Berakhot 122

1:
We surveyed the berakhah She-ha-kol… yesterday. Today's mishnah adds several details from which general principals may be adduced. It will help if we note the format of our present mishnah. First comes a general principal. There then follow two further statements, each referring to three foodstuffs. Lastly there is the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah, which contradicts the opinion of Tanna Kamma.

2:
The general principal which is the reisha [first section] of our mishnah is one that we clarified in the previous shiur: if a comestible neither grows on trees nor in the ground its appropriate berakhah is She-ha-kol… Since none of the foods mentioned in the next two clauses of the mishnah grow on trees or in the ground, we must ask ourselves what purpose their separate mention is intended to convey. Vinegar, as is well known, is essentially sour wine. Unripe figs stand here for all fruits that are to be eaten before they are fully ripe. The Torah [Leviticus 11:22] lists four kinds of insect that are kasher [permissible for Jewish consumption]; however, since we no longer hold ourselves capable of correctly identifying these species we no longer eat them at all. (The Yemenite tradition holds that one of them can still be identified – and it is considered to be a fried delicacy.) What these three items have in common is that they represent the consumption of some thing that is not at its best, as it were. Milk, cheese and eggs are foodstuffs that are produced from animals while not being part of the animal itself.

3:
The Gemara [Berakhot 40b] quotes a baraita that adds to the list of examples: meat, fowl and fish command the berakhah She-ha-kol… – as does bread that has started to go stale, wine that has started to go off, food cooked from grains that has gone tasteless; salt – and mushrooms! The Gemara gives special attention to the mushroom, indicated that while it grows on the ground it does not derive its nourishment from the ground: therefore it cannot be considered "fruit of the ground". I am certainly no expert in these matters, but have managed to find the following information:

4:
The only question yet unelucidated in this mishnah is in what way Rabbi Yehudah disagrees with Tanna Kamma. Rabbi Yehudah is of the opinion that we should only recite a berakhah over the good things of this world, foods that we eat when they are at their best. Sour wine (vinegar), unripe figs, bread that has started to go stale, wine that has started to go off, food cooked from grains that has gone tasteless – none of these are eaten at its best. On the contrary: in his opinion they bear a kind of curse. Certainly this is true of the locust! Rabbi Yehudah would not have us thank God and praise God for any foodstuffs that have obvious negative aspects. His opinion is not accepted halakhah. Tanna Kamma, whose view is accepted halakhah, requires us to recite a berakhah for every foodstuff that gives us benefit or nourishment.

To be continued.