The holy Zohar (Vayeilech 285 2) writes that from the power of answering amen with kavanah, the gates of blessing and goodness are opened On High, and they arouse joy in all the worlds. He writes:
And when Am Yisrael below listen to answer amen, and to have the right kavanah, how many openings of brachos are opened On High, how much good there is in all the worlds, how much joy there is in everything.
Based on these words of the Zohar, the Shelah writes (Maseches Tamid 80) the following: “In the seforim of the Mekubalim who draw from the living wellsprings of the Zohar, they expound on the secret of the word amen and its letters, and wrote that the Upper and Lower worlds are all dependent on the word amen, and that is the ikkar and the root and foundation for all the worlds. Someone who has kavanah on each and every brachah that emerges from the mouth of the mevarech, and answers amen with kavanah, causes a large amount of kedushah On High, and draws down much abundance to all the worlds, because he opens the Upper Source, the Mekor Mayim Chaim, like he opens the spring to water all of those that need watering.”
The Rema”z in his commentary on the Zohar (ibid) writes that amen in its full form [ן“נו ם“מ ף“אל] is numerically equivalent to 297, which is the value of the words ,ברכה טובה, גילה ]=שמחה]. From here, he alluded to the words of the Zohar that answering amen with kavanah opens gates of brachah and brings an abundance of goodness and joy to all the worlds.
Tefillah Is Accepted in the Merit of Answering Amen
The Zohar further writes (ibid) that from the power of answering amen, the gates of tefillah are opened, and the tefillos of Am Yisrael are accepted. He writes:
When the haters of Am Yisrael oppress and harass Am Yisrael, and Am Yisrael offers their tefillah before their Creator, the Voice emerges and declares in all the worlds: “Pischu she’arim veyavo goy tzaddik shomer emunim” (Yeshayah 26:2). Do not read it emunim, from the term of emunah, but rather amenim, from the term of answering amen. Because in the merit of answering amen “Pischu she’arim” is declared. This announcement is middah kenegged middah: Just like Am Yisrael open the gates of blessing On High by answering amen, likewise, they now declare On High: “Pischu She’arim,” open before Am Yisrael the Gates of Heaven, and their tefillos to be spared from those who oppress and harass them will be answered.
The Remaz (ibid) explains that the Gates of Heaven are opened to those who are strict to answer amen “because their mouths were sanctified by answering amen and with kavanah, therefore, their breaths rise On High and breach all the barriers.”
All the Gates Open for a Brachah Answered by Amen
Aside for the actual mitzvah and merit that answering amen has, doing so is also beneficial to complete the brachah and fulfill it, as brought in the Zohar (Eikev 271 1):
When the brachah that is answered by amen rises from the lower world to the Upper World, there is no opening On High...that does not open ... for it, and they announce in all the firmaments: This is the gift that Ploni sent for the King, this is the gift that was sent after it was properly fulfilled. And what is that gift? A brachah that has amen answered after it, as every brachah that is answered by amen is one that is fulfilled, as it is worthy of being.
From the words of the Zohar it emerges that answering amen is what gives the brachah fulfillment and validity. Indeed, Rabbeinu Bechayei (Shemos 14:31) compared the brachah to testimony said by one witness, and the answering of amen to the second witness that joins him, in whose merit the testimony becomes valid. Similarly, the Avudraham (Chazaras Hashatz) compares the brachah to a document that is not yet affirmed and fulfilled in front of a Beis Din, and therefore, a person can deny it, and the answering of amen to the fulfillment of the document in front of the Beis Din, after which it cannot be appealed. The Maharshal uses a similar metaphor: The brachah is like the body of a document, while the answering amen is like the signature of the witness that gives the document validity (Amudei Shlomo on the Sma”g, Aseh 27).
Answering Amen Tears Up the Decree
In Maseches Shabbos (119b) it says: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: ‘Anyone who answers amen, yehei Shemei Rabba mevarach with all his might – has his decree torn up.’” But the Shomer Emunim wrote (Ma’amr Pischu She’arim 1) that the holy Zohar promises the tearing up of the decree for anyone who answers amen, not only one who answers “amen, yehei Shemei Rabba.” As it says (Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 19, 40 1):
“Az tikra v’Hashem ya’aneh” (Yeshayah 58:9) – What is “az”, then? These are the eight letters of the two holy Names of Havay-a and Adnus [because אז is numerically equivalent to eight], which are numerically equivalent to 91 – which is equal to amen.
And this is what Chazal say: One who answers amen with all his koach, his strength, meaning that with that koach of the yichud of the holy Names contained in amen, and of this the Mishnah says: One who answers amen with all his strength has a decree of seventy years torn up.
Harav Menachem Mendel of Visheva brought a remez from the passuk (Tehillim 116 3-4): “Tzarah veyagon emtza ubeShem Hashem ekra ana Hashem maltah nafshi.” אנה מלטה נפשי is an acronym for amen, that by answering amen, a person saves his soul from bad decrees (She’eris Menachem Tehillim ibid).
Pearls from the Sefer Hazohar HaKadosh on the Great Virtues of Answering Amen
,עיננו מאירת היא לנו מגן תורתו יוחאי בר אדוננו בעדנו טוב ימליץ הוא
