Dear Rabbi.
Q. On Tu Bishvat when should one eat the fruits, at the beginning of the seuda or at the end?
If there is a new fruit that requires shecheyanu, should one eat it before the rest, even if it is not from the shivaas haminim?
A. Poskim mention to eat them at the end of the seuda (Ohr Zarua 2: 21, Darchei Moshe O.H. 149: 4, Magen Avrohom, Biur Halacha ibid. Nitei Gavriel – Purim 9: 2) so they are included in Birchas Hamazon (Tosafos Brochos 41b) and to avoid spoiling the appetite for the Shabbos meal.
However Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that if one has young children and is concerned that they will not be awake at the end of the seuda, he may eat them after hamotzi.
The Rov also mentioned that the order of the shivas haminim preempts the fruit on which we recite shecheyanu. He also advised not to recite shecheyanu, unless you actually like the fruit and derive pleasure from eating it.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a
Important Numbers
