לעילוי נשמת

יואל אפרים בן אברהם עוזיאל זלצמן ז”ל

Question: At a shul kiddush, I wasn’t able to hear the bracha but answered “amen” when I heard others answer. Was I yotzei? What should I have done?

Answer: The answer to your question depends on two issues—how morning kiddush works; the status of one who knows a bracha was made but did not hear it.

At night time kiddush, the main bracha is, “Mekadesh haShabbat.” “Borei pri hagafen,” whose point is to make it permitted to drink the wine of kiddush (and, similarly, of Havdala) is of minor importance (see, “Living the Halachic Process VII,” C-16). Therefore, if one did not hear “borei pri hagafen,” he is yotzei anyway (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 271:4; Mishna Berura 296:33).

The problem is that the morning kiddush consists only of “borei pri hagafen” (see Pesachim 106a). The pesukim we recite are a late and not required addition (see Mishna Berura 289:2). So, if one did not hear “borei pri hagafen,” in what way did he take part in kiddush?!

There are two approaches in the Rishonim as to the nature of this abbreviated kiddush that does not even need to mention Shabbat. The Ran (Pesachim 22b of Rif’s pages) suggests that it connects to the night’s full kiddush, and posits that its bracha functions along the same lines as kiddush of the night. Rabbeinu David (Pesachim 106a) says that given its content, it cannot serve as a real kiddush; rather, its function is to elevate the meal’s stature via the wine. Therefore, the drinking is more important than the bracha, which just permits the drinking.

If drinking is the important thing, why don’t we all have to drink the required amount? Many quote the Brisker Rav as requiring everyone to drink at the morning kiddush. However, this position encounters difficulties with classical sources (see Tosafot, Pesachim 106a) and contemporary minhag (see Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata 50:9). The Netziv (Haamek Sheala 54:4) explains that others connect to the drinking of the one who drinks the requisite amounts, who sets the proper tone for the joint “meal.” Based on this, we might argue that since the “meal” you attended was elevated, missing “borei pri hagafen” did not preclude your fulfilling kiddush. On the other hand, the Ran’s approach appears to be more accepted (this column, Bechukotai 5784).

Let us now look at your connection to the bracha to which you answered “amen.” It is forbidden to recite an “amen yetoma” (Brachot 47a), e.g., answering without hearing the bracha (Rashi ad loc.). On the other hand, the mishna (Sukkah 51b) tells about the davening in the amphitheater in Alexandria, in which they raised flags to prompt people to answer “amen.”

The two main distinctions raised (see Beit Yosef, Orach Chayim 124) to reconcile the sources are as follows: 1. If one plans to be yotzei with a bracha, he must hear it and must not answer if he does not, but he may answer a bracha he does need to “use for himself” (one answer in the Rosh, Brachot 7:17). 2. The problem is when one does not know which specific bracha was recited, but if he knows, he may answer even if he did not hear it (Rashi and Tosafot, Brachot 47a).

The Beit Yosef implies that the two answers are separate—it is not that either factor suffices or that both factors are needed; rather there is one deciding point, with a machloket about which is correct. According to no. 2, your amen was fine because you knew to which bracha you were answering, and you, apparently, were even yotzei. According to no. 1, your amen was an “amen yetoma” if you intended to be yotzei, and so the bracha could not be motzei you. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 124:8) rules like no. 1 (admittedly, this is not a unanimous ruling—see Rama and Biur Halacha ad loc.).

The best idea was to make your own kiddush, after first speaking (to ensure “borei pri hagafen” was necessary). Under extenuating circumstances (e.g., insufficient wine or insulting to the mekadesh, and it was important to eat), there is room for leniency to eat based on the kiddush (we have to leave out a lot of sources/analysis). If so, kiddush before your meal at home would be called for—whatever your regular minhag.

Rabbi Mann is a dayan for Eretz Hemdah and a staff member of Yeshiva University’s Gruss Kollel in Israel. He is a senior member of the Eretz Hemdah responder staff, editor of Hemdat Yamim and the author of “Living the Halachic Process Volumes 1 and 2” and “A Glimpse of Greatness.”