Tu Bishvat is the beginning of the year of the trees, for purposes of counting the years of Orlah and tithes. We don’t say Tachanun. There are differing opinions as to whether to say Tachanun at Minchah on the day before Tu Bishvat. The prevailing custom is not to say it.
It’s the custom to eat more fruits from trees on the night and day of Tu Bishvat, and we should try to have those fruits for which the land of Israel is praised.
One should pray on Tu Bishvat to have a beautiful etrog (citron) on Sukkot.
ORDER OF BLESSINGS ON FOOD
One should choose to bless on the most important species of fruit that one wants to eat. The most important fruits are those that are closest to the word “land” in the verse, “A land of wheat and barley, and grapevines and figs and pomegranates; a land of oil-bearing olives, and of honey (from dates).” Since the word “land” appears twice in this verse, the order of blessings are: all types of bread, cake, wine, olives, dates, grapes, figs, pomegranates, other fruits from trees, fruits from the ground and vegetables, items upon which one blesses Shehakol, and then blessings on fragrances. After blessing on foods in the proper order, and eating at least a little bit of each food immediately after its blessing, one may eat the remainder in whatever order one wishes.
For example, if a person has cake and wine, he should first bless M’zonot on the cake and afterwards Hagefen on the wine. If one has wine and olives or dates, one should bless first on the wine, and then afterwards Ha’eitz on the fruit.
The order of blessings can be memorized by the Hebrew acronym מ'ג'ע א'ש, as follows:
מ Hamotzi or M’zonot.
ג Gefen, the blessing on wine.
ע Eitz, the blessing on fruit trees.
א Adamah, fruits that grow from the earth.
ש Shehakol, the blessing on water and other foods. It also applies to food that one is uncertain as to its proper blessing.
The rules of precedence between the blessings apply solely to foods that one wants to eat. However, if a food that has precedence is on the table, but one doesn’t want to eat it, one shouldn’t bless on it. One should bless on the food that has precedence, even if one likes the secondary food more.
PRECEDENCE TO WHEAT
The blessing of Hamotzi has precedence to the blessing of M’zonot. Both blessings have precedence to Hagefen. Therefore, on Shabbat and Yom Tov, we need to cover the bread when we make Kiddush on the wine, in order to not “embarrass” the bread, which “sees” that we blessed on the wine first. This applies to the morning as well; if one makes Kiddush and then eats M’zonot, one must cover the M’zonot during the Kiddush.
If one eats a fruit in an unusual manner, e.g., chews uncooked kernels of wheat, the fruit loses its precedence. Therefore, a whole grain of wheat, even if its blessing is Ha’adamah, doesn’t precede fruits of Ha’eitz. However, bread and cakes do precede all kinds of fruit.
PRECEDENCE OF THE SPECIAL SPECIES OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL
The Land of Israel was praised as a place where the seven species grow, therefore if one has various fruits to eat, one should bless on those that are from the seven species, because they’re more important.
Every fruit of the seven species has precedence to fruits that aren’t of the seven species, even if the fruit of the seven species isn’t one’s particular favorite, and even if it’s already been cut in half. If there’s no fruit of the seven species present, one should choose to bless first on one’s favorite fruit of Ha’eitz, and afterwards one favorite vegetable, and afterwards one’s favorite item of Shehakol.
The precedence to fruit of the seven species applies to fruits that are fully ripe only, but sour fruits that were picked before they’re ripe don’t have precedence.
PRECEDENCE WITHIN THE SEVEN SPECIES OF ISRAEL
If one has different types of fruits of the seven species, one should give precedence to the fruit that is closest to the word “land” in the following verse: “A land of wheat (bread, cake or cooked wheat — 1), and barley (barley-bread — 2), and vines (grapes — 3) and figs (4) and pomegranates (5), a land of oil-bearing olives (olives — 1) and honey (dates — 2).” However, the blessing of Hamotzi always has precedence; therefore, if one has a choice to bless on barley bread or wheat cookies, one should bless on the barley bread.
Since the word “land” is written twice in the above verse, whichever species is the closest after the word “land” has precedence. According to this, olives and dates have precedence to grapes and raisins, since olives and dates are the first and second after the second “land” whereas grapes are the third fruit mentioned after the first “land.” Therefore, the order of precedence to bless is as follows: [1] olives, [2] dates, [3] grapes or raisins, [4] figs, [5] pomegranates.
If one has a cut date and a complete fig before him, he should bless on the complete fruit, even though it’s later in the verse.
PRECEDENCE BETWEEN A COMPLETE FRUIT AND A FAVORITE FRUIT
If no fruits of the seven species are present, one should bless on a complete fruit. If there are many that are complete, one should bless on one’s favorite. Similarly, if one has many vegetables, one should choose to bless on a complete vegetable, and if there are many that are complete, one should bless on one’s favorite.
TEA AND CAKE
If one wants to eat cake and drink tea, and one’s sole intention in drinking is to wash down the cake, one blesses M’zonot only, and that covers the tea, as well. If both tea and cake are important to the person, one blesses first on the drink and then on the cake, so that it won’t appear that the drink is subordinate to the cake.