[Avodah] Haetz and Shehecheyanu

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Zev Sero wrote:

> But we're *not* putting Shehecheyanu first to avoid a hefsek,
> we're putting it first because that's where it belongs.

You're not answering my question; you're merely restating it. You say
that in this particular case, the Shehecheyanu "belongs" in the first
position. I want to know why this situation is different. Why does the
Shehecheyanu belong first by fruit, but it belongs in the middle in
every other case?

Someone wrote me offlist:

> The shehechiyanu on fruit is for seeing them. We have some
> weird minhag not to make it until eating. Which is okay,
> because it's a reshus, not a chovah, anyway.
> But, it also means there is no hefseiq after the shehechianu,
> as you saw the fruit already.

Not really such a "weird minhag". Mechaber 225:3 seems to consider it
the *standard* minhag. And Mishna Brurah 225:11 explains how that came
about:

"Because if someone's heart doesn't rejoice at seeing it (the new
fruit), but only when he eats it, then l'kulei alma he should say the
bracha only upon eating it. So that became the minhag always, because
of Lo Plug."

Akiva Miller