Pausing for Amen During Krias Shema and its Brachos

Birchos hashachar k'halachah: Aloud, with kavanah, bechavrusa

Derech Emunim

The Halachos of Answering Amen

One who hears Kaddish while in the middle of Krias Shema or the Brachos of Krias Shema should answer “amen, yehei Shmei rabba”, and amen after “d’amiran b’alma,” even if he is in the middle of a perek. Some say that he has to also answer amen after “Yisgadal Veyiskadash Shemei Rabba”, and some wrote that he should answer all the amens that one answers in Kaddish until “d’amiran b’alma.” But he should not stop to answer amen after the requests that we say from “d’amiran b’alma” and onwards, even if he is between perakim.

1. The Mishnah Berurah (56 9) ruled that those who usually answer until the word “yisbarach,” when they are in the middle of Krias Shema Ubirchoseha, they should only answer until the word “olmaya.” But the Shulchan Aruch Harav (66 5) ruled like the Magen Avraham (ibid 6) that one should also answer then until the word “yisbarach”, and the Derech Hachaim (Dinei Krias Shema Ubirchoseha 5) concurs. The Ben Ish Chai (Parashas Shemos 6) and the Kaf Hachaim (66 17) wrote that those who follow the Arizal to continue until “d’amiran b’olma” should do that also when they are in the middle of Krias Shema and the brachos, even in the middle of the perek. But the Shu”t Yabia Omer (Vol. IX, 108:40) wrote that only one who is in between perakim can answer until “d’amiran b’olma” and in the middle of the perek one should only answer until “yisbarach.”
2. Regarding the words of the Shulchan Aruch (66 3) that one should stop even in the middle of Krias Shema and the brachos to answer Kaddish, the Mishnah Berurah writes (ibid 17): “This means ‘amen yehei Shemei rabba until ‘olmaya’...and he should answer amen after ‘d’amiran b’olma’, but regarding Tiskabel, Yehei Shlama, and Oseh Shalom – he should not answer amen because it is only a minhag.” And it appears from his words that answering amen after “Yisgadal veyiskadesh Shemei rabbah” one does not stop (not even between the perakim), and the Shoneh Halachos (ibid 2) concurs. From the words of the Mishnah Berurah earlier (56 12) who wrote “After yisgadal veyiskadash Shemei rabba the minhag is to answer amen”, it is explained that this amen is only a minhag and its halachah is like answering amen after the requests at the end of Kaddish and see further in the next footnote.
3. Shu”t Dvar Yehoshua (Vol. II 8) brought in the name of the Ya’avetz (Siddur Amudei Shamayim, in the halachos before Birchas Yotzer Ohr), that one who is up to Krias Shema should answer amen also after “Yisgadal veyiskadash Shemei rabba.” And he explained there that in the words of the Mishnah Berurah that were cited in the previous footnote, there is no ruling, because he did not count the amen after “Yisgadal veyiskadash Shemei rabba” - not at the beginning of his words when he listed the amens that one answers in the middle of Krias Shema and not at the end, when he listed the amens that we do not answer, not even between perakim. He further explained that one should not compare the answering of amen after “Shemei rabba” to answering amen after the requests that are after Kaddish, even though it is only a minhag, because while the actual saying of the requests at the end of Kaddish is a minhag, as they are not the main point of Kaddish, the words “Yisgadal veyiskadash Shemei rabba” are the ikkar of Kaddish and only answering amen after them is a minhag. He writes that this is what the Mishnah Berurah meant when he wrote: “Regarding Tiskabel, Yehei Shlama, Oseh Shalom – one should not answer amen because it is only a minhag,” meaning that the actual saying them is only a minhag, and the Machatzis Hashekel (66 6) concurs.
4. The Ben Ish Chai (ibid) and the Kaf Hachaim (ibid 23) wrote that according to the Arizal that one needs to answer five amens in each Kaddish from Yisgadal until d’amiran b’olma five amen, one should pause in Krias Shema even in the middle of a perek to answer all five of these amens.
5. Mishnah Berurah (ibid). and from the words of the Ben Ish Chai (Parashas Vayigash 9) it appears that in any case, he should think these amens in his heart.