Remazim of Amen in the Parashah
One Worthy Amen
On the day that the Rebbe Rav Moshe of Kobrin turned seventy, his talmidim held a seudah in honor of the event. Towards the end, the Rebbe of Kobrin entered and said: “If only I would know that in all my life I answered one amen the way it is supposed to be, then it was all worth it.” At another opportunity he said: “If I would know that in all my life I answered one worthy amen, I would not worry at all.” (Imros Moshe [Bnei Brak 5776] Vol. I, p. 192-193)
Answering Amen with Emunah Brings Yeshuah
One of the chassidim of Rav Moshe of Kobrin asked to go into the Rebbe to share what was on his heart and to receive a brachah. In response, the Rebbe told him that he should enter when he was eating. When the chassid arrived, he heard the Rebbe making the brachos “Borei Minei Mezonos” and “Shehakol Nihiyeh Bidvaro” and he answered amen. Then the Rebbe said to him: “You have heard my brachos and you answered amen after them, which means emunah in the Leadership of Hashem in His world, do you have anything else to add?!” Indeed, the emunah that was rooted in the heart of that chassid from hearing his Rebbe’s brachos and answering amen after them obviated the need for him to say anything, and he didn’t ask for anything, except that he should continue to have this emunah in his heart. (Ibid Vol. I p. 104)
Answering Amen Is Like Sacrificing Korbanos
עזים שעיר קחו לאמר תדבר ישראל בני ואל” ושור :לעלה תמימם שנה בני וכבש ועגל לחטאת בשמן בלולה ומנחה ‘ה לפני לזבח לשלמים ואיל (ד-ג ט) “אליכם נראה ‘ה היום כי
כי היום is numerically equivalent to amen. The passuk “Ki hayom Hashem nira aleichem” alludes that even today, when there is no avodas korbanos, we can merit the essence of “Hashem nirah aleichem” that Bnei Yisrael merited in the time of the Bais Hamikdash, by answering amen k’halachah. (Meshivas Nefesh)
They Didn’t Answer Amen in the Mikdash
ויברכו ויצאו מועד אהל אל ואהרן משה ויבא” (כג ט) “העם כל אל ‘ה כבוד וירא העם את
In Maseches Taanis (16b) it is brought that in the Mikdash they did not answer amen, but rather “Baruch Shem kevod Malchuso l’olam va’ed.” Rav Chaim of Friedburg, a brother of the Maharal of Prague, explained the reason:
When the Mikdash was standing, when the Kavod Hashem was revealed to all through the miracles done there, the oneh would join the mevarech who declared in his brachah the Malchus Hashem, by saying “Baruch Shem kevod Malchuso l’olam va’ed,” because everyone clearly saw the “Kevod Malchuso.” But in galus, when the kavod of Hashem is hidden, the mevarech coronates his Creator, and the oneh amen agrees with him, with the emunah that very soon, the kavod of Hashem’s Malchus will be revealed.
Iggeres Hatiyul, Chelek Hadrash 2
