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Hilchos Tefilla 124 (page 298)
מסעיף ט עד סימן קכה
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Amein to a Child's Beracha
Pausing Between Berachos
When the Amein Is Louder Than the Beracha
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Amein
to a child's beracha
One should respond
Amein to the
berachos of a child that has reached the age of
chinuch, but not to those of a child below that age. Some
poskim consider the age of
chinuch for answering
Amein to a child's
berachos to be the age that the child is capable of reciting
berachos on food, which is younger than the standard age of
chinuch. There were
poskim who advised people to answer
Amein to the
berachos of children below the age of
chinuch in order to train the child to answer
Amein. It is told that one of the
gedolim of the past generation would do this by responding with a word that sounded like, but was not quite,
Amein. If a child is practicing reciting
berachos without actually eating or performing a
mitzva, there is no response of
Amein.
(
ס"ק מז; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 69 ו־71)
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Someone reciting
chazaras hashatz or other public
berachos should not move from one
beracha to the next until most of the listeners have responded
Amein. Listeners should not respond
Amein to the first
beracha once the speaker has begun the next
beracha. If the majority of people rushed to respond to the first
beracha, the speaker should wait for as long as it would have taken for an average response. If people are listening in order to fulfill an obligation (e.g. they are listening to
Kiddush or
Havdalah), the speaker cannot go on until everyone has responded
Amein. Likewise, when reciting
birkas kohanim, the
chazan should not proceed to the next
beracha until everyone has answered
Amein to the first one, since everyone must hear the
berachos. According to some
poskim, the
berachos of
chazaras hashatz are recited to help people fulfill an obligation, and the
chazan must give enough time for everyone to respond
Amein.
(
סעיף ט, ס"ק לז-לח, וביה"ל ד"ה שמאריכין, ד"ה שאין וד"ה שקודם; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 60)
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When the Amein is louder than the beracha
One should not respond
Amein at a louder volume than was used to make the
beracha. An allusion to this can be found in the verse "and exalt His name in
unison." The word unison indicates that both the initiator and responder should speak in the same tone. Likewise, one should not respond to
kaddish,
barechu or a
zimun in a voice louder than the speaker's. (There is an opinion that permits responding to
yehei shemei rabbah in a voice louder than the speaker's, and another opinion permits preceding
Amein to be recited louder as well.) It is permissible to raise one's voice when responding to
Amein in order to encourage others to respond.
(
ס"ק מז; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 68)
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- According to the Mechaber, it is permissible to respond Amein when one hears others responding, even when one did not hear the beracha or kaddish. According to the Rama, this case is included in the issur of Amein chatufa.
- According to the Rama, an Amein yesoma is defined as one which is recited more than a kdei dibbur period after the beracha was made.
- During chazaras hashatz, it is best for one to hear at least the end of each beracha in order to answer Amein. According to the Mechaber, bedieved one can answer Amein to a beracha that he did not hear at all; according to the Rama, however, he must at least know which beracha was being said.
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- Reciting the Pesukim in Unison
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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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