Commentary for Berakhot 103:2
וסברי בית שמאי דברכת היום עדיפא והתניא הנכנס לביתו במוצאי שבת מברך על היין ועל המאור ועל הבשמים ואחר כך אומר הבדלה ואם אין לו אלא כוס אחד מניחו לאחר המזון ומשלשלן כולן לאחריו
Do Bet Shammai, however, hold that the benediction over the day is of greater importance? Lo, there is a teaching: On entering his house at the conclusion of the Sabbath, he says the benediction over the wine, the light and the spices and after that says the Habdalah ; and should he have only one cup [of wine], he leaves it until after the meal and combines all [the benedictions] afterwards.
Tosafot on Berakhot
HE LEAVES IT FOR AFTER THE MEAL By saying that we leave the cup of wine, to be used later for reciting the birchas hamozon on the wine, we are in effect saying that you can eat a meal before reciting havdoloh. This seems to cpontradict another Gemara that relates to this issue. Here it appears that one may1From our Gemara it is evident that one may eat a complete meal before havdoloh. Tosfos uses the word לטעום, which implies a small bite or a snack. The use of this word is because the Gemara in Psochim that discusses the issue uses this word because eon the negative side, it is forbidden even to taste something, not only to eat a meal. eat before havdoloh, because we see that the Braiso says that when one only has one cup of wine, he should eat his meal and use the wine for havdoloh and birchas hamozon. It is evident that one may eat before birchas hamozon.
This is bewildering. We learned that Amaimar בת טוות (P’sochim 107a) this means that he spent the night in hunger because he had no wine upon which to recite havdoloh. It is evident that one may not eat or drink if he did not yet recite havdoloh. And one can answer: that the story of Amaimar is different than the Braiso we are presently learning. For he, Amaimar expected that he would have a cup of wine the next day. Since he expected his situation to change the next day and he would be able to fulfill the mitzvoh of havdoloh on a cup of wine, he was not allowed to eat. Or Amaimar was being stringent upon himself.
And here in our Gemara it, the situation, is different. When one comes home from Shul Saturday night and finds that he only has one cup of wine available and no reasonable expectation that the situation will change by tomorrow since he, the Tano of the Braiso holds that birchas hamozon requires a cup of wine, he must make a decision based on the situation as it is now, since it will most likely not change. Whenever he eats his meal, even if he puts it off for tomorrow, he will not have a cup of wine for the birchas hamozon. He does have wine now that can be used for havdoloh and birchas hamozon, it is therefore better to eat first so that the wine can be used for birchas hamozon and havdoloh and not to first recite havdoloh on the wine and then have no wine for birchas hamozon. And therefore, he leaves it, the wine for birchas hamozon, when he can fulfill both mitzvos over a cup of wine. Whereas in the case of Amaimar there was the expectation that the situation would improve the next day and he would have wine for havdoloh, he needs to wait for the next day and avoid eating before havdoloh. See Rosh.
This is bewildering. We learned that Amaimar בת טוות (P’sochim 107a) this means that he spent the night in hunger because he had no wine upon which to recite havdoloh. It is evident that one may not eat or drink if he did not yet recite havdoloh. And one can answer: that the story of Amaimar is different than the Braiso we are presently learning. For he, Amaimar expected that he would have a cup of wine the next day. Since he expected his situation to change the next day and he would be able to fulfill the mitzvoh of havdoloh on a cup of wine, he was not allowed to eat. Or Amaimar was being stringent upon himself.
And here in our Gemara it, the situation, is different. When one comes home from Shul Saturday night and finds that he only has one cup of wine available and no reasonable expectation that the situation will change by tomorrow since he, the Tano of the Braiso holds that birchas hamozon requires a cup of wine, he must make a decision based on the situation as it is now, since it will most likely not change. Whenever he eats his meal, even if he puts it off for tomorrow, he will not have a cup of wine for the birchas hamozon. He does have wine now that can be used for havdoloh and birchas hamozon, it is therefore better to eat first so that the wine can be used for birchas hamozon and havdoloh and not to first recite havdoloh on the wine and then have no wine for birchas hamozon. And therefore, he leaves it, the wine for birchas hamozon, when he can fulfill both mitzvos over a cup of wine. Whereas in the case of Amaimar there was the expectation that the situation would improve the next day and he would have wine for havdoloh, he needs to wait for the next day and avoid eating before havdoloh. See Rosh.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
By giving it precedence over the benediction over wine.
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Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
I.e. after the meal, over the cup of wine he says Grace, the benediction over the wine, light, spices and Habdalah, the last-named corresponding to "the benediction of the day." Consequently "the benediction of the day" comes last and not first as was stated above.
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