JERUSALEM (JTA) — A decider of Jewish law for the national religious community said ahead of Tu b’Shvat that the proper blessing for chocolate is the one for fruits.
The blessing, thanking “the Creator of the fruit of the tree,” should be used because chocolate is produced from cocoa beans that grow on trees, Rabbi Dov Lior said during a class he teaches at the Beit Orot yeshiva in Jerusalem, the Hebrew-language Srugim news website reported Sunday.
The blessing is still appropriate as long as some characteristics of the original fruit remain. Dark chocolate retains the original color of the cocoa bean.
On Tu b’Shvat, it is traditional to consume fruit, particularly dried fruit. The New Year for Trees, as it is known, is being observed Monday.
