To the editorial board of Vechol Ma’aminim,
Thank you very much; your tremendous efforts to imbue the custom of reciting Brichos Hashachar bechavrusa in Am Yisrael have caused a revolution. If in the past there were just a handful of people who did this, today, baruch Hashem, there is hardly a shul where there aren’t mispallelim who are strict to follow this practice.
One of your impressive initiatives is to institute a network of “gabba’ei amen,” in the shuls. Reality has proven that in a place where there is a person who is dedicated to answering amen, this practice spreads among the mispallelim.
The Gemara in Maseches Brachos (6b) brings the well-known words of Rabbi Yochanan: “At the time when HaKadosh Baruch Hu comes to the shul and does not find ten people there – He immediately gets angry, as it says (Yeshayahu 50:2): ‘Why I have come and there is no man here, I called and there is no one who answers.’”
The question is well known: The passuk says “Madua basi v’ein ish,” while Rabbi Yochanan’s statements are about a shul where there is a shortfall for a minyan. How did Rabbi Yochanan prove his statement with this passuk?
I thought of the following explanation: “איש” is an acronym for .a Jew that values amen – יהודי שמייקר אמן Because when there is one Jew who holds the mitzvah of answering amen in the greatest esteem, and he rises to come to shul to answer amen to those who recite Birchos Hashachar, that brings other mispallelim to also wake up early and come to the shul. Therefore, when HaKadosh Baruch Hu comes to a shul where there aren’t ten people, He is angry that there isn’t such an איש– and if there was – surely there would be ten people who rise early and come to recite Birchos Hashachar so he can listen.
With appreciation,
Shimon B., Elad
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