Berakhot 147

1:
In the Talmud all of the mishnayot in this chapter are quoted as one long mishnah.

2:
The general topic of this last chapter of the Tractate concerns the duty to recite berakhot that are unconnected with any religious ceremony or duty. Berakhot may be roughly divided into three categories:

1. Berakhot recited before performing certain mitzvot (such as performing a circumcision or redeeming a first-born son) or sounding the Shofar on Rosh ha-Shanah.
2. Berakhot recited before enjoying any of the good or beneficial things that this world contains. We have discussed this matter in great detail in previous chapters of this Tractate. The berakhot to be recited when eating fruit or vegetables are a good example of this kind of berakhah.
3. Berakhot whose purpose is to give utterance to elation, awe, and all the other emotions that might come upon one in relation to God.

A berakhah in the first category is called birkhat ha-mitzvot in Hebrew; berakhot in the second category are referred to as birkhot ha-nehenin; the berakhot in the third category are called birkhot ha-hodayah – and they are the subject of this chapter. Birkhot ha-hodayah means "blessings recited in gratitude" – though that must be understood as covering a wider canvas that gratitude pure and simple, as I have already hinted.

To be continued.

In Berakhot 146, in response to a query, I wrote: There is no Kedushah [ritual sanctity] attaching to Yahrzeit candles. Their sanctity is in the memory of the soul that they represent to us.

Mordecai Miller sends the following, which needs no comment from me:

I read, in a chumash which included some wonderful folksy homilies in Yiddish, an interesting explanation of the significance of the Yahrzeit candle. The author made the initial point "Ner haShem Nishmat adam" [Proverbs 20:27 – "the human soul is the divine candle" – SR] and that a [deceased] person's soul craved light. The reason for the Shiv'ah candle was that the soul remains in the home for the seven days of shiv'ah and so needed the light of the shiv'ah candle during the darkness. Likewise, since the soul returned once a year at the Yahrzeit, the idea of the Yahrzeit candle was to provide "light" for the neshamah of the deceased.

Also in Berakhot 146 I wrote concerning the response "Amen". Ze'ev Orzech writes:

May I ask a question that is only marginally connected to the mishnah? When do we respond with "amen," say during shaharit? I thought only when we listen to the hazarat hashatz [cantor's repetition of the Amidah], and not when we davven ourselves. And yet we respond to the birkot hashahar, and "ga'al yisrael" is said silently so as not to lead people to interrupt by saying "amen."

I respond:

We should respond Amen to any berakhah that we hear another Jew reciting. Indeed, in order to enable us to do so it is halakhically preferable that we recite all our berakhot out loud and not mumble them to ourselves or whisper them so that we barely hear them ourselves! I have already pointed out that the meaning of "Amen" is something like "I wish to be associated with what you just said" or "I wish I had said that" or "That goes for me too!" This being the case, it is obvious that it is quite inappropriate for us to recite Amen to our own berakhah. Indeed, the Tur [Rabbi Asher ben-Yeĥi'el] states [Oraĥ Ĥayyim 61] that to do so is to be in error. He does make one exception: whenever one has recited a series of berakhot one may conclude them with "Amen" as a kind of seal on the series. This is also approved in the Shulĥan Arukh of Rabbi Yosef Karo: in Oraĥ Ĥayyim 128:1 he mentions that we all add Amen after the berakhah Boneh be-raĥamav Yerushalayim in the Grace after Meals – because it is the last of the berakhot of that part of Birkat ha-Mazon that is de-oraita [from the Torah]. This is the only exception that is accepted Ashkenazi practice; Sefardi Jews add a couple more possibilities.

Ze'ev mentioned the last berakhah of the Shema before the Shaĥarit Amidah, Ga'al Yisra'el. He mentions the habit that many prayer-leaders have of not uttering the last words of the berakhah out loud – so that the congregation will not respond Amen to this berakhah. First of all such behaviour is completely unacceptable – however widespread the error may be! The cantor must recite the whole of the berakhah out loud. (The Tur [Oraĥ Ĥayyim 66] even says that an individual may answer Amen here to his own berakhah – for the reasons we have already given. And in Oraĥ Ĥayyim 111 he even says it is "a mitzvah" to respond to this berakhah!) The Shulĥan Arukh [Oraĥ Ĥayyim 66:7-8] disagrees, and says that one should not answer Amen to this berakhah so as not to interrupt between the Berakhah and the Amidah which should immediately follow – and this is accepted practice.

I think the reason why the erroneous habit of not finishing off this berakhah has been adopted by so many prayer-leaders is because of a misunderstanding. Some poskim [decisors] have recommended that the cantor end off this berakhah less loudly, so that this change will serve as a reminder to the congregation not to interrupt here before commencing the Amidah. But 'less loudly' is a far cry from 'inaudibly'!

I have also heard prayer-leaders not singing the last words before other Amidot (such as an inaudible end to the Kaddish before Musaf); this is utterly untenable according to all decisors.