DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 1.29 MB)
Answering “Amen” to Birkot Ha’Torah

The daily Birkot Ha’Torah blessings, which we recite each morning to thank Hashem for the Misva of studying Torah, consists of several sections. It begins with the brief Beracha, "Baruch…Asher Kideshanu Be’misvotav Ve’sivanu Al Dibreh Torah," which is followed by the lengthier Beracha, "Ve’ha’areb Na…" Birkot Ha’Torah concludes with the Beracha of "Baruch Ata…Asher Bahar Banu…Baruch Ata Hashem Noten Ha’Torah."

The second of these sections – "Ve’ha’areb Na" – begins with "Ve" ("And"), which clearly indicates that it continues the previous blessing. As such, one might think that "Ve’ha’areb Na" does not begin a new Beracha, but is rather just the continuation of the first Beracha. Although this is, in fact, the opinion of some Poskim, Sephardic tradition follows the view that Birkot Ha’Torah consists of three separate Berachot, and "Ve’ha’areb Na" begins a new Beracha. Therefore, as Hacham David Yosef rules in Halacha Berura (vol. 3, p. 380), if one hears his fellow reciting Birkot Ha’Torah, he answers "Amen" three times – after "Al Dibreh Torah," after the conclusion of "Ve’ha’areb Na" (meaning, after "He’melamed Torah Le’amo Yisrael"), and after "Baruch Ata Hashem Noten Ha’Torah."

Summary: The various sections that comprise Birkot Ha’Torah are considered three separate Berachot. Therefore, if one hears his fellow reciting Birkot Ha’Torah, he answers "Amen" three times – after "Al Dibreh Torah," after the conclusion of "Ve’ha’areb Na" (meaning, after "He’melamed Torah Le’amo Yisrael"), and after "Baruch Ata Hashem Noten Ha’Torah."

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Importance of Giving Charity Before Praying; If One’s Prayer is Disrupted by Charity Collectors
The Yartzheit of the Ben Ish Hai
Feeding a Child Before Shaharit or Before Kiddush; Feeding a Child Dairy After He Ate Meat
May a Person Receive Two Aliyot in a Single Torah Reading?
Is it Permissible to Refer to One’s Father or Rabbi by His Name if He Adds a Title?
Calling Somebody With the Same Name as One’s Father
The Importance of Studying the Halachot of Respecting Parents
The Procedure When a Bet Din Announces Its Decision
Reciting Kaddish for a Parent
Ensuring Not to Receive a More Prominent Aliya Than One’s Father
Calling One’s Son in the Presence of His Father With the Same Name
Berit Mila – Eliyahu Ha’nabi’s Chair
Birkat Kohanim – The Unconditional Blessing
The Halachic Status of the Period Between Amud Ha’shahar and Sunrise
Can the Officiating Rabbi at a Wedding Serve as One of the Witnesses?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found