1

There are different practices regarding inserting the 18 verses of Baruch Hashem L'Olam between the Sh'ma and the Amida in Ma'ariv. This site points to one reason for not saying them:

The rishonim dispute whether one must juxtapose the mention of the Redemption with the beginning of the Shemoneh Esreh prayer even for Maariv. Tosafos (Berachos 4b) write that one must, and explain that the Hashkiveinu blessing that separates the Redemption from the prayer is not considered an interruption because it is “one long [mention of] redemption.” Tosafos also explain that the longer Baruch Hashem Le-Olam prayer does not constitute a hefsek, though some are careful not to recite the blessing for this reason (see Maaseh Rav no. 67).

If I follow the final ruling and don't say the verses so as to avoid the interruption, but am davening with a minyan that DOES say it, should I answer amein to the blessing before kaddish or does that create the same interruption as if I had said it?

This question provides an answer that in a different case, saying a couple of words is not an interruption but I don't know if the cases are truly analogous.

There is a video online which might answer this but I can't get it to work so I don't know if it addresses my question.

Community
  • 1
rosends
  • 38,242
  • 6
  • 38
  • 110
  • If I remember Tosfot says tha Rabenu Shmuel skipped the BHL – kouty Dec 14 '16 at 12:31
  • How is this different from saying Amen to Hashkivenu or Kaddish or to someone walking by and saying Shehakol? – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 14:53
  • Does anyone have the practice of not saying hashkiveinu? – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 15:02
  • @Danno Are you responding to me? No, I don't think anyone has that practice. – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 16:11
  • @DoubleAA If no one has that practice then that would make the amein for hashkiveinu different in the mind of the person saying it. BHL is, in this particular opinion, a hefseik, but hashkiveinu is not a hefseik, so I'm wondering if this would make the amein different. – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 16:48
  • @Danno I don't follow that at all. How is BHL different from Borei Peri HaEtz? Amen to a Berakha is just Amen. You didn't say the Berakha. Why does it matter what you're saying Amen to? – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 16:50
  • @DoubleAA I don't know if there is an equivalence between smichat geula l'tfilla and a hefsek between a bracha and an action, but according to http://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Interruptions_between_the_Bracha_and_Eating a break might be affected by the nature of what is said (" Talking about matters unrelated to the meal constitutes a Hefsek") and I don't know if the BHL is "related" or not because the minyan says it is related but the individual holds it isn't. – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 17:15
  • @Danno I don't know what that has to do with my previous comment. I've never heard of being allowed to say Amen to one blessing but not another. It's the same thing. "Amen." – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 17:20
  • @DoubleAA there seem to be cases where one amen is different from another amen (http://rabbikaganoff.com/tag/davening/ -- "... The Magen Avraham apparently holds that answering amen to these brachos has the same halachic status as the Sefer HaManhig’s aliyah case and therefore one should recite this amen even in the middle of birchos keriyas shma. The Pri Megadim disputes with the Magen Avraham feeling that this amen is no different from amen to any other bracha." I found a reference to the Igrot Moshe which seems to indicate that even if I feel it is a hefsek, if the minyan doesn't, I answer. – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 18:06
  • @Danno Sorry, I was imprecise. I've never heard of the content of the Amen needing to be relevant to where you are. Some Berakhot are considered so super important that interrupting to say Amen is allowed even during Keriat Shema. But no one has ever suggested that the thematic relevance of the blessing you are in to the blessing you are saying Amen to is relevant. Hashkivenu is not a super important blessing. Neither is BHL or BPHaeitz. If you can say one of those at a given time you can say all of those. – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 18:16
  • @DoubleAA Understood, but if a hefsek is defined by relevance (as per the source above) and the nature of BHL as relevant or not is at issue, then speaking Amen might or might not be relevant and then might or might not be a hefsek (assuming smicha and hefsek are equivalent). – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 18:28
  • BTW, The Rav Moshe quote is " in his Iggerot Moshe, claimed that whenever one answers “Amen” to a Beracha, his status is the same as the one who recited the Beracha. Thus, if the Beracha does not constitute a “Hefsek” for the person who recited it, then it does not constitute a “Hefsek” for those who answer “Amen,” even if the Beracha does not directly relate to them" http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=2346 – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 18:29
  • Interesting, but that's all relevant to someone being Yotzei with the Chazzan. If you said Hashkivenu yourself, then Amen to Hashkivenu is back to being the same as to Haeitz. – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 18:41
  • Right -- I wasn't sure if the types of brachot and the cases were analogous. – rosends Dec 14 '16 at 18:44
  • @DoubleAA You don't find it plausible that "Amen, I agree to the previous statement which has something to do with geulah" is more redemption related than "Amen, I agree that Hashem made apples"? – Heshy Dec 14 '16 at 20:50

0 Answers0