Shalom uberacha,
I had a question regarding a seeming contradiction in mishna berura concerning whether to make hatov vhameitiv on wine that is not on the table, that one is planning yo use.
It seems that if the wines are very close (or for whatever the reason not sure which is better) one can make the beracha if the second bottle is not on the table. However, the MB elsewhere seems to say that is only if the secind bottle is not even in the house. I pasted the link below where i found the question asked, but I wanted to get your take as both cases seem to be discussing where the wines are not of a distinct enough quality difference to matter. Thank you
https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/75680/hatov-vehameitiv-wine-in-the-house-contradiction
Moshe Rubin, Brooklyn, new york
1) The apparent contradiction is between the Mishneh Berurah 175:4 and between 175:14. In 175:4 he cites the Lechem Chamudos who rules that if he intends to drink both wines at the time that he said Borei Pri Hagefen, then even if the second wine was not on the table at the time of the bracha; as long as it was in the house; he does not say a second Hatov veHamaitiv.
[Lechem Chamudos does not exactly say that the wines are very close. What he says is that they are both in the house, and they do not both need to be on the table].
2) Then in 175:14 the Mishneh Berurah cites Eliyah Rabah that if he wants to make a beracha on a few different wines, he should remove them from the table when saying Hagefen and then when he drinks each kind of wine, he makes Hatov veHamaitiv on each one. The seeming contradiction is that in 175:4 the MB writes that it does not matter whether they are actually on the table, or merely in the house, whilst in 175:14 he writes that it makes a difference if one removes the wine from the table.
3) However, if one looks carefully, one notices that in 175:14 the MB starts off by writing that the scenario being discussed is where one is in doubt which is the good wine and which is not good. There may well be a significant difference between the quality of the two wines, but one is unsure. In contrast, in 175:4, no mention has been made of one wine being better than the other.
4) Therefore, the Eliyah Rabah rules that since one has a genuine doubt which wine is better than the other, it helps to remove them from the table and one can then say Hatov veHamaitiv on each one. But if there is no reason to believe that there is any difference in the quality of the wines, the Lechem Chamudos rules that there is no difference whether they are all on the table, or merely in the house.
Good Shabbos
Dovid Bloom
Follow-up reply:
I found that the sefer veZos Habracha, by Rav Mendelbaum, in the 5761 edition pages 302-5, discusses the contradiction in the Mishneh Berurah at length. I do not think that it is in the scope of the present format to delve in depth into this sugya, but I would just like to add a little to what I wrote above, and to suggest what is the logic behind the distinction I made.
Since the Lechem Chamudos is referring to 2 wines with no siginificant difference in their quality, there has to be some other siginificant difference to justify saying Hatov veHamaitiv. This is only if the second wine was previously in a different house; so one is now enjoying a new wine; and it is not sufficient that they were not on the same table.
The Eliyah Rabah refers to wines which may be of a significanlty different quality, but one is not sufficiently a connoisseur to know which is the best. In such a case it is enough that the wine is brought from a different table to justify a new bracha; since one now is benifitting from a new different wine.
KOL TUV
Dovid Bloom