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The proper wording of sefiras ha'omer
The
Mechaber writes out the proper wording for to be said for
sefiras ha'omer. "Today is one day..." is followed by "Today is two days..." etc., until the seventh day, when the words "which is one week" are added. On the eighth day we say "Today is eight days, which is one week and one day...", and the rest of the days and weeks are counted in a similar manner. The
Rama adds the word
ba'omer at the end of each phrase. The
Mishnah Berurah observes that most
poskim spell the word with a
lamed-
la'omer-and this, indeed, is the version of the
Arizal. Nevertheless, the
Graand
Chazon Ish stick with
ba'omer. In an effort to fulfill both customs, there are people who count twice-once with
la'omer and once with
ba'omer.
(
סעיף א וס"ק ח; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 30)
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Hilchos Tefilla 124 (page 297)
מסימן קכד אמצע סעיף ח ולא יענה אמן יתומה עד סעיף ט
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Responding Amein Without Hearing the Beracha
Until When Can You Answer Amein?
Hearing the Beracha
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Responding Amein without hearing the beracha
According to the Mechaber, it is permissible to respond
Amein without hearing a
beracha or
kaddish if one hears others responding. According to the Rama, responding in this case falls under the
issur of
Amein chatufa. If a person has a general idea of which
beracha is being said (e.g. he hears the final word '
tefillin' but does not know which of the two
berachos on
tefillin the speaker was reciting, or he hears the words '
nosein haTorah' but does not know if the speaker was reciting the first or final
beracha on the Torah reading), he is permitted to respond even according to the Rama because he knows which
mitzva the speaker was referring to.
(
סעיף ח וס"ק לא; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 51-52)
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Up to what point can you answer Amein?
According to the Rama, an
Amein yesoma is defined as allowing more than
kdei dibbur to elapse between hearing the
beracha and responding
Amein. Other
poskim hold that as long as the listener did not create an interruption by speaking after hearing the
beracha, he may still answer
Amein. A third opinion holds that an
Amein becomes a
yesoma only after the speaker has begun a new topic (e.g. he starts the next
beracha). If the
chazan draws out the words
v'imru Amein in
kaddish, it is proper not to wait and to answer
Amein before the
Chazan finishes.
Amein in
kaddish is referring to what the
chazan said earlier-either
ba'agalah uvizman kariv (swiftly and soon) or
da'amiran b'alma (that are uttered in the world).
(
סעיף ח, ס"ק לד-לה; וראה ביה"ל ד"ה מיד; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 59; וראה שם 55)
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A person should not respond
Amein to a
beracha that he is required to recite unless he hears it, with the intention of fulfilling his obligation through that person's
beracha. Individuals are not obligated to recite the
berachos of
chazaras hashatz since these berachos were already recited in everyone's personal
Shemoneh Esrei. There is, however, an opinion which considers the
berachos of
chazaras hashatz incumbent on each individual because Chazal mandated a repetition. Therefore, it is best for a person to hear at least the end of each
beracha in order to answer
Amein. (Ideally, one should listen to the entirety of every
beracha of
chazaras hashatz, as has been previously discussed.) According to the Mechaber,
bedieved one can answer
Amein to a
beracha that he did not hear at all, whereas according to the Rama, he must at least know which
beracha was being said.
(
סעיף ח, ס"ק לא ו־לג, וביה"ל ד"ה וזה; וראה עוד בביה"ל שם)
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- When responding Amein, a person should bear in mind that he is confirming the validity of the beracha and endorsing it.
- The alef of Amein should be pronounced with a kamatz (long o sound) in order for the word to have its intended meaning (i.e. "confirmation"). It should not be pronounced with a different vowel, and certainly not with a sheva, because that will corrupt the meaning. The Amein should also not be swallowed into the beracha-i.e. the response should not begin until the beracha is completed.
- In general, every time a person hears a beracha it is proper to respond baruch Hu uvaruch Shemo. It should not be said where interruptions are forbidden (e.g. in the middle of pesukei d'zimra, kriyas Shema or Hallel).
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- Amein on a child's beracha
- Answering Amein louder than the beracha
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PLEASE NOTE: The information in this email is for learning purposes only. Please review the Mishna Berura and Biurim U'Musafim before making a halachic decision. Hebrew words are occasionally transliterated to enable a smoother reading of the text. Common Ashkenazi pronunciation is generally used in these cases.
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