II Adar-Halakha of the Month Part 3

Hello all! I hope the second installment of this week's discussion of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen" was good food for thought and practice. As we are nearing the end of this month, with Rosh Chodesh Nisan coming next week, I wanted to share just a little more on this halakha in the hopes of continued discussion before we move on.

"Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen", as we have discussed below, are verbal expressions of praise. They are also expressions of agreement.

Agreement has incredible value. In fact, b. B'rakhot 53b teaches us that one who responds, "Amen" is greater than the one who recited the blessing! Why would this be so? I would suggest that the agreement that occurs when one blesses, and another responds, is a greater expression of God's will in the world. One person reciting a blessing creates vertical agreement. In other words, the one saying the b'rakha is in agreement with God's will. When there is a another person responding to the blessing then the agreement does not remain only vertical, it becomes horizontal also. When more and more people agree with God's will, then there is a greater manifestation of olam haba in olam hazah. Humanity's agreement with God's will allows blessing to flow in great abundance.

"Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen" are declarations that reflect agreement with God and a fellow human being. This realization transforms these responses from being mere performative excercises to verbal expressions of the Kingdom to which we are responsible.

Any thoughts on this, or other layers of meaning in the halakhot of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen"?

II Adar Halakha of the Month-Part 2

We've had interesting discussion so far. I wanted to shift the discussion specifically to the topic of participation and response. Unfortunately, in many mainstream synagogues one can find the pattern of the shliach tzibbur (cantor) davening for the community, as opposed to leading the community in davening! It should be the latter. The moments where one actually does a mitzvah on behalf of others are rare:

Shofar: The tokiah (shofar blower) blows the Shofar on Rosh HaShanah and the sh'liach tzibbur recites the blessing on behalf of the congregation

Megillat Esther: Unless one has a scroll of Esther in hand, other than the reader for Purim, the people listen to the blessings and respond: Amen. The Megillah is being leined so they can hear.

Communal Kiddush: In a big communal gathering where wine is not available for everyone, the one leading kiddush does it on behalf of the people there. This is not ideal, and many will actually do their own kiddush at home, but this is will within the bounds of custom.

There may be some others I'm not remembering, but these are the main circumstances. The first two are the main ones. This is because the mitzvah is connected with listening. In most prayer, the mitzvah is connected with doing/speaking. Now, one would assume the Torah blessings would be included. After all, it's a mitzvah to hear the Torah! The difference is that the b'rakha recited is a part of the b'rakhot recited over learning Torah in Birkhot HaShachar. This means that, presumably, one has already recited this blessing earlier in the day and is therefore listening to the one making the aaliyah One might ask, wouldn't this also be true of the one making the aaliyah...Wouldn't that person's recitation also be considered a repitition? The answer is: No. When it is over leining form a scroll, it counts as a different blessing....Wait...didn't he just say it's the same...aaagghh!

This can cause one's head to spin because it isn't so logical on the surface. It's rather inconsistant. The real reason is that there is a fundamental difference between Torah learning and other mitzvot. Megillah is a mitzvah once a year. Shofar is a mitzvah once a year. Torah is a daily mitzvah, with specific requirements on certain days to have it publicly read. This is why on the one hand Torah must be listened to, and on the other hand must be learned and recited. I would love to hear your thoughts on why Torah leining/aaliyot would be unique.

Moving on: It is unfortunate that much of American Judaism has developed a vicarious religious practice. I think there are a great many factors that have contributed to this, but I want to address one factor that is unique for the Messianic Jewish community. The Yeshua narrative many have adopted is the belief that he died for us so that we might have life. This is a true, BUT incomplete, notion. This leads to an incomplete spirituality. What's wrong with it? It totally removes responsibility from the "believer." What seems to be more accurate to say (see Romans Chapter 6) is that Yeshua died and rose again so that we, in him, could also die to sin and live in him. Rav Shaul speaks of this in terms of Immersion in Yeshua (this is also spoken of in terms of martyrdom and trials because of Yeshua faith). I believe we ought to see the same going on in our communal prayer life. Yes, Yeshua laid the road for us; we do not have to lay the road. Nevertheless, he paved it so we could travel it! The shliach tzibbur sets the pace for the davening and, at times, elicits responses from the community (Bar'khu, Kaddish, Kedushah, etc.). The shliach tzibbur is not meant to be davening instead of anyone. The shliach tzibbur is not a performer and professional davener.

This is another layer of meaning surrounding the halakhot of "Barukh Hu Uverukh Sh'mo" and "Amen." These halakhot teach us when it is appropriate to take on the responsibility and privilege to bless and pray and when to humbly accept our role in listening and responding to another. I would like to suggest that the halakhic clarification of the role of the shliach tzibbur can teach us something about the role of Yeshua in our community as well. He does not pray to HaShem for us-He teaches us how. He doesn't live Torah for us-he enables us to do so. He doesn't live sinless for us-he guides us on a journey to live in him, free of sin.

I look forward to our continued discussion!

II Adar-Halakha of the Month

"Upon hearing any berachah made by someone, when you hear the words: Baruch Attah Hashem, [Blessed are you Hashem] you should say: Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo [Blessed is He and Blessed in His Name] and when he completes the berachah you should Amein. Amein means it is true...If you are reciting prayers when an interuption is forbidden, you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo. Similarly if you hear a berachah which you must hear to fulfill your obligation...for instance the berachah over the Shofar...you should not say Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo because this constitutes an interuption in the middle of the berachah...You must not answer Amein to your own berachah (except...after the berachah to rebuild Jerusalem [in Grace after Meals]."

-Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, selections from Chapter 6, sections 8, 9, and 11 (pgs. 31-32)

B'rakhot (blessings) are not treated lightly in Judaism. Each blessing's phrasing is specific and designed to enable the speaker to fulfill a mitzvah. The b'rakha creates a partnership between divine decree and physical action and merges the will of God and that of the one making the blessing. With all of this going on (in what is often just a few words) concentration is of the utmost importance. At the same time, there is value in listening to a blessing. One fortunate enough to listen to another’s blessing is often invited to join in blessing God without fulfilling the specific mitzvah of the b’rakha being recited. For example, if I waved the lulav and etrog on Sukkot and then later in the day heard my friend recite the b’rakha over lulav and etrog I wouldn’t join her word for word (I already recited that blessing). I would say, “Blessed is He and Blessed in His Name,” though (and respond, “amen”). Now, if someone is reciting a blessing on my behalf (i.e. the chazzan reciting the blessings over shofar) I must concentrate as if I were reciting it myself. Therefore, I would say “amen” at the end, but I wouldn’t interrupt the blessing with an extra praise of God (i.e. Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo).

The main point behind all these details is to stress that people not treat mitzvot or blessings lightly. These b’rakhot are not mere words, they are responses to unique moments or actions in time that may not be repeated again until tomorrow, another month, or another year. The focus on proper concentration and decorum for both the speaker and listener reflects value of the moment…of the Torah…of the Holy One.

Lets discuss and ruminate on this for a few days and then we’ll get into some more of the specifics around “Amein” and “Baruch Hu Uvaruch Shemo.”

Introduction to "Halakha of the month"

My goal is to offer a halakha for discussion at the beginning of each new Jewish month. I will not approach this uniformly each time. Some months I will offer a halakha from a law code, and we'll discuss meaning and applications. Other months I will share a halakhic discussion in the Gemara and we will enter that discussion together. Some months I will offer a progression of how a halakha has developed from its initial descriptions in Torah through centuries of application. Other months we'll discuss how B'rit Chadasha impacts halakhic application.

Sometimes the halakhot will have practical applications, and other times will deal with institutions foreign to our experience. Sometimes the discussions will deal with existential issues while others will deal with nitty-gritty practicalities.

All of this variety will hopefully serve to allow us to enter deeply into the various levels of halakhic thinking/living.

Let the learning commence and continue!