Shaarei Gan Eden
Amen and Brachos in the Teachings of a Baal Hayahrtzeit
An Easy Piece of Advice to Tear Up Decrees
The Gemara says (Shabbos 119b): “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Anyone who answers ‘amen yehei Shemi rabba mevarach’ with all his strength – has his decree torn up.”
But the holy Zohar promises that the decree is torn up for anyone who answers amen, and not necessarily someone who answers “amen yehei Shmei rabba,” as it says there (Tikkunei Zohar 40 1): “One who answers amen with all his strength – has his decree of seventy years torn up” (Shomer Emunim, Ma’amar Pischu Shearim Ch. 1).
In a special letter dated during the year 5712, the Mashgiach Rav Elya Lopian wrote heart-wrenching words regarding the obligation to try and answer amen according to halachah, and his words look like they were written for our day:
“He has a piece of advice given by the Torah Sheba’al Peh, and if he believes in the Torah Sheba’al Peh, why does he not do it?! Especially during these time in which we live, when there is din over the whole world, black clouds chalilah hanging over the future, a person should be afraid if he does not do this easy piece of advice that does not waste time, or cost money and is not a great exertion, he just has to listen to hear well and to answer properly...” (Kuntress Shomer Emunim [New York 5713] p. 42)
A Test of One’s Emunah
In that same letter, the Mashgiach adds that being strict to answer amen is a test of a person’s emunah. Answering amen does not require any particular sacrifice or effort. A person just has to listen to the brachah or Kaddish and answer amen, according to halachah. Therefore, every person who has emunah in his heart should be strict about answering amen.
The passuk (Devarim 32:20): “banim lo eimun bam” is explained by the Sifri (320) in two ways: 1. “banim atem she’ein bachem emunah,” you are sons that don’t have emunah, and 2. “Do not read it ‘lo eimun bam’, but rather ‘lo amen bam’ – that they did not want to answer to the Nevi’im when they blessed them.” Based on this, we can see that these explanations are related to one another – refraining from answering amen, despite it being a mitzvah that requires no effort, indicates that a person does not have emunah (Shomer Emunim [New York 5713] p. 42).
Answering Amen Saved Them from An Attack
One of Rav Elya’s talmidim related: I was once traveling with the Mashgiach on the train from Yerushalayim to Haifa. During the ride, when the Mashgiach was about to make the brachah of Asher Yatzar, he motioned with his hand to a policeman standing nearby to gather his friends who were traveling with us in the rail car. When they all gathered around him, he said: I will make an Asher Yatzar, and you will all answer amen!
It was remarkable that they all agreed, very seriously. The Mashgiach said the brachah, as he always did, word for word, in a loud voice, and when he finished, the policemen answered amen together. One of them even said, in amazement: Hearing Asher Yatzar from the rabbi can lead one to teshuvah! A few moments later, the trains topped suddenly, and stood in place for about half an hour. Ultimately, they learned that a mine had been found on the train tracks, and miraculously, it had not exploded. (Sefer Lev Eliyahu, Vol. I, p. 51)
