Why Doesn’t Tefillas HaDerech Start With ברוך ?
The Rishonim asks: Why doesn’t Tefillas HaDerech start with ברוך, surely, we learn in Berachos (46a): כל הברכות כולן פותח בהן ב״ברוך״ וחותם בהן ב״ברוך״ – “All berachos begin with “boruch” and end with “boruch”? The Tur answers in the name of Tosfos in Pesachim (104b) that Tefillas HaDerech is a tefillah and not a berachah, it’s not a birchas hanenin, or berachah due to a certain timely event (על שם מאורע), rather it’s a request for mercy (בקשת רחמים ) and the reason we end with “boruch” is simply because it’s a lengthy tefillah. The Sha’ar HaTziyun (230, s.k. 9) writes: According to this, we can understand why we don’t mention malchus [about Hashem being the King] in the berachah recited at the end of Tefillas HaDerech. The Shu”t Radvaz (Vol. 6 siman 2176) writes: Since Tefillas HaDerech is a tefillah, one fulfills a mitzvah de’O’raisa of tefillah when reciting it.
