What A Day Dad Had

Recently my brother-in-law, an avid Mets fan, was rushed to the hospital on a Friday night. It was the last night of the American League playoffs. In the spirit of a true Mets fan, he was rooting for the Texas Rangers. While he was waiting in the emergency room, a victim of a car crash was rushed in wearing a Yankees cap. The nurse took one look at him and said, “You’re really not having a good night tonight!” It was evident that the Yankees had lost the playoffs, and my brother-in-law’s pain was somewhat alleviated! Baruch Hashem his ailment, though painful, turned out not to be life-threatening.

The Responsa Pri Ha’eitz (vol 1 oc: 7) discusses an individual who had a really bad week. What are the halachic ramifications of a bad week? The Gemara this week discussed various halachos of the korban todah. Rashi (Zevachim 7a) references the Gemara which states that there are four reasons to bring a korban todah. In the times of the Beis Hamikdash, someone who crossed the ocean by boat, traversed a desert, survived a grave illness, or was freed from captivity would be obligated to bring a korban todah. We sadly can no longer offer thanks to Hashem by bringing a korban. In its place, Chazal instituted Birkas Hagomel. The text of Birkas Hagomel is “Baruch atah Hashem hagomel l’chayavim tovos shegmalani (kol) tuv”—Blessed are You, who bestows good things upon the guilty, who has bestowed (every) goodness upon me.

Birkas Hagomel is usually recited during kriyas haTorah in shul to fulfill the requirement that ten men be present. There are various customs as to what women should do if they were in a situation that necessitated Birkas Hagomel. Some say that they should say it in front of ten family members. Some say they should say it in the ezras nashim loud enough for the men to hear. R’ Shlomo Zalman, zt’l, said that it is best if women recited the last berachah of birchas hashachar with intent to fulfill their obligation. The last berachah is appropriate because it ends with hagomel chasadim tovim l’amo Yisrael.

The interesting situation discussed in the Pri Eitz is regarding someone who had a really bad week. First he somehow ended up in a desert. Though thirsty and tired, he found his way out. When he exited he had to take a long trip on the ocean. The conditions on the boat made him so sick that he became gravely ill. To top it all off, he was then captured by pirates. His mazel changed and the pirates freed him, and he fully recovered from his illness. He managed to experience all four of the situations listed by Chazal that necessitate Birkas Hagomel. So should he recite Birkas Hagomel once or four times?

There are situations in halachah which may be similar. If one used the bathroom and forgot to say Asher Yatzar and then used the bathroom again and remembered his earlier omission, does he now recite Asher Yatzar once or twice? The Shulchan Aruch rules that he should recite Asher Yatzar twice. Asher Yatzar is a berachah that expresses our gratitude to Hashem that our bodily functions are working properly. Since there were two incidents worthy of thanks, we should say Asher Yatzar twice. Similarly, maybe our hapless fellow should recite Hagomel four times due to the four dangerous situations he emerged from. The Mishnah Berurah, however, disagrees with the Shulchan Aruch and concludes that only one Asher Yatzar is recited in such a case. If a person did not say Asher Yatzar until he needs to use the bathroom again, he has lost his opportunity to say that berachah. The Mishnah Berurah therefore advises us to say Asher Yatzar right away upon leaving the bathroom to ensure we don’t lose out on the mitzvah.

Another similar situation discussed by the poskim relates to bentching. What happens if one finishes his meal and declares, “I am going to start bentching.” That statement qualifies as a hesach hadaas—a firm decision to stop eating. If he wants to eat more bread he will have to recite a new Hamotzi. If he in fact recites a Hamotzi and eats more bread, does he now have to bentch once or twice? The halachah is that he only bentches once. The one bentching he recites will cover both meals. This should seemingly prove that our unlucky traveler should only recite Hagomel once.

However the Maharshal disagrees with this proof. He argues that even though he divided his meal in half, it can still be viewed as one long meal. However, when thanking Hashem for disparate incidents, there is no reason to view them as one occurrence.

Perhaps a comparison can be made to a person who forgets to daven Shacharis. In such a situation, he recites the Shemoneh Esrei twice during Minchah. We don’t say that one Shemoneh Esrei should suffice for both tefilos. One could argue that this is a very strong comparison. Just as Birkas Hagomel is in place of korbanos, so too Shemoneh Esrei is in place of korbanos. This line of reasoning would lead us to conclude that Birkas Hagomel would be recited four times.

Some acharonim bring a proof from the Rashi quoted in the beginning of this article that one Birkas Hagomel suffices. Rashi seems to indicate that one korban todah would suffice for all four circumstances, and Birkas Hagomel would certainly not be more stringent. While this she’eilah has been a point of contention for hundreds of years, the Mishnah Berurah rules that a person should recite Hagomel once for overcoming all the dangerous things that befell him. Even if each incident is viewed independently, one expression of thanks suffices for all of them.

Hashem should bestow good things on all of us.