Halachos of Daily Living

Laws related to Berachos

What bracha should
one recite on dried cranberries?

Most dried
cranberries are sugar infused. This means the cranberries are soaked in sugar
water and then dried to look like raisins. Rav Belsky, zt”l ruled
that the bracha on
dried cranberries is Ha’odama. Although the cranberry plant survives from
year to year, and in fact can live for over a hundred years, since the berries
grow on or near the ground, the bracha is Ha’odama. The Mishnah Berurah (203:3) writes that
there is a dispute as to which bracha to recite on berries that grow on low
bushes that are within three tefachim (9 to 12 inches) of the ground, and
the minhag
ha’olam (the accepted practice) is to recite Ha’odama.

Individuals who grow their own cranberry bushes may have cranberries that grow
higher than 3 tefachim.
On berries that grow on those bushes, one should recite Ha’eitz. However,
commercially grown cranberries are grown in bogs, on or near the ground, so
their bracha is Ha’odama.

Does the
obligation to recite one hundred brachos apply even on Shabbos?

Yes. Although on Shabbos the tefillos contain fewer brachos, one must still fill the quota of 100 brachos. On Friday night, one recites 11 brachos during Maariv, and an additional 47 brachos are recited during Shacharis, Musaf and Mincha. One must eat three meals on Shabbos which adds another 18 brachos, and there are a few additional brachos recited for Kiddush, HaMapil and after using the restroom. Still, on an average Shabbos, one will find themselves about 18 brachos short. Therefore, Shulchan Aruch (OC 290:1) writes that one should eat sweet fruit and smell various fragrant spices to accumulate extra brachos throughout the day. Bedieved one can rely on answering Amen to the brachos of Krias Hatorah and Haftara (an additional 27 brachos). There is also an opinion that reciting the prayer “Ein Kelokainu”, which has in it all the components of a bracha, is equivalent to having recited 12, and some say 20, brachos.