**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**
Rabbi Eli Mansour and the Torah Center Congregation will be relocating effective this coming Tuesday, Sept. 6th/13 Elul, to Har HaLebanon, at the corner of East 9th St & Ave. S in Brooklyn. We thank Ahi Ezer for the past many years of providing Rabbi Mansour and the Torah Center with a home. Daily prayers and classes will take place in the Midrash on the 2nd floor at Har HaLebanon. Seuda Shelishi lectures will also be at Har HaLebanon and will be given on the lower level catering hall. Rabbi Mansour and the Torah Center wish to acknowledge the gracious hospitality of Har HaLebanon during this hold over period while a permanent synagogue is planned and erected.
***This coming Motzae Shabbat, Sept. 2nd/ 9 Elul, at 9:30 PM, we will be concluding Masechet Yoma with a Siyum and celebration at the Lawrence Ave Synagogue in Deal, NJ. Several Daf Yomi programs will come together on this special night for a light dairy dinner, followed by speeches, and celebratory music with David Shiro. Join program leaders; Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi Choueka, Rabbi Semah, Rabbi Joey Tawil, Rabbi Rahamim Aboud, Isaac Yedid, Bert Hidary, with their respective Daf Yomi learners on this special occasion. We invite the community to attend, be inspired, and take part in this Daf Yomi cycle’s conclusion of Masechet Yoma.***
Today's Halacha...
Many Rishonim (Medieval sages) raised the question of why the Rabbis did not ordain the recitation of a Beracha over the Mitzva of Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick), as they did for other Mitzvot. Why is one not required to recite before visiting a patient, "Baruch Ata Hashem…Asher Kideshanu Be'mitzvotav Ve'tzivanu Le'vaker Et Ha'choleh" ("Blessed are You, O God…who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to visit the sick")?
The Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo Ben Aderet, Spain, 1235-1310) answers this question by establishing a basic principle regarding the Berachot recited over Mitzvot. He claims that the Rabbis did not ordain the recitation of a Beracha over a Mitzva whose performance depends upon two different people. Tzedaka, for example, requires the participation of both the donor and recipient. If a person would recite a Beracha before giving charity, then if the poor person refuses the donation the Beracha would become a "Beracha Le'vatala" (a "wasted" Beracha, which is forbidden to recite). Similarly, if a person recites a Beracha before entering the patient's room to pay a visit, and the patient asks him to leave, his Beracha would be "Le'vatala." The Rabbis therefore chose not to ordain the recitation of a Beracha over these and other Mitzvot that depend upon the consent of a second party.
The Or Zarua (Rabbi Yitzchak of Vienna, 1180-1250) suggests a different reason why no Beracha is recited over the Mitzva of visiting the sick, claiming that no Beracha is recited over a Mitzva that can be performed at any time. Since it is ostensibly possible to perform the Mitzva of Bikur Cholim on any day at any time, the Rabbis did not require the recitation of a Beracha before visiting the sick.
Others suggested that the Rabbis did not ordain the recitation of a Beracha over Mitzvot that are intuitively logical, which even the gentiles acknowledge. We cannot say about Bikur Cholim, "Blessed are You, O God…who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to visit the sick," since even the gentiles – who were not "sanctified with His commandments" – acknowledge and perform this Mitzva.
We may suggest an additional reason, namely, that it would be inappropriate to recite a Beracha over a Mitzva that presents itself as a result of the pain and suffering of another person. As a person enters the room to visit his ailing friend, he should not joyfully express his gratitude to God for enabling him to perform this Mitzva, which came about because of another person's pain.
Finally, we might suggest that one does not recite a Beracha when he comes to visit a sick patient because it is uncertain whether he will indeed fulfill the Mitzva of Bikur Cholim through this visit. He may, for example, say something inappropriate or hurtful during the visit (such as, "This is happening to you because of your sins"), causing the patient to wish the visitor had never come, in which case the Mitzva is certainly not fulfilled. A person therefore cannot recite a Beracha before performing this Mitzva, as at the moment it is as yet unclear whether he will indeed fulfill the Mitzva.
