There are many gematrios around the word אמן that have been shared by the gedolim through the generations. In this pamphlet, and from time to time even in this section, we often bring their words and discuss various ideas that are derived from them. In the coming lines, I’d like to focus on one of the more famous gematrios mentioned in the sources, and that is about the name יעקב which is numerically equivalent to twice amen.
The double amen is not random, because we have found that the passuk itself has doubled this word in a number of places, such as in sefer Nechemiah (8:6), where It says, “Vaya’anu kol ha’am amen amen.” Dovid Hamelech also concluded the first three seforim in Tehillim with “amen v’amen” (41:14; 72:19; 89:53).
But what is the meaning of the double amen?
We can say that it alludes that to answer amen there needs to be cooperation between two Jews who love answering amen: the mevarech, who seeks to have his brachah completed with the answering of amen, and another Jew who is happy to answer amen to the brachah.
I thought to add an explanation according to the Zohar in this parashah (160a) which says that the secret of the brachos is that one recites it and two answer amen. The Zohar (ibid) cites the words of the passuk (Devarim 32:3): “Ki Shem Hashem ekra havu godel l’Elokeinu,” and explains: “Ki Shem Hashe ekra” – with the brachah, “havu godel l’Elokeinu” – with answering amen from two people, as it says “havu” in the plural.
So we find that there is special hiddur for each brachah to be said with three people, one who makes the brachah and two who answer amen after it. Based on this we can explain that the double amen comes to allude to this hiddur that there should be two who answer amen.
I thought to add a beautiful remez to the words of the Zohar. The passuk “havu godel l’Elokeinu” from which the Zohar derived this special hiddur of two onim amen after the brachah is also numerically equivalent to exactly twice amen!
Let us be strict to complete the brachos with answering amen, and if we are zocheh that two people answer – then surely we will be doubly blessed.
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
ת.ד 102 בני ברק | פקס : 03-5055919
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