This coming Friday, 5 Av, is the yahrtzeit of the Arizal Hakadosh. His sublime and lofty revelations, conveyed to us by his talmid Harav Chaim Vital, were accepted with tremendous awe by all of Am Yisrael and his Torah and practices are mentioned often in the poskim.
Among his wondrous practices that were preserved in our day was his strictness to answer amen after Birchos Hashachar. The minhag is brought in the Shulchan Aruch (6 4) to recite Birchos Hashachar together so that each one can answer amen to his friends’ brachos, and the Shaarei Teshuvah (ibid 5) brings the unique practice of the Arizal. He writes: "And it is brought down that the Arizal would hear Birchos Hashachar from the mispallelim in the shul, even if there were a hundred of them – and he would answer amen after them."
Wonder of wonders! The Arizal, one of the greatest sages of our nation, whose time was so precious and holy and used to reveal secrets in Torah and to have lofty Yichudim, would dedicate a lot of time each morning to answer amen to the Birchos Hashachar of others. One mispallel after another would approach to recite brachos for him, and he would listen to the brachos of each and every one and answered amen after them. "Even if there were a hundred – he would answer amen after them"!!
This wondrous practice of the Arizal should awaken us all! In order to clarify, I will first share a well-known story that took place on Yom Kippur in the shul in St. Petersburg. As was the custom, the mitzvos of that day were sold to the highest bidder. Because all the wealthy people of the city, even those where were distant from Torah and mitzvos, came to daven on this day, the honors were sold for a high price. When it was announced that the honor of opening the aron for Ne’ilah was being offered, the price spiked, until one of the wealthy members offered 2,500 rubles for the honor and he won the privilege.
Just before Ne’ilah, the wealthy man asked his friends about the significance of the mitzvah he had purchased for so much money. His friend looked at him in surprise and said, "If you don’t know what it’s about, why did you invest so much money in buying it?"
"Really now," the wealthy man replied, "if all my friends, the big merchants, were competing to buy it, shouldn’t I trust that it’s a worthwhile investment?"
We say the same thing: If the Arizal, who was privy to every secret in Torah, chose to invest his precious time each morning to answer amen to the Birchos Hashachar of the mispallelim, should we not trust him that this is a worthwhile investment?
Baruch Hashem, today, there more than 500 gabba’ei amen who are part of Bney Emunim, and they rise like the ari, the lion, to go to shul each morning and to answer amen after the mispallelim. These people – which I am privileged to say I am part of – understand that the mitzvah that the Arizal loved and invested in is an excellent investment.
On this holy day, let the call echo: May this practice be a light for us. Let us follow in his ways and be strict to answer amen after Birchos Hashachar of others, until we merit the realization of the passuk (Tehillim 72:19): "Va’yemalei kevodo es kol ha’aretz amen v’amen."
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
