Q&A: A Commandment Obligatory Every Day with a Blessing Recited Over It
A Commandment Obligatory Every Day with a Blessing Recited Over It
Question
Hello Rabbi!
Do the Rabbi or the site members know of a commandment, other than Torah study, over which one recites a blessing anew every day?
My question comes from a discussion in which the Shelah holds that a person who does not leave the sukkah must recite the blessing “to sit in the sukkah” again every morning, because the commandment renews itself each day.
The Magen Avraham disagrees and brings proof from tzitzit: according to the view that nighttime is a time for tzitzit, one does not need to recite a blessing over it when he gets up.
But in my opinion there is no proof from tzitzit, because one could say that sukkah is like Torah study: even if one studies all night, once daybreak arrives he is obligated to stop and recite the blessings over the Torah. But what I say is correct only if we assume that the blessing over the Torah is a blessing on a commandment, and with that I myself do not agree; I am more inclined to think that it is a blessing of praise.
Therefore, if there really is such a commandment, over which one recites a blessing on the commandment anew every day, that would be enough to undermine the words of the Magen Avraham. I am inclined not to agree with him, but I want to strengthen that.
Thank you
Answer
The commandments of reciting the Shema and tzitzit. Perhaps you mean a continual commandment. That is not the same thing as a commandment that one is obligated in every day. I do not know of such a continual commandment. Ah, and I agree that the blessing over the Torah is not a blessing on a commandment (in any case, not all of the blessings over the Torah).
Discussion on Answer
Thank you,
I’m asking about a commandment such that while I am in the middle of fulfilling it, a new day begins, and I would then have to recite the blessing over it again. I did not find a definition of a continual commandment; if the intention is a commandment that can continue, like sukkah, Torah, then yes, that is what I mean. Thanks for the clarification.
With the counting of the Omer, there is no way that I could be in the middle of fulfilling it, a new day would begin, and I would continue fulfilling it, because each day’s count is different…
Yes, I remembered that you hold that the blessing over the Torah is not a blessing on a commandment (from column 479). But I asked myself: if so, why is its wording: “Who sanctified us with His commandments”?
Rabbi Asher Weiss writes:
“And regarding the core issue of whether the blessing over the Torah is a blessing on a commandment or a blessing of thanksgiving, it is in truth obvious that the first blessing is a blessing on a commandment, for the entire formula ‘Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us’ is like all the other blessings on commandments, while the final blessing, ‘Who chose us,’ is like every blessing of thanksgiving. If so, seemingly everything we discussed at length above has no place at all, and the matter depends simply on which blessing is being discussed.
But in truth it seems obvious that although the Men of the Great Assembly certainly instituted two blessings for the blessing over the Torah, one in the language of a blessing on a commandment and one in the language of a blessing of thanksgiving, one must still investigate the essential nature of the commandment on the Torah level, for on the Torah level there is no fixed coinage in blessings, nor do they have any defined formula; if so, one must examine the basic obligation and define its nature. And indeed, it is possible that it is a blessing on a commandment, and nevertheless we recite ‘Who chose us,’ which is the choicest of blessings, as explained in Berakhot 11b. And it is possible that it is a blessing of thanksgiving, and nevertheless we recite ‘Who sanctified us,’ for even the formula of a blessing on a commandment contains thanksgiving, since one thanks the Holy One, blessed be He, for having sanctified us with His commandments. It is therefore obvious that one cannot determine the nature of the Torah-level obligation from the wording of the blessings.
Now according to the Beit Yosef there, women recite the blessing over the Torah, and it was explained above that he holds it is a blessing of thanksgiving, and therefore women also recite it even though they are exempt from Torah study. Seemingly this is difficult, for even so, how can they recite the blessing ‘Who sanctified us with His commandments’ if they are not commanded in Torah study? For it is obvious from the plain wording of the Shulchan Arukh that they recite all the blessings, and not only the blessing ‘Who chose us’ [and indeed, the Vilna Gaon in section 47 cited above wondered how they can say both ‘and commanded us’ and ‘and gave us’]. Rather, it seems as explained: if the essence of the blessing on the Torah level is a blessing of thanksgiving, then the law of all the blessings is derived from that definition, and even the first blessing has the status of a blessing of thanksgiving, and women are obligated in it. This still requires further study.”
<ul>
<li>Continual commandments appear in Sefer HaChinukh and in the introduction to the Mishnah Berurah. The counting of the Omer is a continuous commandment, except that its nature is to ascend each day in the count.</li>
</ul>
One could discuss the counting of the Omer, but this is not the place to go into it.