Q. I ate a blueberry muffin yesterday and today my wife brought back a package of fresh blueberries from the grocery store. They were imported from Argentina.
Do I make a bracha of 'shehechiyanu' on the fresh berries I will be eating today (I have not eaten fresh blueberries for at least a couple of years), or does the fact that I ate blueberries in a muffin yesterday make me not eligible to say 'shehechiyanu' today?
Take care and have a good Shabbos.
A. On question 1609 regarding reciting shehecheyanu on new fruits on Tu Bishvat, we wrote: 'Some maintain that it is proper to consume a new fruit that you can recite shehecheyanu over it on Tu Bishvat. (Beis Aharon, quoted by Nitei Gavriel (Purim 5: n. 9, et. al.). Others assert that one should avoid reciting sheheyanu today on “new”¯ fruits, since they are usually available all year, and there is no special simcha or joy when eating them. There are additional issues as to if the brocho should be said when first seeing the fruit at purchase time, becoming exempt latter.
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that one should recite sheheyanu only if one actually likes the fruit and derives pleasure from eating it."
On question 1742 we wrote: "Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that since in developed countries, for the right price you can usually buy stored fruits in controlled atmosphere (nitrogen) and cold storage that look and taste fresh year round or imports at supermarkets all over. Therefore, there is no real inherent great simcha and joy when they appear in stores on their collection season."
Adding to the above that in your case you ate blueberries in a muffin the day before, the Rov recommends not to recite shehecheyanu.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller and Horav Aharon Miller Shlit'a
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