Chapter 6 : Chapter 6 Laws Relating to Berachos, the Response of Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo and Amein

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§1

Before reciting a berachah you must be sure which berachah you are required to recite, so that when you mention Hashem's Name which is the principle part of the berachah, you will know how to conclude the berachah. It is forbidden to do anything else while reciting a berachah. Do not recite the berachah hurriedly but think of the meaning of the words. The Sefer Chassidim states: "When you wash your hands or recite the berachah on fruit or on the performance of a mitzvah,—berachos which everybody knows— you should direct your attention to recite them in the Name of your Creator Whose goodness is bountiful, Who granted you the fruit or bread for your pleasure, or commanded you to perform the mitzvah. You should not recite the berachah automatically, out of habit, spouting words from your mouth without thinking of their meaning. On account of such practice Hashem's anger was kindled, and He sent us word through the prophet, Isaiah, saying: "Because this people approaches [Me] [only] with their mouths and honor Me [only] with their lips and their heart is distant from Me and their reverence for Me is merely perfunctory."¹Isaiah 29:13. The Holy One Blessed is He said to Isaiah, See how the deeds of My children are merely external and they adhere to them [only] as a person adheres to and practices a custom of his forbearers; they enter My house and pray to Me the designated prayers merely as a custom of their fathers but not with their whole hearts. They wash their hands, and recite the berachah over the washing and then break bread and recite the hamotzi, they drink and recite the berachah out of habit. When they recite the berachos they have no real intention of praising Me. Therefore, His anger was fierce and He swore by His great Name to destroy the wisdom of their Sages who know Him and still praise Him perfunctorily, without sincerity as it is written thereafter: "Therefore I shall do yet more … and the wisdom of their Sages will be lost."²Isaiah 29:14. Therefore our Sages warned us regarding this and said: "Fulfill [your] obligations for the sake of the Creator etc."³Nedarim 62A. This concludes his [Sefer Chassidim's] remarks. It is proper to accustom yourself to recite the berachos aloud because the voice arouses concentration.

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§2

When you recite a berachah your mouth should be free of saliva nor should anything else be in your mouth, as it is said: "My mouth shall be full of Your praises."⁴Psalms 71:8.

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§3

It is forbidden to utter the Name of God in vain. Whoever utters the Name of God in vain violates a positive commandment, as it is written: "You shall fear Hashem, your God."⁵Deuteronomy 6:13. It is also written: "If you will not heed etc. to fear this glorious and awesome Name."⁶Deuteronomy 28:58. Included in the concept of fear is not mentioning His great Name except in praise of Him or when reciting a berachah whenever required, or when studying Torah. You should fear and tremble when you mention the Name of Hashem, Blessed Be His Name, but you should not utter it God forbid in vain. This not only applies to the ineffable Name⁷The four letters of Yud-Hey-Vov-Hey. but includes all Names that are ascribed to Hashem, Blessed be He. It is not only forbidden in Hebrew but is forbidden in any language. He who curses his friend or himself in the Name of Hashem, Blessed be He or in one of the allusions to Hashem, (the allusions refer to the adjectives that are used to praise the Holy One Blessed is He, e.g., the Great, the Powerful, the Awesome, the Faithful, the Glorious, the Mighty, the Valiant, the Strong, the Gracious, the Merciful, the Zealous, Prolonger of Wrath, and Bestower of Kindness) in any language, incurs the penalty of lashes. In our sinfulness many people are careless and say: "God should punish him" or something similar to that, thereby violating a prohibition of the Torah. If one curses without using Hashem's Name or without the allusion to Him or if the curse was implied from something else that was said, for example: May that person not be blessed by Hashem or a similar statement, even though there is no penalty of lashes there is still a violation (see Choshen Mishpat ch. 27). Similarly it is forbidden to write His Name Blessed be He, in any letter, in any language. Many people mistakenly write His Name, Blessed be He, in German⁸Although the author lived in Hungary, he spoke German, but this holds true for the vernacular of any country. or write the word, adieu which in French means "with God," and this constitutes a clear violation since after a while the letter will be thrown away with trash. When the Name of God is mentioned frequently, especially when mentioned disdainfully, God forbid it causes poverty among Jews. Wisdom and effort are required to halt this practice (See Urim there). When saliva accumulates in your mouth, you should remove it and then say the Name of Hashem, and not say the Name and then spit. Similarly, when kissing the Torah, remove any saliva before kissing the Torah and not afterwards. When you wish to mention the Name of Hashem you should say the word Hashem,⁹Literally meaning “the Name.” and not as the common people who say Adoshem, because this reference is undignified when referring to Heaven. (See Turei Zahav, Chapter 621).

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§4

You must be careful never to recite a berachah in vain God forbid, or cause yourself to recite a berachah which is unnecessary. If you recited a berachah in vain, or if you uttered the Name of Hashem in vain, you should immediately say: Boruch sheim kevod malchuso le'olam va'ed ["Blessed [is His] Name, Whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever."] If immediately after pronouncing Hashem's Name you remember that the berachah is unnecessary, you should conclude [with]: lamdeini chukecha, (teach me Your laws),¹⁰Psalms 119:12 the complete verse is בָּרוּ אַתָּה ה׳ לַמְדֵנִי חוּקֶךָ. which is a complete verse. Thus it is considered as learning [Torah] and [the Name] was not mentioned in vain. If you began the word Elokeinu [our God], and immediately recall after saying Elokei and have not said the suffix nu you should conclude by saying: Yisrael Aveenu meolam ve'ad olam [Israel our father forever and ever]¹¹The berachah is now a Scriptural verse which reads Blessed are you God, God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. (which is also the syntax of a verse in Chronicles I, Chapter 29). Nevertheless you should also say: Boruch sheim kevod malchuso le'olam va'ed (See Tzlach, Maseches Berachos, Page 39).

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§5

If you recited a berachah over water and heard there was a corpse in the vicinity, and the custom in your community is to pour out the water in the vicinity of the dead person, (as mentioned later in Chapter 194) because such water is considered dangerous, nevertheless, since you recited the berachah you should drink a bit of it so that the berachah not be in vain, and do not worry about the health hazard, because "One who performs a mitzvah will not suffer adverse consequence."¹²Koheles 8:5 (See later Chapter 109 par. 9). [However,] after drinking a bit of the water you should pour out the rest.

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§6

With regard to all berachos (except for Birchas Hamazon which will be elaborated upon, God willing in Chapter 44, par. 11), if you are in doubt whether you said them or not, you should not repeat them.

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§7

A man must recite at least one hundred berachos each day. King David instituted this obligation. A hint to this effect is found in Scripture: "[These are the words] of the man [David] who was raised high."¹³Samuel II 23:1 The numerical value of עַל is one hundred.¹⁴ע = 70, ל = 30 Support for this is found in the Torah: "And now Israel, what does Hashem, your God request of you but to fear Hashem etc."¹⁵Deuteronomy 10:12 Do not read the word mah, [what] but rather read me'ah [one hundred] which refers to the hundred berachos which will cause us to fear God, and to love Him, and constantly remember Him through the berachos we recite. The curses in the book of Deuteronomy number ninety-eight,¹⁶Deuteronomy 28:15–61. and then it is stated: "All sicknesses and plagues etc."¹⁷Ibid 28:63. bringing the total to one hundred. The hundred berachos we recite each day shield us and save us from these curses. On Shabbos and Yom Tov and on fast days which lack the hundred berachos,¹⁸Since the Amidah on Shabbos and Yom Tov is much shorter, the usual number of berachos are not recited. Similarly on fast days when we do not eat or say Birchas Hamazon, the usual number of berachos are not recited. we compensate by concentrating on the berachos recited by the chazzan when he repeats the Amidah, and on the berachos recited over the Torah reading and the reading of Maftir, after which we answer Amein. Similarly berachos over foods add to the total.

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§8

Upon hearing any berachah made by someone, when you hear the words: Baruch Attah Hashem, [Blessed are you Hashem] you should say: Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo [Blessed is He and Blessed is His Name] and when he completes the berachah you should say Amein. Amein means it is true, and you should have in mind: "The berachah which was recited is true and I believe in its truth." In the berachos which also include prayer such as the berachos of the Shemoneh Esrei beginning with Atah Chonein¹⁹“You favor man with perception.” until Hamachazir Shechinaso Letzion²⁰“Who returns His Divine Presence to Zion.” and also the berachah of Sim Shalom,²¹“Grant Peace.” you should have in mind these two things when saying Amein: The berachah is true and that it be the will [of God] that the prayers be fulfilled speedily. When answering Amein to the Kaddish which is a prayer for the future, you should have in mind only that the prayer be fulfilled soon.

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§9

If you are are reciting prayers where an interruption is forbidden, you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo. Similarly if you hear a berachah which you must hear to fulfill your obligation, so that it be considered as though you recited it yourself, as for instance the berachah over the Shofar, or the berachah over the Megillah, you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo because this constitutes an interruption in the middle of the berachah. (See Dagul Merevavah Chapter 124). The laws of answering Amein when you are reciting prayers where interruption is prohibited, will be explained, God willing, later in special chapters. (Chapter 14 and Chapter 16).

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§10

You must be very careful to say the word Amein properly, and not say the Aleph hastily nor "swallow" the Nun.²²I.e., leaving the letter Nun unpronounced. You also should be careful not to answer Amein before the one reciting the berachah has concluded the entire berachah, because this is termed a hasty Amein. You also should not delay the answering of Amein because this is an orphaned Amein. Rather, immediately upon the conclusion of the berachah, you should answer Amein. You should not raise your voice louder than the one who recites the berachah, as it is said: "Declare the greatness of Hashem with me and let us exalt His Name together."²³Psalms 34:4.

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§11

You must not answer Amein to your own berachah (except in the Birchas Hamazan, after the berachah to rebuild Jerusalem). Even if you conclude a berachah simultaneously with the chazzan you should not answer Amein. However, if you are reciting one berachah and the chazzan is reciting another berachah and you conclude the berachah simultaneously you should answer Amein to the berachah of the chazzan. If you concluded the berachah of Yishtabbach, or the berachah of Shomer Amo Yisroel La'ad, or the berachah Yehalleluchah, which concludes the Hallel prayer, together with the chazzan you should also answer Amein (Since according to numerous opinions even after your own berachah in these instances you may answer Amein).