[Avodah] shechiyanu on vegetables

[Zev Sero]

M Cohen wrote:
> see http://tinyurl.com/m8ej2a

>> [purporting to present the Magen Avraham's view]:
>> Therefore the Rabanan decreed that we do not recite Shehecheyanu
>> on *any* vegetable (even ones that are not stored away).  Even
>> though there are some types of *fruit* that are also stored, most
>> fruits are not. Therefore the Rabanan upheld the requirement to
>> recite Shehecheyanu on every new fruit.

The Magen Avraham doesn't even hint at any such thing.  "The Rabanan
decreed"?  Which "Rabanan"?  When did they decree it?  If the Rabanan
decreed something, how is it that the BY never heard of it?  There was
never any decree, and there is no "lo plug" that all fruits have a
shehecheyanu and all vegetables do not.   In fact we do *not* say
shehecheyanu on those fruits (e.g. nuts) whose old and new seasons
can't be told apart, and we *do* say it on those vegetables in which
the new season can be easily distinguished from the old.  In fact the
MA says explicitly that one says it on the new crop of grain when it
is eaten cooked rather than in bread, since the difference between the
new crop and the old is readily visible.  The MB cites Mor Uketziah
disputing this, on the grounds that although the fresh grain looks
different it tastes the same; however on kitniyot, which both look and
taste different when fresh, he agrees that one *does* say it.

Nor is what the book quotes from the MB about radishes, etc. any
chiddush of the MB.  If they'd just looked above at the Ba'er Hetev
they'd see the same thing, quoted in the name of the Perisha!  It's
a davar pashut me'od, since the Rabanan we *do* know about are the
ones in the gemara, and they said that we *do* say it on pumpkins.

BTW, what I wrote about potatoes is explicitly in the MA: the only
reason we don't say shehecheyanu on them is that they're stored
from year to year, and one can't tell the new crop from the old.
If they weren't stored, then we would say shehecheyanu.  ("New
potatoes" are not fresh potatoes from the new season, but rather
baby potatoes dug up before they have time to mature.)

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