פירוש על ברכות 9:3

בנה בית חדש וקנה כלים חדשים – whether he had it or something similar to it or he didn’t have something similar to them, he would recite the blessing “שהחיינו/who has sustained us.”

One who has built a new house or bought new vessels says, “Blessed be He who has kept us alive [and preserved us and brought us to this season.]”
One who blesses over the evil as he blesses over the good or over the good as he blesses over evil; one who cries over the past, behold this is a vain prayer.
How so? If his wife was pregnant and he says, “May it be his will that my wife bear a male child,” this is a vain prayer.
If he is coming home from a journey and he hears a cry of distress in the town and says, “May it be his will that this is not be those of my house,” this is a vain prayer.
Section one: This is the familiar blessing “shehecheyanu” which we recite upon eating new foods, receiving new things, at the beginning of holidays and at certain other events.
Section two: This is a difficult clause to explain. Albeck explains that this refers to one who tries to bless over something bad the blessing that he should say for the good, “Blessed be He that is good and grants good.” What he is trying to do is be hopeful that from something bad will come something good. Alternatively, he blesses the blessing for the bad, “Blessed be the true judge” because he fears that something bad will come from the good. These are both vain prayers because after the event has already happened it cannot be changed. Thus these are both specific cases of one who is crying over the past. Prayers are legitimate only if they are recited in anticipation of an event that has not yet occurred. The Rambam explains that this mishnah mandates reciting the blessing over the good for something that is now good even if it might eventually be bad. Similarly, one must recite the blessing over bad for something that is now bad even though it might eventually be good. As in Albeck’s explanation, the focus is on the present and not something that might change in the future.
Sections three and four: These are both examples of “crying over the past.” Once the child’s sex has been determined it cannot change. There is no use in crying out to God in hope that the house that is under distress is not one’s house because whatever house it is has already been determined. Once something has already happened one must be reconciled with one’s fate.

על הרעה מעין הטובה – It is explained in the Gemara (Tractate Berakhot 59b) such as the case where water floated on his land and flooded his grain for that year, even though the waters saturated the face of the earth but his field became even more praiseworthy for the coming years. Now, however, it is bad, and he recites the blessing, “[Praised Are You, O LORD] the Righteous Judge.”

ועל הטובה מעין רעךה – Such as the case where he found something [good] even though it is bad, for had he heard about it, the king would have punished him with whippings and sufferings and take it from him. Now, however, it is a “good thing, and he should recite the blessing, “הטוב והמטיב/Who is Good and Does Good.”

הצועק לשעבר – A person prays about something that already had occurred, this is a vain prayer, for what has occurred, has occurred.