Seif ג. The decisive criterion is דֶּרֶךְ אֲכִילָתָם, the way the species is eaten. Cabbage, gourd and beets — which are not eaten raw — are “shehakol” raw and “borei pri ha’adamah” cooked, salted or pickled. And turnips, whose way is to be cooked with meat so that the meat should give them taste, keep “ha’adamah,” because that very cooking is their way of being eaten. The whole difference from garlic hangs on one point: here the dish gives taste to the vegetable; there, the vegetable gives taste to the dish.
- ④ Seif ד. Dry legumes eaten raw are “shehakol,” for that is not their way of being eaten; while still moist they are “borei pri ha’adamah,” including their edible pods. But everything turns on the intent of the sowing: those of gardens are sown to be eaten raw and keep “ha’adamah”; those of the fields, left to be cooked, remain “shehakol” even while moist — legumes and pods alike.
- ⑤ Seif ה. Two waters, two blessings: the juice pressed from the vegetable is “shehakol,” like any fruit juice; the water in which it was cooked takes “borei pri ha’adamah,” as was explained in siman ר״ב.
- ⑥ Seif ו. Form does not change the blessing: a cut vegetable, even in small pieces, keeps its own — along the lines of what was explained in siman ר״ב.
⚠ This section sets out the Habad conduct grounded in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman ר״ה (the real text is reproduced in §1). It does not replace a rabbinic ruling in a particular case. For any concrete question — which blessing over a raw onion, over cooked leeks, over a vegetable broth — ask your Rav, and for Habad, a Habad Rav.