This week during during Anafim jumped back into their method of leading כיבוד (kibud-snack), in which members of Anafim ask each other to answer a שְׁאֵלָה (sh’eilah-question) about what the food is and what בְּרָכָה (brachah-blessing) we say for it, making sure to call on friends who haven’t had a chance to answer, and then all together say the בְּרָכוֹת (brachot). We ran into a quandry, though, when it came to figuring out what to say for בננות (bananot-bananas)! While one member of Anafim was trying to figure out what בְּרָכָה to say, another was pointing to the floor to suggest the answer בורא פרי האדמה (Borei p’ri ha’adamah), the blessing typically recited for fruit that comes from the earth, but also the prayer we say at the Jewish Enrichment Center for בננות. Another Anafim member pointed out that “Bananas grow on trees”, and asked “Why don’t we say בורא פרי העץ (borei p’ri ha’etz- the prayer typically recited for fruit that grows on trees)?” Another Anafim member concluded that “We should say בורא פרי העץ, but in Anafim we say בורא פרי האדמה.”
We decided we needed to do more research for the future to find out why we say a blessing that doesn’t seem to match the food.
Week 3 and we’re already starting to investigate our rituals and practices!
