Baruch Hashem, Amen, Halleluyah and other Doxological Terms

A thought on Parashas Ki Savo

Sep 16, 2022

Nobody likes small talk, especially elevator small talk, but it is better than awkward silence. A few days ago on my way home, I was accompanied in the elevator by a neighbor of mine. We chose to go the small talk route and with the initial ‘how are you’s’ and the default response ‘Baruch Hashem’, when my neighbor shared an amazing insight. As Jews, we are so lucky we can say Baruch Hashem, imagine the non-Jews, they say ‘nothing much’ or when they have a problem the response is ‘that should be the worst of your problems.’ We get to say Baruch Hashem. Whatever is happening in our lives - we can say Baruch Hashem.

Another word that we Jews say a lot is Amen. Of the more powerful memories of my time in yeshiva, was the davening on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is during these tefillos that the words that we say daily, take on extra wings. The energy it carries forth with, is much stronger than the rest of the year. In particular, is the word Amen. I have long wondered why the word Amen gets such special attention on these holy days. What is the significance of Amen and why do yeshiva guys scream it out during the Yamim Noraim?

In this weeks parashah, Ki Savo, we learn about the berachos and kelalos on Har Gerizim and Har Eival. Moshe is instructing the Bnei Yisrael that immediately after crossing the Yarden with Yehoshua, there was to be a gathering of all the people in the valley bordered by Har Gerizim and Har Eival. Half the shevatim were to stand on one mountain and half on the other. The Levi’im were to stay in the center around the Aron. The Levi’im were to pronounce the twelve sins that can be done in secret that no one will ever know about, which determine beracha and kelalah, and the people on the mountain sides were to respond with a resounding, “Amen!” It is interesting that after each curse, everyone said Amen. But after each blessing they did not. Why did the Jewish people only say Amen to the curses and not to the blessings?

This is not the only place where we find Amen is associated with a curse. In describing the laws of the Sotah, the Torah tells us1 that the Kohen says that by drinking these waters, if she is guilty, it will be a curse, to which the woman responds Amen Amen. There are various explanations as to why she is saying Amen, and why she says it twice, but we see clearly that the curse is followed by an Amen. Why is that?

One more question -

The Gemara2 tells us that Amen was not said in the Mikdash, rather after every beracha they said Baruch Hashem Min HaOlam V’Ad HaOlam. Why was Amen not said in the Mikdash?

Before answering this, I would like to detail some of the things Chazal say about the significance of the word Amen.

Firstly, we find3 that Amen is not limited to humans, angels also say the word Amen --

The Midrash4 tells us that when Mashiach comes there will be an assembly in Gan Eden which will be capped off with a Kaddish which will be heard across the world, this Kaddish will be answered with a resounding Amen which will come from all inhabitants of the world and even from those still in Gehennom. This would cause a ruckus in the world, which will cause Hashem to instruct Michoel and Gavriel to open the gates to Gehennom to let out those who answered Amen as they were matzdik (justified) the din.

Similarly, Chazal also tell us that when one says Amen, the gates of Gan Eden open. I heard a beautiful explanation to this from Rabbi Efrem Goldberg5 quoting Rav Shlomo Wolbe:

When we look at the happenings in this world from the perspective of Gan Eden, everything makes sense and there is full clarity. When something happens that is hard to understand the reason, you say Amen and you feel the emunah coming forth and then you are blessed with the gates of Gan Eden opening for you with the perspective of Gan Eden and the clarity it provides

The Midrash on our parashah6 tells us that there is nothing greater than the Amen that Yisrael says. The Midrash continues that there are 3 expressions of Amen. 1- an expression of agreeing to a neder, 2 - Confirmation of the truth of a statement, and 3 - Prayer for fulfillment of a hope expressed in a statement7

Chazal8 teach that one who answers Amen with all his strength can annul even a decree of seventy years. The Maharal9 explains that the typical life span of man is seventy years, therefore even if it was decreed that one would be poor his entire life, a strong Amen which reaches Hashem can turn the tides and bring beracha into your life.

The Gemara10 speaks very strongly about an Amen for a misprounounced beracha or a mispronounced Amen. The Shulchan Aruch11 even says that if one hears a beracha from a young child one should not answer Amen. In a fascinating comment, the Rema says that if one hears a complete beracha from a non-Jew he should answer Amen.

What does Amen actually mean?

We find in Yirmiyahu12

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יִרְמְיָ֣ה הַנָּבִ֔יא אָמֵ֕ן כֵּ֖ן יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה ה’ יָקֵ֤ם ה’ אֶת־דְּבָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִבֵּ֗אתָ לְהָשִׁ֞יב כְּלֵ֤י בֵית־יְהֹוָה֙ וְכׇל־הַגּוֹלָ֔ה מִבָּבֶ֖ל אֶל־הַמָּק֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ The prophet Jeremiah said: “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill what you have prophesied and bring back from Babylon to this place the vessels of the House of the Lord and all the exiles!

We see Amen is a term for fulfilling that which was said.

The Gemara13 says that Amen stands for El Melech Ne’eman, an expression of emunah.

The Shulchan Aruch says that the Kavvana to have in mind when saying Amen is “This Bracha that was said is true and I believe in it.”14

Rabbeinu Bachya15 writes as follows:

Seeing that faith is the foundation of the whole Torah, our sages have decreed the response אמן on numerous occasions within the prayer service in order for the participants to express their faith in what the reader proclaims. The word אמן is rooted in the expression אמונה, “faith, loyalty.” The word also means that he who says it acknowledges and agrees with the statements concerning which he says אמן. Our sages laid so much stress on this verbal response that we find a statement in Nazir 15 that “he who answers with the word אמן is greater than he who uttered the words to which אמן is the response.”
In order to explain this apparently baffling statement, we must remember that he who answers אמן when he heard the benediction read by the Chazzan in fact acknowledges that the real source of the blessing is God, not the Chazzan or priest, and that by saying אמן he validates the Chazzan’s statement.

He writes further:

I have so far explained the word אמן in terms of it being rooted in the word אמונה. Apart from the fact that the word symbolises תפארת and כבוד, there is an additional mystical dimension to this word. It contains within itself a “panorama” of the ten sefiros including both the tetragrammaton and its substitute (א-ד-נ-י) seeing it commences with the letter א, which symbolizes the highest of these sefiros, i.e. כתר. This sefira is the source of all the blessings up until the letter מ which symbolises תשובה, repentance, as well as the fact that God is מלך העולם the King of the universe. [A king, by definition is masculine. Ed.]
The letter ן which adjoins the letter מ alludes to the fact that God combines within Himself both the masculine and feminine attributes.

He continues:

All this is applicable outside the confines of the Holy Temple. In the Temple itself the formula אמן was not used. The reason was that within the precincts of the Temple the priests would pronounce the tetragrammaton in accordance with its spelling, not as a כנוי, i.e. as א-ד-נ-י, as was the case outside the Mikdash. Seeing that the first two letters of the tetragrammaton, i.e. the letters י-ה symbolized the source from which the blessing emanates there was no point in adding the word אמן which does so only indirectly, i.e. by means of the letter א which symbolized the כנוי.

When someone consciously repeats the word אמן he will acquire two worlds as indicated by David at the end of Psalm 72 וברוך שם כבודו לעולם וימלא כבודו את כל הארץ אמן ואמן, “Blessed is His glorious name forever; His glory fills the universe, Amen, Amen.” We find the same theme repeated at the end of Psalm 89 ברוך ה' לעולם אמן ואמן, “Blessed be the Lord forever, Amen and Amen.” Anyone saying אמן in this fashion has truly honoured the Lord. Concerning such people we are told in Samuel I 2,30 (in the name of God) “for I honor those who honor Me.”

Let us return to our Parashah, Rav Hirsch writes in his eloquent way about Har Gerizim and Har Eival:

"Both of them rise from the same soil, both are watered by the same rain and dew. The same air passes over them both: the same pollen is blown over them both. Yet Mount Eival (Ebal) remains starkly barren, while Gerizim is covered with lush vegetation to its very top. In the same way, blessing and curse are not dependent on external circumstances, but on our inner receptivity to one or the other, on our attitude, toward that which brings blessing. When we cross the Yarden and take our first steps on the soil of the Law that sanctifies us, the sight of these two mountains teaches us that we ourselves by our own moral conduct, decide whether we are headed for Mount Gerizim or Mount Eival"16

Perhaps this is why the curses are followed by an Amen. When we can say Amen, we are matzdik the din. We are saying that this is all from Hashem. As soon as we do this, the curse turns to a blessing. The ארור turns to אור.

Moshe was telling the people that when they enter Eretz Yisrael, they would need a new and powerful infusion of emunah and bitachon. And the most effective and powerful expression of emunah would be the thunderous declaration of “Amen!”17

Throughout our history, when we have suffered persecution, we questioned why this was happening to us. Yet, throughout the bad times, we have always used the power of Amen to boost the power of the berachos we make and hear. It is this belief that has kept us going to the present day.

Dovid HaMelech says in Tehillim18

הוֹשִׁיעֵ֨נוּ ה’ אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ וְקַבְּצֵנוּ֮ מִֽן־הַגּ֫וֹיִ֥ם לְ֭הֹדוֹת לְשֵׁ֣ם קׇדְשֶׁ֑ךָ לְ֝הִשְׁתַּבֵּ֗חַ בִּתְהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃ Deliver us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, to acclaim Your holy name, to glory in Your praise.
בָּ֤רֽוּךְ ה’ אֱלֹהֵ֪י יִשְׂרָאֵ֡ל מִן־הָ֤עוֹלָ֨ם ׀ וְעַ֬ד הָעוֹלָ֗ם וְאָמַ֖ר כׇּל־הָעָ֥ם אָמֵ֗ן הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃ Blessed is the LORD, God of Israel, From eternity to eternity. Let all the people say, “Amen.” Halleluyah.

We are now introduced to a new doxologic term, Halleluyah. The Meforshim19 explain that when Mashiach comes, the whole world will see that Hashem is one. So then, in the Mikdash we will say Baruch Hashem. Those amongst us who are unable to say it will say Amen, and the non-Jews will all come together and say Halleluyah.

May we merit to see that day soon.

Baruch Hashem, Amen, Halleluyah and other Doxological Terms

A thought on Parashas Ki Savo

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