Has it ever happened that your child or grandchild popped
some food into his mouth without a brocha? You might
have reminded him in an annoyed tone of voice, "You didn't
make a brocha!" Or, perhaps, you have found yourself
running after your children, saying, "Come back to the table!
You didn't bensch!"
Yes, these situations can be avoided. That is the secret of
the little word `amen.'
On Isru Chag Shavuos, 2000, Hagaon R' Chaim Kanievsky
shlita called upon parents and educators to pay extra
attention to the saying of brochos with
kavona.
There was a period in the time of Dovid Hamelech when a
hundred men were dying every day. The death rate reached
epidemic proportions until Dovid Hamelech instituted the
saying of one hundred brochos daily ["Moh Hashem
Elokeicho doresh mimcha... -- don't read moh but
mei'o -- one hundred"]. And thus has it been in every
generation: brochos have the power to arouse Heavenly
mercy. HaRav Kanievsky assured us that in this merit, we
would experience good tidings, speedy recovery and
yeshuos in general.
*
Mrs. Greenberg, a teacher in Haifa who heard this, was
motivated to action. She began to work on the subject of
brochos and amen with her pupils and devoted
her energy and creativity to developing projects. She also
gave prizes.
The feedback was tremendous. Parents told her, "My children
have begun to say every blessing out loud so that we can
answer. They even encourage their brothers and sisters to say
their brochos out loud so that they can answer." Mrs.
Greenberg initiated a number of projects over the last three
years. This year she shared her ideas with principals of
schools from all over the country on how to begin such
projects. The results have been tremendously rewarding.
Mrs. Greenberg was herself rewarded in an unexpected way. She
had been desperately looking for a shidduch for her
son. After Rosh Hashona she began yet another project on this
subject, praying that in its merit, her son would quickly
find his intended zivug. While still in the middle of
the project, on Chol Hamoed Succos, he became engaged!
Rebetzin Sarah Meisels, daughter of the late Bobover Rebbe
zt'l, has also been very active over the past year in
heightening the awareness of the significance of amen.
She has spoken to thousands of women and girls in Israel and
abroad. Parents tell her, "I never knew how to get my
children to slow down their bircas hamozon without
constant reminding. Now, at the end of every brocha,
they wait to hear my `amen.' "
*
The amen said at the end of a brocha really
means, "I believe that the praise mentioned is true." The
blessing/praise is thus endorsed and only then is it
complete. A brocha without amen is incomplete
and does not bring the same flow of blessing from Above.
Citing a fascinating statement of the Zohar, the Sheloh
Hakodosh illustrates the power of a single amen:
"Someone who concentrates on the words of each blessing as it
is being said, and replies amen with the appropriate
kavona according to the halocha, causes
tremendous holiness above and an abundance of good in all the
worlds.
"He opens the source of blessing from above to become a
source of living waters, just as one releases a spring
responsible for irrigating the entire vegetation. A voice
descends from Heaven and announces that all this good and joy
was caused by ploni, servant of the Holy King.
"When Israel is in trouble and prays, an announcement is made
through all the worlds: `Open the gates and admit the
righteous nation which remains steadfast in its faith' --
guarding the reply of amen. Just as they open the
gates of blessings and goodly flow from above, so may their
prayers be accepted."
Perhaps the unusually abundant rain this year in Eretz
Yisroel is a direct result of the thousands of families who
have begun saying brochos out loud and answering
amen?
*
The story of Purim is really the story of the power of
amen. The Megilla tells us, "Vayehi omen as
Hadassah - Mordechai raised Esther." But the word is
written without a vov so that it reads amen.
The Rokeach explains that this spelling equals
malach to teach that angels protected Esther
throughout her difficult mission. But where did these
protecting angels come from?
Mordechai raised Esther to answer amen to every
single brocha, and each one created an angel which
protected her (Notrei Amen p. 76).
*
A man from Boro Park recently passed away at an old age. His
neighbor told Rebbetzin Meisels, "In his house, every
brocha was said out loud and every brocha was
followed by an amen. He even made sure that his guests
recited them out loud so that he wouldn't miss the
opportunity of answering. If people thought he was
exaggerating, he would say, "You just don't know the value of
each and every amen."
He lived to 91. The gematriya of amen.
An amen is indeed great, but an amen yehei Shmei
Rabba... is a thousand times greater, says R' Simcha
Zissel of Kelm. Someone who answers amen yehei Shmei
Rabba with all his strength merits that any [harsh]
heavenly decree of his is ripped up, even if it was a
lifelong decree (Shabbos 119).
When people came to the Alter of Novhardok for a blessing, he
would tell them, "You need only say `Amen yehei Shmei
Rabba' with kavona and you will be saved from all
your troubles."
*
There is a Jerusalem custom of gathering the children in
shul towards the end of mussaf on Shabbos and
Yom Tov and giving them a small reward for answering amen
yehei Shmei Rabba to Kaddish, which is recited several
times. This custom has been taken up in many shuls
outside of Jerusalem as well.
A resident of Boro Park instituted this custom in his
shul after he had become seriously ill and made sure
it was kept up even while he was hospitalized. He is still
doing it today -- fourteen years later and, Baruch Hashem, in
good health.
The Karliner Rebbe zt'l advised a childless couple to
organize this custom (and provide small treats). Within the
year they had a child.
There is a shteibel in England where this practice was
recently introduced. The seventy children davening
there answer so loudly that the very walls (and hopefully,
the Heavens, too) shake. The sight is so impressive that
within a few weeks of its inception, another six shuls
followed the example.
Some people opposed new minhogim. "We didn't see this
in der alte heim," they argue. But how can a father
object to encouraging his children to answer out loud when
they would otherwise have been playing around?
The Chofetz Chaim wrote a letter at the onset of World War I
which rings relevant to our situation, "The thunder (of war)
that is presently heard in the world is an awesome matter. No
doubt, Heaven is trying to arouse us to return to Hashem. One
cannot imagine how many salvations would come to the Jewish
people if the entire community in every town, men, and
children, would gather in the beis midrash to
sincerely daven the three daily prayers -- and would
answer Borchu and amen yehei Shmei Rabba as a
large congregation every day. There is no doubt that it
would save thousands of people from death. It is a great
merit to encourage people to do this, for it brings salvation
to the Jewish people" (Keser Melucha, p. 394).
Fortunate are those who strengthen themselves and their
families and who encourage others as well to say these words
with devotion.
