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After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona): Time Limits: Falling Asleep for less than 30 Minutes
If you slept less than 30 minutes, you do not need to wash; you may:
  • Continue eating your meal, or
  • Say birkat ha'mazon (as long as you had already eaten at least 1.9 fl. oz., or 56 ml, of bread within 4 minutes).
After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona): Time Limits: Falling Asleep for more than 30 Minutes
If you fell asleep for more than 30 minutes in the middle of a meal:
Step 1: Wash your hands the Three-Times Method to remove the tum'a of your sleep.
Step 2a: To Continue Eating
To continue eating in this case, since the previous blessings and food are no longer relevant (due to hesech da'at), you may:
  • Wash again and say ha'motzi again, and then say birkat ha'mazon, OR 
  • Eat other items with a fore-blessing and after-blessing (since your previous eating is finished).
Step 2b: If You Are Finished Eating
  • Say birkat ha'mazon if you are:
    • Finished eating, and
    • Not hungry again, after having been satiated at the meal.
  • Do not say birkat ha'mazon if you are
    • Finished eating, and
    • Hungry again (after having been satiated at the meal), as the original snack or meal is irrelevant to any after-blessing now.
After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona): Hunger Situations
Situation
You were hungry.
You ate and were satiated.
You are not yet hungry again.
What To Do
You may say bracha achrona without any time limit, until you get hungry again
Situation
You were hungry.
You ate but were not satiated.
You are still hungry.
What To Do
You may say bracha achrona for up to 72 minutes after having stopped eating.
Situation
You were not hungry, but you ate.
What To Do
  • If you ate enough that you became satiated and now you are hungry again:
You can say after-blessing for up to 72 minutes after you finished eating.
  • If you ate enough to be satiated and are not yet hungry again:
You may say an after-blessing for up to 72 minutes OR until you are hungry again, whichever comes later.
  • If you ate but did not become satiated and are still hungry:
You can say after-blessing for 72 minutes after you finished eating.
After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona): Satiation Status
After eating or drinking the required amounts, you may say bracha achrona (including birkat ha'mazon) as long as:
  • You are still satiated after having been hungry and eaten, OR
  • You were not satiated after eating and it is less than 72 minutes since you finished eating.
Reason We say the effects of food last for at least 72 minutes and that 72-minute period overrides becoming hungry again even after having been satiated.
Fore-Blessing (Bracha Rishona) over Cholent
Cholent blessing (if the cholent is not eaten as part of a meal) follows the most important ingredient and is somewhat subjective to the eater.  
  • German cholent —A variety of wheat is primary; say borei minei mezonot. 
  • Hungarian cholent—Barley is primary; say borei minei mezonot.
  • Polish cholent —Beans are primary; say borei pri ha'adama.
  • Russian cholent —Potatoes are primary; say borei pri ha'adama.
  • If meat is most important, say she'hakol.     
Note You may need to say more than one blessing (bracha rishona) if there is no one preeminently important ingredient in a mixture of food types in one utensil, such as a casserole or cholent,  but only if:
  • You especially like more than one ingredient, and
  • Both (or more than two) of the ingredients can be eaten distinctly. 
Fore-Blessings (Bracha Rishona): Food Mixtures: Main Ingredient
  1. Say the fore-blessing (bracha rishona) over the main or most important ingredient in a mixture of foods from various food-blessing categories.
  2. The blessing on the main food covers all other ingredients in the mixture.
Examples Fore-Blessing over Turkey with Cranberry Sauce
To eat turkey with cranberry sauce, saying the fore-blessing she'hakol on the more-important food (turkey) covers the less-important food (cranberry sauce). Even if you eat some of the sauce after the turkey is finished, you do not say a new blessing on the sauce.
Note If you eat cranberry sauce by itself and not with turkey, say:
  • Borei pri ha'eitz if it contains identifiable pieces of (or entire) cranberries.
  • She'hakol if the cranberry sauce has no identifiable pieces.
Fore-Blessing (Bracha Rishona): Liquid from Food
When you have said a fore-blessing on one type of food, such as borei pri ha'adama on vegetables, you do not need to say she'hakol on the liquid that remains after having eaten the solid vegetables.
Reason The fore-blessing covers all components, even if they are not the same classification.
Note If you ate the vegetables, said the after-blessing, and then later came back and drank the liquid, you would need to say she'hakol.
Fore-Blessing (Bracha Rishona): Changing Location
The fore-blessing (bracha rishona) must be said where you eat.  However, sometimes you may begin eating in one domain and continue eating in another domain. A domain may be any physically limited area (car, house, restaurant, office building) or the outdoors (highway, park, etc.). Once you left the first place, you are considered to have had an interruption of thought (hesech da'at) and are no longer eating that original snack or meal. 
Whether you say a new fore-blessing depends on your intention when you said the fore-blessing:
  • Do not say a new fore-blessing if you had intended to go to the second place, as long as the food at the second place is in the same food categories as what you already blessed on at the first place.
  • Say a new fore-blessing if you had not intended to continue eating in the second domain, even if you had planned to return to that first place and continue eating.
    Exception You do not need to make a new fore-blessing if:
    • You return to the first place and even one person who was eating with you is still there, OR
    • You had eaten bread or mezonot and then left but had not said the after-blessings of birkat ha'mazon or al ha'michya, even if no one is left from before.
      Reason Since you are required to say birkat ha'mazon or al ha'michya, you are still considered to be continuing your meal.
      Note As long as you are under the same roof, do not say new blessings on food at the new place (such as when switching seats or even rooms in a restaurant).
      Exception Even if you washed your hands and said ha'motzi at the first place, say a new blessing on food that would have required a new blessing at the first place, such as new wine or any dessert other than mezonot.

Fore-Blessing (Bracha Rishona) When Drinking To Prevent Thirst
Do not say a blessing on water that you drink before you are thirsty in order to prevent thirst later.
Fore-Blessings (Bracha Rishona): HaMotzi and Desserts
For details on HaMotzi and desserts, see Which Foods HaMotzi Covers.
Fore-Blessings (Bracha Rishona): Which Level To Say
In general, say the highest-level fore-blessing (bracha rishona) on a food.
Note As some foods get processed by cooking or by other means, they qualify for a higher-level blessing.
Examples
  • Raw, rolled oats only merit the fore-blessing of she'hakol. But once the oats are cooked, the blessing of borei minei mezonot applies. 
    Note Raw oats could get the fore-blessing borei pri ha'adama, since they grow directly in the earth.  But because oats are not normally considered edible when raw, they get demoted to she'hakol. 
  • A raw grape or raisin gets the blessing of borei pri ha'eitz.  But once made into wine or grape juice, it merits borei pri ha'gafen.
Fore-Blessings (Bracha Rishona): Priorities
You must say the blessing which was designed to be said on each type of food. B'diavad, a lower level blessing will still cover the food.
From lowest to highest level, here are the food fore-blessings:
  • She'hakol,
  • Borei pri ha'adama,
  • Borei pri ha'eitz (on common fruits),
  • Borei pri ha'eitz (on the Five Special Fruits)
Note You will only say borei pri ha'eitz ONCE to include both common fruits and also special fruits that you will eat at one sitting,
  • Borei minei mezonot,
  • Borei pri ha'gafen, and
  • Ha'motzi lechem min ha'aretz.

Amida Errors: Tein Bracha/Tein Tal U'Matar L'Vracha
Outside of Eretz Yisrael, begin saying Tein tal u'matar l'vracha at ma'ariv of Dec. 4. In a secular leap year, begin saying it at ma'ariv of Dec. 5 (but there might be rare exceptions!).

Where: Amida 9th paragraph
Error:  Said tein bracha or tein tal u'matar l'vracha in the incorrect season
Situation Did Not Finish Paragraph
What to Do You must return to beginning of paragraph (bareich aleinu).

Situation Already Finished that Paragraph
What to Do
  • If you said tein bracha in the wrong season, you may add tein tal u'matar l'vracha  in shema koleinu, just before ki ata shomei'a...
  • If you said tein tal u'matar l'vracha in the wrong season, you must return to the top of the paragraph.
Situation Already Finished Shema Koleinu
What to Do If you did not correct your mistake in shema koleinu, you must return to the beginning of bareich aleinu.

Situation Already Finished Amida (such as you are ready to take 3 steps backward when you realize your error.)
What to Do You must repeat the entire amida.
Note If you said tein tal u'matar l'vracha in the wrong season but you are in a place that needs rain, you do not need to correct yourself or repeat that blessing. 
 
Incomplete After-Blessings (Bracha Achrona)
You must repeat the after-blessing for mezonot, wine/grape juice, or any of the Five Special Fruits if you ate items from more than one of those categories, said the after-blessing for just one of them, and forgot the other. 
Example
Situation You ate mezonot and some figs, said al ha'michya, and forgot to add the words for al ha'eitz.
What To Do You must say the after-blessing al ha'eitz.
Incorrect Fore-Blessing (Bracha Rishona) If Food Is/Is Not before You
Situation You say the incorrect blessing over food in front of you but you also have a food in front of you that does fit the blessing.
What To Do You may eat the food covered by your actual blessing, and then say the correct blessing for the food you originally intended to eat.
Note You may not go into a different room to find food that qualifies for the incorrect food blessing. You should instead say Baruch shem kevod malchuto l'olam va'ed as soon as possible.
Note There is no specific time limit beyond which you may no longer say Baruch shem kevod malchuto l'olam va'ed.