Q&A: Blessing over Torah Study — a Blessing of Praise or a Blessing over Commandments
Blessing over Torah Study — a Blessing of Praise or a Blessing over Commandments
Question
The Biur Halakhah wrote (sec. 8, para. 14) regarding the blessing on tzitzit, about someone entering a bathhouse with the intention of putting tzitzit back on after he leaves, that it is preferable for him to have in mind that the blessing should not cover the commandment of tzitzit beyond the time he enters the bathhouse, and then he can properly bless again afterward. We see that if one intends that his blessing should count only for a certain period, he must bless again after that time, because a person can intend for his blessing to apply only for a defined time. [And similarly we find regarding the blessing on the sukkah, where the Bach and the Taz wrote (Orach Chayim sec. 639) that one who entered the sukkah and blessed there, and afterward sat down to eat, blesses again “to sit in the sukkah,” because he had in mind that his blessing would be effective only until the time he eats.]
Now, regarding the blessings over Torah study for someone who stayed awake all night, the Mishnah Berurah wrote (sec. 47, subsec. 28): If he was awake all night, some say that he does not need to bless in the morning, and some say that he must bless, because the Sages established this blessing every day, similar to the other morning blessings; and in cases of doubt regarding blessings, we rule leniently. But if possible, he should try to hear the blessings over Torah study from someone else, and that person should intend to discharge his obligation with the blessings, and he should intend to fulfill his obligation and answer Amen, etc.
I have not merited to understand: what is different about the blessing on tzitzit and the blessing on the sukkah from the blessings over Torah study, and why didn’t the Mishnah Berurah write, regarding the blessings over Torah study, this same suggestion — that when he blesses over Torah study in the morning before the night he plans to stay awake, he should intend that his blessing apply only until the following morning, when he will come to bless again?
At first glance, logically the distinction seems simple:
A blessing on tzitzit and sukkah is a blessing on a “mitzvah-act,” and therefore a person can intend to bless only on part of the act — a specific entry into the sukkah, or the tzitzit blessing only until a certain time.
This is unlike the blessing over Torah study, which is not on a specific act but on the very fact of study itself. Even a person who goes off to work does not bless again over Torah study afterward, because the blessing is on the essence of study itself. So where would there even be room to say that he can intend it only for part of the mitzvah? From the outset, the blessing is not on a specific act at all, and that is enough said.
Awaiting your honorable reply.
With the blessing of Torah and with deep love,
Your student
Answer
Hello,
I’m not sure I understood the distinction you suggested, though perhaps you mean what I myself would say here.
If I dared, I would explain everything simply by saying that the blessing over Torah study is a blessing of praise, not a blessing over commandments. If so, the whole discussion is different: with blessings of praise, the question is when the Sages instituted praising the Holy One, blessed be He, and thanking Him for the Torah. That is not really comparable to the issue of blessings over commandments, where it depends on his intention as to when he is fulfilling the commandment and to what he wants the blessing to apply.
However, some halakhic authorities wrote that it is a blessing over commandments (including the Magen Avraham and the Mishnah Berurah themselves — for example regarding the blessing over Torah study for women, where they asked why women recite it). According to that view, perhaps one could explain that the obligation of Torah is not a separate obligation at every single moment, but rather a continuous obligation that does not stop. It may be that when the definition is like that, one’s intention is not effective to set a time limit. If the obligation were renewed at every moment, then he would have an obligation to bless at every moment, and his intention would determine until when and for which moments his blessing applies. But with a continuous obligation, it is one single unit, and the application of the blessing depends on the practical circumstances (when he goes to sleep, or at night, etc.) and not on his intention.
And in truth, perhaps this can be linked to the interpretation of the verse, “day and night” or “when you lie down and when you rise.” On the simple level, that means the entire time continuously, but Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai interprets it as by day and by night — a section in the morning and a section in the evening — and it seems his intention is that the obligation applies to each individual moment, with the minimum being a section in the morning and a section in the evening. And of course, one can distinguish between these cases.