We often mention the concept that answering amen completes the brachah. We just rejoiced with the hilula of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who taught us in his Sefer Hazohar (Eikev 271 1) that only a brachah that is answered with amen is a complete brachah, for which the Gates of Heaven are opened.
This concept can also be inferred from the fact that the Gemara (Brachos 53b) compares the brachah and the amen to battles in a war, to learn that "the one who answers amen is greater than the mevarech." Just like in wartime, the simple soldiers are the ones who launch the war, while the strong soldiers follow later and complete the battle, so, too, one who answers amen comes after the mevarech and he is greater than the mevarech. We need to learn from this that similar to the parable, in which the simple, strong soldiers participate in the same war, likewise in the nimshal, the mevarech and the one who answers amen participate together in the brachah. Answering amen is not an addition to the brachah, it is an integral part of it – and completes it.
Many of the commentaries bring various comparisons to illustrate the concept of completing the brachah with amen: Rabbeinu Bechayei (Shemos 14:31) compared the brachah to testimony offered by one witness, and the answering of amen to the second witness that joins him, and through the latter, the testimony is accepted. In contrast, the Maharshal compared the brachah to the body of the document, while the amen is like the signature of the witnesses that give the document validity (Amudei Shlomo on the Sma"g, Aseh 27). Similarly, there are other comparisons, but the basis of the concept is the same: answering amen is part of the brachah and is meant to complete it.
In a beautiful letter that one of our readers sent, he added another example to clarify the connection between amen and the brachah. He compared the brachah and the answering of amen to a pair of shoes, and wrote: "Shoes come in pairs, a left shoe and a right shoe. One shoe, no matter how prestigious the brand name, will be useless if the other shoe is missing. Likewise, the brachah and the amen are a pair of praises that together create a complete brachah. Even a brachah said with complete kavanah needs the complementary part – the amen."
Let us take care that all our brachos should be completed with amen. Let us recite Birchos Hashachar each day in front of someone that can answer amen, and measure for measure, we will be blessed from Above with "brachah sheleimah."
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
