DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 618 KB)
Reciting "Ha'mapil" and "Hareni Mochel " Before Going to Sleep

Before one goes to sleep, he recites not only the Shema, but also the Beracha of "Ha'mapil Chevlei Sheina Al Einai…" Originally, this Beracha was instituted to be recited with "Shem U'malchut," meaning, with the phrase, "Hashem Elokenu Melech Ha'olam." Nevertheless, many have the practice to recite this Beracha without "Shem U'malchut"; this is the position of the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chayim of Baghdad, 1835-1909), and this is indeed our practice. And even those authorities who require reciting the Beracha with "Shem U'malchut" agree that the Beracha is not recited if one goes to sleep after Chatzot (midnight as defined by Halacha).

Before going to sleep one should also recite the declaration, "Ribono Shel Olam Hareni Mochel Ve'solei'ach…" as printed in the Siddurim. In this declaration one grants forgiveness to anyone who wronged him at any point during that day. The source of this practice is the Gemara's account that Mar Zutra would say each night before going to sleep, "Shari Lei Le'man De'tza'aran" – "I forgive anyone who caused me distress."

However, Chacham Bentzion Abba Shaul (Israel, 1924-1998) writes that a person should recite this declaration only if he sincerely grants forgiveness to anyone who has wronged him. If a person has a grievance towards an individual for which he is not yet prepared to forgive, he should omit this recitation. He should recite it only when he feels capable of sincerely forgiving the individual for the wrong committed against him.

Summary: Before going to sleep one should recite the Shema and the Beracha of Ha'mapil, which according to our custom should be recited without the phrase "Hashem Elokenu Melech Ha'olam." Additionally, one should declare his forgiveness for anyone who has wronged him by reciting "Hareni Mochel"; if he does not yet forgive a certain individual, he should not recite this declaration until he indeed grants sincere forgiveness.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
May a Woman Apply Makeup During Abelut?
Nail-Cutting During Abelut
If Somebody Did Not Observe Abelut After a Parent’s Passing
If a Woman is in Mourning and Her Husband Insists That She Join Him at a Social Function
Extending a Greeting to a Mourner
Halachot of Proper Conduct in a Cemetery
Eulogies and Memorial Gatherings on Days When Tahanun is Omitted
The Obligation to Bury the Deceased
A Mourner’s Exemption From Misvot Before the Burial as it Applies to Sissit, Charity, Berachot and Sefirat Ha’omer
May a Mourner Attend His or Her Child’s Wedding?
Is it Permissible for a Mourner to Move Into a New Home or Renovate His Home?
Wigs Made From the Hair of a Deceased Person
Sheloshim – The Thirty-Day Mourning Period
May a Kohen Attend the Funeral of a Non-Jew?
Abelut: Reciting Birkat Ha'lebana, Studying Torah, Hallel, and Birkat Kohanim
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found