Notching Up Our Brachos

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

During the period of shovevim tat, and of Tu B’shvat, it might be appropriate to go back to basics . Reciting brachos properly and with the correct intent are certainly “the basics.” Yet, it is amazing what these “basics” can accomplish. Some of us learned these fundamentals in school or Yeshiva. Others did not get the opportunity. Either way, it is worthwhile to review these halachos and ideas and start notching up the manner in which we make brachos.

WHY WE MAKE BRACHOS

There are five essential reasons why we recite brachos:

To thank Hashem for the particular item or opportunity. Benefitting from something without thanking Hashem for it is akin to stealing according to the Gemorah.
To change ourselves to become someone who has hakaras hatov – to recognize what has been given us.
To bring Hashem into our lives on a regular basis.
To connect to Hashem – and allow for Dveikus to Him.
Our sages enacted that we make these blessings and it is a Torah Mitzvah to follow what the sages have taught and enacted.

THE DVEIKUS

What follows is an understanding of Dveikus based upon the thoughts of Rav Nosson Wachtfogel zt”l. Each person possesses vast storehouses and wellsprings of various forms of wisdom, qualities, and pursuits. The Holy One does not skimp upon these at all. He provides them to us – bountifully. There are, however, blockages that must first be removed in order to access them .

The ability to achieve Dveikus is contained deep within the soul of man, like all other qualities such as wisdom and other pursuits. Dveikus is a sense – similar to that of seeing and hearing. It is part of the nature of man – it is just that the blockages to achieving it must first be removed .

The essence of our service in this world is to remove the blockages. We must develop and actualize this internal ability within us. We must take these storehouses and wellsprings of goodness from potential to reality .

One key to actualizing this inherent ability of Dveikus is through honoring our ability and obligation of Brachos.

Most people erroneously believe that brachos are merely the recitation of words. In the best of situations, some people perceive prayer as the presentation of our requests to Hashem. The truth is that both are incorrect, and prayer represents something that is vastly different in its entire essence.

In Shulchan Aruch in OC 98:1, the Shulchan Aruch provides us with an entire process regarding Tefillah, but they apply for Brachos as well: The steps are:

To focus in his heart upon the meaning of the words that he expresses
To picture the Shechina present before him
To remove all other thoughts until his thoughts and intent are pure in his prayer
To think as if he were standing before a king of flesh and blood how much more so, before the King of kings who knows our innermost thoughts
This is what the righteous and men of action would do – they would divest themselves of the physical and embrace the spiritual/intellectual power to the point where the would reach the level of prophecy

The more we deal with the King – the closer we become to Him. This is true with all forms of communication. The back and forth brings hearts together.

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WHEN WE MAKE BRACHOS

Before and after we eat or drink
Before other types of benefits, such as smelling a good spice
Before we perform a Mitzvah
On certain special occasions and times (such as Yomim Tovim).

WHAT BRACHOS ARE RECITED UPON

Brachos HaNehenin – blessings recited before benefiting such as on a slice of pizza
Birkas HaMitzvos – blessings recited before performing a Mitzvah such as lulav, Shabbos candles, Talis, and Tefillin
Brachos HaShevach – Blessings that are praises to Hashem such as on thunder or bentching Gomel after a flight to Eretz Yisroel

THE ELEMENTS OF A BRACHA

Shaim – The Name of Hashem – most have two, but even if one just said one Name – it is sufficient
Malchus – mentioning that He is King or Master of the world. The word melech is not enough. Malchus must have melech haOlam.
The “signon” of the bracha such as the word “Boruch” and in some blessings – the words “asher kid’shanu b’mitzvosav – who has sanctified us with His Mitzvos.”
The subject matter of the bracha – such as Hamotzi lechem min haAretz

The requirements of Shaim uMalchus are discussed in the Gemorah Brachos (40b). If one left out the word “Attah” it is still a valid bracha. However, if one left out the words, “asher kid’shanu b’mitzvosav” in those brachos that have them – then one must repeat the bracha (Ruling of Rav Shteinman cited in Shalmei Todah p. 251). There is a concept of sharing some of the elements of the bracha too. If a bracha is next to another one, it can share the first three elements.

THE TWO TYPES OF BRACHOS

Short brachos. When reciting a short bracha one may not interrupt to respond to an amain or boruch hu uVaruch sh’mo.
Long brachos – They are found in bentching and in Shmoneh Esreh. Only long brachos can share the first three lements.

WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH REGARDING BRACHOS

One should muster as much kavana – intent as possible. The more intent one has, the greater connection to Hashem one develops and the greater the effects the bracha has upon the individual.
One should not be doing something else simultaneously
One should try to recite it aloud to must up more kavana
One’s mouth should be empty when reciting a blessing – so that it could be filled with praise to Hashem.

IMPROPER BRACHOS

When a bracha is recited for no purpose it is called a bracha levatala.
When a bracha is recited in a manner that it would have been covered by another bracha anyway, this is called a bracha she’aina tzricha.

REPAIRING A BRACHA LEVATALAH

If one has finishes the bracha levatala one says “Boruch Shaim Kvod Malchuso l’olam vo’ed.” (See Panim M’eiros Vol. III #9 that it actually repairs the bracha levatala.)
If one just said, Boruch Attah Hashem, then just say the pasuk in Tehillim (119:12) “Boruch atta Hashem lamdeini chukecha.” (SA 206:6)
If one said the first three syllables of Hashem’s Name “El-o-kai” then one says “Elokai yisroel min ha’olam v’ad ha’olam” (see Chayei Odom 8:1). One should still, however, say, the words, “Boruch shaim kvod” because this verse is still in the middle of a posuk and one did not say the words in the pasuk that preceded it.

IDEAL METHOD OF RECITING BRACHOS

Ideally, a bracha should be recited aloud since it awakens one’s intent (MB 185:3).
Ideally, when the bracha is recited one’s mouth should be empty, as the pasuk in Tehillim (78:8) states, “My mouth should be filled with your praise.” (MB 172:7)
If one needs to yawn, one should wait until after the yawn to recite the bracha.

DOUBTS IN BRACHOS

If a person is unsure whether he or she recited the bracha then one does not recite it again. This is because of the principle of Safaik Brachos l’hakail – when there is a doubt in blessings we are lenient. The principle does not necessarily apply to
- Benching – when satiated
- Al HaMichya – when satiated
- Birchas HaTorah

AMAIN AND BORUCH HU UVARUCH SHMO

When hearing someone else say Hashem’s Name in a bracha, and the bracha is not being recited for you to be yotzeh – recite Boruch hu uvaruch sh’mo (SA 124:5).
After the other person has recited the bracha one must always answer Amain. Amain means “It is true.” At times, it could mean, “may it be true soon” – such as in Kaddish or in some of the blessings of Shmoneh Esreh.
One does not recite Amain to one’s own blessing.
The Talmud tells us (Shabbos 119b) that “whomsoever recites amain with all his concentration – the gates of heaven are opened to him.”

DEFECTIVE AMAINS

One should know what blessing that one is answering amain to. This is called an amain yesoma – an orphaned amain.
One should answer with an amain immediately – that is within toch k’dai dibbur (3 seconds). This is called an amain yesoma – an orphaned amain.
One must pronounce the amain properly – the first syllable should be noticeable and not be “main.” It should also not be pronounced with a shva under the first syllable. One should also not say Amai.” This is called an Amain chatufa – a stolen or snatched amain.
One should also not say the amain prematurely – before the person reciting the bracha had finished his bracha. This too is called a stolen or snatched amain.

WHICH ORDER DO WE MAKE THE BRACHA ON?

The question is, when one has a platter of the seven fruits of Eretz Yisroel in front of him – which of them do we recite the blessing upon first?

There is a pasuk in parshas Aikev (Dvarim 8:8) that praises Eretz Yisroel for its seven species.

“A land of wheat and barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land of olives that produce oil and honey [of dates].”

These are the seven products of which the land of Eretz Yisroel is praised, and because of that – these seven products have a special and elevated status. They are also enumerated in a special, yet somewhat complicated, order.

THE COMPLICATED ORDER

The Gemorah tells us that the word “land” or Eretz, resets the order – so to speak, in terms of which one of the seven we recite the blessing upon first. So let’s look at this pasuk as having part A and part B.

Part A would be: “A land of wheat and barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates;”

Part B would be: “a land of olives that produce oil and honey [of dates].”

Now let’s number them:

“A land of wheat and barley (A1a, A1b), grapes (A3), figs (A4) and pomegranates (A5);”

“a land of olives (B1) that produce oil and honey [of dates] (B2).”

Based upon the idea that the word “Eretz” resets the count, but that Part A has precedence over Part B of the pasuk – the order of the brachos of the 7 products of Eretz Yisroel would be:

A1a, A1b, B1, B2, A3, A4, A5

A1a and A1b – wheat and barley, are, according to most Poskim, both part of A1 and wheat has precedence to barley because it is more important. As far as the other grains are concerned, Spelt is like wheat only spelt differently, and oats and rye are like barley.

The order of the seven products of Eretz Yisroel would thus be as follows: Wheat, barley, olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

FURTHER NOTES

The underlying factor here is the concept of giving a blessing its due honor. On account of this idea, it should also be noted that if there is an array of any fruits, the bracha is recited upon the whole one first – regardless of whether it is of the seven minim. If you like one of the non-seven fruits better, then that one gets precedence too. The fact that it is of the seven fruits is only the third factor – it comes after shalaim (whole) and chaviv (better liked). A fourth factor (when dealing with HaAitz and HaAdama foods) is the size of the slices. It is more kavod to the bracha to recite it on a larger slice, all of the other factors considered.

CONCLUSION

It is hoped that this short review of the basics will help us connect better to Hashem.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

* Only 6500 dollars left to raise! There is a Yesoma who, boruch Hashem, just got engaged. If anyone would like to assist in making her chasuna please donate here or contact the author.*