K’dei Ichul - Multiple Cups of Water

Q. I plan to drink multiple cups of water at my desk throughout the day. Is it better to recite a beracha rishona and acharona on each cup of water, or should I recite a beracha rishona at the beginning of the day and a beracha acharona at the end?

A. If you will be drinking continuously throughout the day and know that there will not be a break between drinks of “k’dei ichul” (the time it takes to digest the water), you should only recite a beracha rishona at the beginning and a beracha acharona at the end of the day. (If you would recite a beracha rishona and acharona on each cup, that would constitute a beracha she’eino tzricha, unnecessary berachos, which are forbidden.)

What should be done if a person plans to drink the whole day, but might pause between sips longer than k’dei ichul? In the previous Halacha Yomis we quoted the position of the Even Ha’ozer that as long as the person intended to continue eating, a new beracha rishona is not necessary even after k’dei ichul (the food was digested). If so, one might think that a person who is drinking throughout the day, should not recite a beracha acharona until the end of the day. If one recites a beracha acharona, the person will necessitate a new beracha rishona, and this will be a beracha she’eino tzricha (unnecessary beracha). However, this is not true, and the Mishnah Berurah (Beiur Halachah 190:2) writes that a beracha acharona should be said after each cup. The Mishnah Berurah explains that although the Even Ha’ozer rules that if you wait longer than “k’dei ichul” between drinks, and do not recite a beracha acharona, a new beracha rishona is not needed (so long as you had planned on continuing drinking), nonetheless, this is true bidi’eved (after the fact), but lichatchila (before the fact), it is improper to not recite a beracha acharona. This is because the beracha acharona on the earlier eating session will be unfulfilled. Even though you recite a beracha at the end of the day, it will not help for the earlier drinks once there was a break of k’dei ichul. Furthermore, he writes that people often will get distracted and leave and will forget to recite a beracha acharona at all. Therefore, in this scenario, it is best to recite a beracha rishona and acharona before k’dei ichul elapses. The Minchas Yitzchok (5:102) concurs with the Mishna Berurah.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.