DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 1.08 MB)
May a Man Recite Habdala for His Wife if He Had Already Recited or Heard Habdala?

The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 266:8) rules that the requirement of Habdala on Mosa’eh Shabbat constitutes a Torah obligation, just like Kiddush, and that this Misva applies equally to both men and women, just like Kiddush. Therefore, since women are obligated in this Misva, a man is allowed to recite Habdala for a woman even if he had already recited or heard Habdala. Since the woman needs to fulfill her obligation, a man may recite Habdala for her even though he had already fulfilled his obligation.

Thus, for example, if a husband heard Habdala in the synagogue, or was the Hazan and recited Habdala there, he may recite Habdala for his wife when he comes home. This is the ruling of the Hid"a (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806), in Birkeh Yosef. However, since some authorities dispute this ruling, Hacham Bension Abba Shaul (Israel, 1923-1998), as well as Hacham Ovadia Yosef, ruled that it is preferable for a husband to have in mind not to fulfill his Habdala obligation in the synagogue. This way, he can recite Habdala for his wife according to all opinions. Nevertheless, if the husband did fulfill his requirement in the synagogue, he may recite Habdala for his wife, in accordance with the Shulhan Aruch’s ruling.

In such a case, where the husband had already recited Habdala in the synagogue and now recites Habdala for his wife, the wife should recite the Beracha over the Besamim. Since the husband is not required to smell Besamim, reciting the Beracha over the Besamim could constitute a Hefsek (interruption) in between the Beracha over the wine and his drinking the wine. Therefore, the wife should recite the Beracha over the Besamim. Likewise, the wife should recite the Beracha over the flame. There is considerable controversy among the Halachic authorities as to whether women are obligated to recite this Beracha – "Boreh Me’oreh Ha’esh" – on Mos’aeh Shabbat. The Hafetz Haim (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933), in Be’ur Halacha, writes that women are likely not included in this obligation, whereas others, including the Hid"a, Rav Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1869) and Hacham Ovadia Yosef, disagreed, and maintained that women are included in this obligation just like men. In any event, Hacham Ovadia ruled that it is preferable for the wife to recite the Beracha over the flame if her husband had already fulfilled his requirement.

It turns out, then, that if a husband fulfills his requirement at the synagogue and then recites Habdala for his wife, he recites "Boreh Peri Ha’gefen," and then the wife recites the Berachot over the Besamim and the flame. The husband then recites "Ha’mabdil" and drinks the wine. The husband does not answer "Amen" to the wife’s Berachot over the Besamim and the flame (Yabia Omer, 4:23-24).

Summary: Women are obligated in the Misva of Habdala just like men. A husband should preferably have in mind not to fulfill the requirement of Habdala in the synagogue on Mosa’eh Shabbat so he can recite Habdala for his wife at home according to all opinions. Nevertheless, if he did fulfill his requirement in the synagogue, he may still recite Habdala for his wife at home, but in such a case the wife should recite the Berachot over the Besamim and the flame.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Washing One’s Hands Immediately Upon Awakening in the Morning
Zimun: If Only Seven Out of the Ten Men Ate Bread
Determining Which Beracha to Recite When Smelling Fragrant Fruits
Within How Much Time After Eating May One Recite Birkat Hamazon or Me’en Shalosh?
Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel After a Boating Trip
Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel on Behalf of Somebody Else
Making a Zimun During Travel
Birkat Ha’gomel: Reciting the Beracha While Seated or at Nighttime; Reciting the Beracha After Confinement in a Holding Cell
The Procedure for Reciting Birkat Ha’gomel
Reciting a Zimun When Some Participants of the Meal Want to Leave
Mayim Aharonim – If One Forgot to Wash Mayim Aharonim; the Water Used for Mayim Aharonim; Using Other Liquids; the Procedure for Washing
Determining When to Recite “Boreh Asbeh Besamim” and When to Recite “Boreh Aseh Besamim”
Zimun: Counting Minors and Children Toward a Zimun, Granting Precedence to a Kohen or Torah Scholar
Situations Where One Would Not Recite a Beracha Before Drinking Water
Reciting the Beracha of Shehakol When in Doubt About the Beracha
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found