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Why don't we apply safek berachos l'hakel when someone makes the wrong bracha and wants to drink? Rabbi Akiva Eger distinguishes birchos hanehenin from birchos hamitzvos, arguing that eating without a bracha violates an issur d'oraisa. The shiur challenges this approach through cases like an onen eating bread, revealing fundamental disputes about whether the prohibition stems from 'stealing' food or failing to acknowledge Hashem (ה׳)'s providence.
This shiur examines a complex sugya in Masechta Berachos concerning the halachic response to uncertainty about whether one recited the proper bracha. The case involves someone who held a cup of beer, thinking it was wine, and made the wrong bracha (borei pri ha'gafen instead of shehakol). The Gemara (גמרא) presents a fundamental dispute: The Rif holds we go l'kula - the person may drink without making another bracha, following the principle of safek berachos l'hakel. The Ri disagrees, ruling l'chumra - one must make another bracha before drinking. The Magen Avrohom raises a crucial question: Why don't we simply apply the standard rule of safek berachos l'hakel? Rabbi Akiva Eger attempts to resolve this by distinguishing between birchos hamitzvos and birchos hanehenin. For birchos hanehenin, he argues, there's an issur d'oraisa to eat without a bracha (based on the Gemara's statement that one who eats without a bracha is like a gazlan). Therefore, in cases of doubt, one cannot simply refrain from making a bracha.
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Berachos 12a
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