19 Jan WHO IS FIRST, WHAT IS SECOND, SO WE KNOW THIRD?
The Posuk in Shmos 12:17 says one should guard their matzos. Rashi quotes a Mechilta that says don’t read the word “matzos,” but rather read the word “mitzvos.” The same way we make sure that our matza does not become chametz, so too, a person has to make sure to do a mitzva right away. Rashi adds from Yuma 33a and Megilla 6b that from here we also learn the concept of “ein mavirin al hamitzvos.”
In Orach Chaim 25:1 it says that the mitzva of tallis comes before tefillin. A person has to wrap himself first in his tallis and then put on his tefillin. We see in Orach Chaim 25:5 that tefillin shel yad is put on before tefillin shel rosh.
In Orach Chaim 25:1 it says that if someone took his tefillin first before his tallis, he should put on the tefillin first and only afterward put on his tallis because of the din of “ein mavirin al hamitzvos.”
In Orach Chaim 25:6 it says that if one picked up the tefillin shel rosh before the tefillin shel yad, he should put down the shel rosh and first put on the shel yad. The reason for this is that the Torah uses the word “Vehayu” in plural form regarding the shel rosh so it has to be preceded by the shel yad, so they are both on the person.
The Sefer Over Orach written by the Aderet asks the following question about someone who has both his tallis and tefillin in front of him. If he picks up his tefillin shel rosh first, what should he do? He can’t put on his tallis first since he is going to be maavir on the mitzva of tefillin. He can’t put on tefillin shel rosh first because he needs to put on the shel yad first. He can’t put on the shel yad first because the tallis should come first and he did not pick up the shel yad yet, so there is no reason to put on the shel yad before the tallis as there is no issue of mavirin al hamitzvos.
We can ask a similar question regarding birchas hanehenin. Imagine someone has an apple, carrot and a pomegranate before him. He likes the apple the most. His next preference is the carrot, and he likes the pomegranate the least. If he makes a brocha on the pomegranate first it would be a problem because the carrot, which is ho’adama, should come first since it is more preferable to him. If he would make the brocha on the carrot first it would be problematic since he likes the apple even more. If he would make a brocha on the apple, it would seem problematic since he would need to make a brocha on the pomegranate before since it is from the zayin minim. The halacha states that if the food is the same brocha as another, then the zayin minim come first regardless of which fruit he likes better. This would go round robbin, not knowing what to do.
The Over Orach says that we can differentiate between the case of tallis and tefillin and the case of the brochos. In the case of brochos, each one has a chashivus over the other fruit or vegetable. Each one has a chashivus which would cause you to say the brocha on that particular item first. In the case of tefillin, the reason one puts on shel yad before shel rosh is not because the shel yad is more chasuv, but to the contrary, the shel rosh is more chashuv. There is just a special halacha regarding tefillin shel rosh that you need “vehoyu” that both shel yad and shel rosh should be on at the same time while the shel rosh is on the head. We therefore can’t compare the tefillin shel rosh discussion to other cases. A person who holds the shel rosh in his hand may not put on the shel rosh without the shel yad first and he may not put on the shel yad since he is not holding it. The tallis would come first, then the shel yad, and finally the shel rosh.
The question regarding the fruit remains inconclusive. The first brocha said would depend upon whether you hold that the chaviv takes precedence before the zayin minim.
May we be zocheh to make the right brocha at the right time and in the right order!