We are beginning siman 4. The Chayei Adam will define a makom, “place” as it applies to our halachos.
The Chayei Adam writes that leaving a room, whether going from one floor to another or even on the same floor, is considered a shinui makom. It goes without saying that going outside to the yard, or to a different house, is certainly a shinui makom. However, moving around within the same room–even if the room is very large–is considered the same makom, even if one did not intend to move from their seat originally.
We will learn in the following siman that if a person can have intent at the time of their bracha to move throughout their house and not need to make a new bracha.
The Mishnah Berurah points out that the halacha that one can move around in the same room without it being considered a shinui makom applies even if one cannot see their original makom within the room, such as if the room bends or there is a column blocking their view.
The Biur Halacha discusses at length the possibility that moving from room to room within a house is not a shinui makom. Contemporary poskim assume that since the standard practice is for a person to move from room to room while eating, the assumed intent of a person is to have had in mind at the time of their bracha to allow themselves to move from room to room. Since this is the standard practice, even if a person does not explicitly have this intent in mind at the time of the bracha, there is stam daas (inclusion by default) to have had such intent. To explain this, Rav Wosner zt”l writes that in the days of Chazal, people had a shamash that took care of other things throughout the house, so it was unexpected to move to a different room when eating. Nowadays, where we do not have such assistance, it is expected and common for one to move from room to room when eating. Therefore, we assume that moving from room to room was included in one’s intent when making a bracha, and it is not considered a shinui makom to do so.
Summary
- Moving from room to room within a house is not considered a shinui makom, even if they cannot see the original place where they made the bracha. However, going outside will be considered a shinui makom.
