In regular havdala one uses 3 objects, wine,spices & candle.when holding spices & candle one derives immediate benefit after reciting beracha. But with wine no benefit until completion of havdala.....why ??
I"m fully aware of orach chaim re. Looking at wine being "good for the eyes". In a sephardi shool in london, the chazzan would look at the wine whilst reciting "borei p"ree hagofen" perhaps being symbolically deriving benefit from the wine.
Awaiting your comments.
Stuart Plaskow, Netanya, Israel
Dear Stuart,
(a) There are many Mitzvos - most of them involve reciting something - that we enhance by perfoming them over a cup of wine. Examples are: reciting the Berochah of Eirusin under the Chupah, reciting Sheva Berachos, Kidush, Birkas ha'Mazon, the naming of a child at the Bris Milah, and the reciting of the Berochah at a Pidyon haBen. Havdalah is another such Mitzvah. In each of these cases it is the recitation that is the essential Mitzvah; saying it over a cup of wine is just an embellishment to the Mitzvah, albeit a required embellishment.
We see this clearly in the case of Kidush. There is a discussion in the Poskim as to whether a man, who davened Ma'ariv Friday night, can recite Kidush at home for his wife who did not daven. The issue is that the man may have already fulfilled his obligation of reciting Kidush when he davened Shemoneh Esreh because he said "Baruch Atah Hash-m Mekadesh ha'Shabbos", therefore his obligation to recite Kidush at home is only d'Rabanan whereas his wife's obligation is mid'Oraisa. We see here that the Ikar Mitzvah is just the Berachah of Mekadesh ha'Shabbos; saying it over a cup of wine is just a d'Rabanan embellishment.
(b) Now, what does it mean to do a Mitzvah "over a cup of wine"? It means to hold a cup of wine, recite the Berachah of Borei Pri ha'Gefen, perform the Mitzvah, and then drink from the wine. The performance of the Mitzvah is not considered a Hefsek between the Berachah on the wine and the drinking of the wine; the Mitzvah is considered part of the act of drinking a cup of wine. That is what enhances the Mitzvah.
Applying this to Havdalah we would say that the Mitzvah of Havdalah is Besamim, Ner, and the Berachah of Havdalah. All of that should be done over a cup of wine. There is no surprise, then, that we derive benefit from the Besamim and the Ner immediately whereas we wait till the end of the Havdalah to sip the wine.
Hope this was helpful.
Berachah v'Hatzlachah,
Yonasan Sigler
This is not a Psak Halachah