Birkat HaTorah: Part One | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | May 5 2026

as they say here, "Lag Baomer." And if you if you haven't heard that before, then I'm the I'll be the first to give you the cheesy little line, "Lag Baomer." And as we always do, we dive in that our learning today should be a as a good for our highly for our soldiers should be a refuah, should be as good for a refuah for all those were injured and all those who have been impacted by the war. >> [snorts] >> And who should give guidance to all of our leaders to make the right decisions Hashem. And this good of Lag Baomer and this good of Rabbi Shimon and and the Torah Tanistar. The the the Kabbalah, the hidden Torah which was revealed on Lag Baomer should should be as good for all of us today. We're going to learn not Torah Tanistar, we're going to learn Torah Tanigleh. More revealed Torah today. We're going to open today and discuss Baruchot Torah. So we're moving along in the in the Siddur. And what we're up to, again as we've mentioned before, there's different order of how different people say different parts of certainly the beginning of the Tefillah. So the same thing is true of Baruchot Torah. So today we're going to start Baruchot Torah. It's going to be probably a couple of cuz Baruchot Torah is very very rich. There's a lot to talk about in Baruchot Torah, a lot of different themes and a lot of various ideas that we're going to discuss. So today we'll we'll we'll begin we'll begin talking about Baruchot Torah. I want to start by um really just doing a number of introductory that will hopefully set the stage for understanding the beauty and the nature of of these Baruchot. So the Gamara starts in source number one. Source number one is Gamara in Kaf Alef Amar Rabbi Yehuda Minayin the Birkat Hamazon Achareiha Min HaTorah? How do we know that there is a commandment that there is a Mitzvah to say Birkat Hamazon, benching, after eating and that is Min HaTorah by the way. We'll see soon that there's a debate regarding Birkat Torah but regarding Birkat Hamazon, everyone agrees that Birkat Hamazon is a mitzvah d'oraita, there's a biblical commandment to to bench. Not necessarily the text, but the idea of of of saying a a special brakha after eating. Um, everyone agrees that that's a mitzvah d'oraita. She and Ammar, as the possuk says, "Vi akhalta vi savata u verakhta." The possuk says you should eat, you should be satiated, and then you should bless Hashem. So, it's clear the Torah is commanding us that after we are satiated, which Khazal understand to refer to washing, um, specifically, then there is a mitzvah for us to for us to give a brakha to Hakadosh Baruchu. Continues the Gemara. "Minayin libirkhat haTorah lifneiha min haTorah?" How do we know that Birkhat haTorah before uh before we learn Torah is min haTorah, is also mi d'oraisa? She and Ammar, as the possuk says, "Ki shem Hashem ekra, excuse me. Ki shem Hashem ekra, havu godel le Eloheinu." The possuk says, "I will call out the name of Hashem, I will call out, havu godel le then you will bring greatness to Hakadosh Baruchu." Rashi points out right over here that this possuk is in is right is is in the context of Parshat Haazinu, the end of the Torah. "Ki she ba Moshe liftoakh bidivrei shira, when Moshe is about to introduce and sing for them Parshat Haazinu, amar lahem liYisrael, he said to Yisrael, 'Ani avarekh khila, I will make the brakha, va atem anu akharai amen.' And then you should answer amen." So, it says, Rashi, "This is a reference to that this is the first time that someone was saying Birkhat haTorah, that Moshe was basically saying, 'I'm going to get up and make the brakha, and you should answer amen.' Cuz it says, 'Ki shem Hashem ekra, I will call out to Hashem,' says Rashi, "bivrakha, that's a reference to the brakha. Havu godel le Eloheinu, and then you will bring greatness to Hashem." How will you do so? Be amen, by answering by answering amen. Now, how do we know that this is a reference to Berachot? The Maharsha, in source number two, has a very interesting suggestion. He says, "Wait a second. Ki shem Hashem ekra, I will call out Hashem and you will answer. How do we know that that's a that that's a reference to specifically Birkat HaTorah? That could be a any any kind of bracha. That could be anything. How do you know this is referring specifically to Birkat HaTorah?" So says the Maharsha something very interesting on that Gemara. Matzati katuv, I saw written d'hacha mashma'i Birkat HaTorah, that that there's an implication in the phrase Ki shem Hashem ekra, that I will call out in the name of Hashem, that it's a reference specifically to Birkat HaTorah. Why? D'haynu kishani kore baTorah cuz when I call the Torah, when I call out in the Torah shehi kulah shemot shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, because the Torah is kabbalistically, spiritually, all of the it's all the names of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Shekol HaTorah be'otiyoteha because all of the names, all of the entire Torah and its letters, hishmotav shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu, is a reference to the name of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, kidei eisa bemidrashot bekal v'chomer. As we say, there are many midrashim that reference the idea that the Torah is a reference to the names of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Again, it's like Omar, so we're learning some some kabbalistic ideas. I can't say I fully understand it, but the idea is is that when it says Ki shem Hashem ekra, that specifically the Gemara is learning that to refer specifically to Birkat HaTorah because we understand that the Torah in and of itself is really an experience of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and it's all a reference to the various names of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Yes. I I think it is the same as the word Hashem at some times you you have to done before you said Adonai. Oh, you are you are correct. You are correct. Thank you. That is true. There is a minhag There is a minhag we say at the very beginning before Mincha. Before before specifically before Mincha. Before we say Hashem Sefatai Vi Yagid Tehilatecha", so many many people have the minhag to add "Ki Shem Hashem Ekra Havu Godel Eloheinu". Correct. You are correct. Yes. >> [snorts] >> Why specifically then is he introducing the Birkat HaTorah? I don't know. That's a good question. That's a good question. Meaning meaning it could be it was referenced it could be it was referenced earlier but only then it meaning in terms of when they actually started saying Birkat HaTorah. Again, Rashi seems to understand the simple understanding that it happened at Parshat Ha'azinu. Um I don't know why specifically why specifically then. Um but in terms of for all practical purposes because it's mentioned there in the Torah that's why we that's why we ourselves uh uh we are we ourselves say it. Then there's another Gemara. Another Gemara in source number three. This Gemara also seems to imply that there is a biblical commandment to say uh Birkat HaTorah. However, the source is the sources that it it mentions are different. Okay, here the Gemara once again is discussing Birkat HaTorah in the context of Birkat HaMazon. And the Gemara says the following: "Ein Li Ela Birkat HaMazon. I only know I only have a pasuk that seems to explicitly say that I should say the bracha of Birkat HaMazon. Birkat HaTorah Minayin? How do I know that I should also say a bracha before I learn Torah? Amar Rabbi Yishmael, "Kal Vachomer. It's a Kal Vachomer. Al Chayei Sha'ah Mevarech, Al Chayei Olam Ha'ba Lo Kol She Kein. If I have to thank Hashem for the physical things that he gives me, then Kal Vachomer I should have there should be a moment where I thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the spiritual experiences that I get. And therefore it's most appropriate that we that we should certainly make a bracha on uh on Birkat HaTorah." Continues the Gemara. Rabbi Chiya bar Nachmani, Talmido shel Rabbi Yishmael omer mishum Rabbi Yishmael, right? Rabbi Rabbi Chiya bar Nachmani used the student of Rabbi Yishmael says in the name of Rabbi Yishmael, "Eino Tzarich. I don't even need the Kal Vachomer. I The Kal Vachomer is a nice idea and certainly an inspirational idea that we there is already a reference also to birkat hatorah. Why? Harei hu omer, the pasuk says, we said earlier the pasuk says v'achalta v'savata u'verachta, you should eat, you should become satiated and you should you should bless you should give a bracha to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and then it says al ha'aretz hatovah asher natan lach. On the great land on the wonderful land that he has given you. U'l'halan hu omer, and at another place it says et luchot ha'even v'hatorah v'hamitzvot and I gave you the luchot ha'even and the torah and the mitzvot. The asher natan lach in the pasuk by birkat hamazon suggests Rabbi Chiya in the name of Rabbi Yishmael is actually a reference not just to birkat hamazon to the land that he gave you, but it's actually a reference to the torah because we see elsewhere the language of natan is used specifically in the context of the torah. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira omer, Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says you I don't even need that. I can give you another proof from the pasuk by birkat hamazon. Eino tzarich, I don't even need that. Why? Because the pasuk says al ha'aretz hatovah asher natan lach, the word hatovah is nice, but it seems almost superfluous. You're thanking Hashem for giving you the land. What is hatovah a reference to? So he says harei hu omer tovah hatovah, the pasuk says hatovah. Tovah zu torah. Tovah we know is a reference to torah. How do I know that tovah is a reference to torah? Because in another pasuk we say v'chein hu omer ki lekach tov natati lachem, right? We call we call the torah a something that is tov and therefore when the pasuk says you should bless you should give a bracha to Hashem al ha'aretz hatovah asher natan lach, the extra word tovah says the Gamara is actually a reference to not just thank the food but also thank for the Torah because already in the context of Amazon there is a reference to the Torah itself and that's the source for having to make for Torah. So what this Gamara again the Gamara has the same conclusion. The Gamara concludes that just like we have to make a for we should also make a for the Torah for thanking for for the Torah. Interestingly enough this Gamara makes no mention of the that the other Gamara mentioned and it gives its own suggestion for why we have to make a either it's a or somehow learned from the by even by by by Amazon. Yes. Tell us again what the Torah source is Where is it from? If I understand correctly it's from it's from from this reference to to to to But it's from not from No no no no I believe the is there in I don't remember exactly where actually quotes that it's mentioned by I don't remember specifically maybe someone can even check. If I'm not mistaken either right before the or before it mentions the phrase or or or or or or or or or or If anyone wants to fact check me on that you're welcome to. And what does it say? I got no hits. So it could be I'm mistaken so it could be it could be I'm mistaken. I seem to recall that it is there. I typed something in wrong. Yeah. If anyone wants to check you're welcome to check. The beauty of beauty of 2026. If I'm wrong then I appreciate the correction. But actually certainly references that it was said in the context of you I seem to recall that it was the itself is there as well but I but But be wrong. Thank you. Okay. Um the Gemara so so those are two Gemaras that discuss the source for Birkat Birkat HaTorah. And then the other major Gemara that we have that we need to discuss is the Gemara that discusses the text of Birkat HaTorah. Someone found it? Yes, sure. Baruch Hashem Gimel. Okay, so it's Someone Someone thinks they found it in Hazinu. I think it is in I think it's in I think it's in Hazinu. Okay. >> [snorts] >> So the Gemara says, this is another Gemara different context. The Gemara discusses, what is the text of of Birkat HaTorah? And the Birkat HaTorah Birkat HaTorah I should say is really fascinating. Again, we're not going to delve into all of the details this week, but there's a lot to talk about here in terms of what type of bracha is this? Is this a Birkat Mitzvah? Is this a Birkat Shevach? Maybe it's both. How many brachot are there? There's a debate whether there's two brachot here or three brachot, three independent brachot. Um and each of the each of those opinions has something very interesting to teach us about the nature of these brachot. We'll get into it, but let's just look at the actual text itself. Amar Rabbi Yehuda, "Mai Mai mevarech?" What's the bracha that I should make for Birkat HaTorah? Amar Rabbi Yehuda Amar Shmuel, "Asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu lasok b'divrei Torah." The first bracha is, "Thank you Hashem or blessed are you Hashem that you commanded me lasok b'divrei Torah, to be involved in the words of Torah." Again, we'll have to talk about why does it say lasok as opposed to lilmod? Okay, the simple understanding would be lilmod. Lasok implies something much more much more intensive, much more much more involved. Rabbi Yochanan Amar Mesayavin Bachari. Rabbi Yochanan would add on the following, "Ha'arevna Hashem Elokeinu et divrei Torah b'finu uv'fiot Amcha Beit Yisrael." Ha'arev means like it should be beautiful, it should be pleasant. Please Hakadosh Baruch Hu, let the learning be pleasant. The words of your Torah should be pleasant in our mouths and in the mouths of um of of of Am Yisrael. V'ni Anachnu, and we should be v'tse'etse'enu our and our and our children v'tse'etse'e Am Yisrael and all of the descendants of Am Yisrael kulanu yode'ei sh'mecha v'oskei toratecha, that we should all be those who know all of our us and our descendants should be the of people who know Torah and who are involved in Torah. Again, you may notice that there's certain things that are missing from here that we have in our text like oskei toratecha lishmah is added later on or is added in our text. We'll get to some of those details. Even the harevna, is it v'harevna or harevna? That depends on whether you understand this to be a separate bracha or continuation of the first bracha. So, there are nuances that are that are that are not in this in this Gemara in this in this Gemara. Baruch Atah Hashem hamelamed Torah l'amo Yisrael, blessed are you Hashem that you teach Torah to Am Yisrael. Again, reference the fact that when we learn Torah, we're not just learning from Hakadosh Baruchu is an incredibly inspiring idea, which we'll get to. Rav Amnuna amar Rav Amnuna says a different bracha, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim, that you have chosen us from amongst all of the nations v'nasan lanu es toraso, and you have given us our Torah. Baruch Atah Hashem noten haTorah, blessed are you Hashem who has given us the Torah. Amar Rav Amnuna closes Rav Amnuna with zohi me'ulah sheb'brachot. He says, in my opinion, my bracha, if I can say so myself, says Rav Amnuna, is the best of the brachot. Now, why is it the best of the brachot? So, Rashi suggests that the reason why this is the best of the brachot is because, if you look at Rashi right here in source number four, l'fi sheyeish ba hoda'ah l'makom, it's on the one hand it thanks Hakadosh Baruchu and kilus l'Torah u'l'Yisrael, and it also is a praise to Am Yisrael and to the Torah, because we're we're talking about how we were chosen by Hakadosh Baruchu and we were given the Torah, and that's talking about the uniqueness of both us and the Torah, and it thanks Hashem. Therefore, says Rav Amnuna, I think this is the best bracha. And then we close the Gemara ends, "Hilchach limrin hu l'chulhu." All of these, says the Gemara, these all sound like nice ideas. So, you know what? Instead of picking one, we'll say all of them. And that's exactly what we do. I mean, the Gemara had listed three suggestions, and then it concludes with, "We should say all of them." Yes. I'm new here, so maybe you discussed this before, but what exactly is Torah? Is reading a book on halacha Torah is this session Torah or just the Gemara and Chumash? So, first of all, welcome. And we always we always welcome questions, no matter what. It's an excellent excellent question. So, first of all, I certainly think that this is learning Torah. What is considered Well, I would say two things. In in the context of Birkat HaTorah, because we know, as we're going to see, that this is a bracha that on the one hand we generally make every day, but you're also supposed to make it as a Meaning, again, this gets into a larger discussion. This is a Birkat Mitzvah or Birkat Shevach. It's a Birkat Mitzvah right before you learn Torah, anytime you learn Torah. If you're going to wake up at 5:00 in the morning, and you're going to learn Torah, which is how we pasken. If you're going to learn Torah, you need to say this bracha before you learn Torah, even if it's not part of the tfillah yet, even if you're going to daven later. If it's a Birkat Shevach, you might say that this is just about thanking Hashem for the Torah, not connected to the act of learning Torah. We pasken like both. Again, we'll discuss this in more detail, hopefully next time, that we actually believe it's both. It's a almost a Birkat Mitzvah. We should say it before we learn, but there's also this this there's a whole debate. Do I have to learn right after I say the bracha, or can I just say the bracha, similar to when I thank Hashem before opening up my eyes, and similar to we as we see, very often we make bracha even before we actually do the action. It's maybe just thanking Hashem for the concept of Torah. So, it's an excellent question. In terms of There is a huge halachic debate regarding that. What if I What if I'm going to wake up, and I'm going to think about Torah? Do I have to say Birkat HaTorah? What if I'm going to talk about Torah, but I'm not going to delve So, it's an excellent it's an excellent it's a whole debate in the in the in in in the in the in the post scheme regarding what is defined as can I listen to a sheer? I'm not saying anything. I'm just listening. Do I need Do I need Do I need to So, those these are all excellent questions. But, as we shall get to them. Uh but we generally we generally assume that if you're going to be involved in Torah uh in some way, certainly if you're going to be talking Torah, listening to a sheer, if you're just going to be thinking about Torah, there's that that's unclear in the post scheme if you need to. We generally assume that if you're involved in the act of Torah in some way, you should make the bracha. Now, what qualifies as Torah? Meaning like what if I'm listening What if I'm reading a you know a godol story and it's inspiring me in my spirituality, but I'm not necessarily So, those again, that's also a very good question. Can you read those books in the bathroom? Also good meaning So, this is you know, but these are all connected to how you view these things. So, I don't want to you know, get specific, but >> Practically, should we make a bracha today listening to this? You should yes. Before you came to this sheer, you absolutely should have. Everybody should? Everybody should. Hopefully, you did if you davened. Meaning as part of davening, we have the text of Birkot haTorah. You don't need to say it again. Meaning we believe you say it once in the morning and that qualifies We'll talk about That's an excellent question as well. There's a famous question in Tosfos. You're asking a lot of good questions. Tosfos asked a famous question, which we'll get to. The Tosfos famous question is usually when you do a mitzvah when you do a bracha before a mitzvah, you say the bracha, you do the mitzvah, and if 5 hours later you do the mitzvah again, what do you need to do? Make another bracha. Says Tosfos, how could it be we make a bracha in the morning, I learn some Torah, I then go to work or I go to the I don't know, I go I I exercise, I eat lunch, I eat breakfast. 5 hours later, if I want to make a bracha again, I need to make I don't need I I don't make the bracha again. We only make it once a day. That's Tosfos's question. For those of you who have an answer, keep it to yourselves. I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger a little bit. Tosfos gives a beautiful answer and there are a number of beautiful answers to this question. But, all of these questions were we will be as well as I get to so I hope you you know stay with us but but it's an excellent excellent question. Yes. Right away if we say the Torah do we read from the Excellent. Correct. There's correct. Correct. Our minhag our practical minhag is that in the morning as part of the seder after we say we do say parts we say some we say some we say some and that is because of the opinion that says that right after you make the you need to learn Torah right away. Not everyone says you have to and we'll talk about why that is but yes that is correct. >> when we when we read from the Torah then the before every aliya Correct. In addition in addition before people get the aliya they also make a that everyone agrees is that's the that's that's what's called that's because we're reading the Torah publicly therefore we do that by the way it's an interesting snippet is that it used to be in the time of the when there were three aliyas the only the only people who made the were the person the first the would make the first aliya but but and the whoever got the last aliya would make the at the end the people in the middle wouldn't say a before and after or the or the first person would say after and then because of confusion and people would think that they didn't say the and people came in late or walked in or or walked out in the middle therefore they made it that every makes their own but that's but that everyone agrees is because pretty much every the idea is that everyone has already said it and therefore you are because of and the public reading we have the to to make the uh there as well. Okay. Let's keep going. So now so as we saw this the suggests that we that we gives the three different suggestions or two and a two suggestions as we'll see of of the we have the right to say all three. One final important just as a way of giving us all the major the major sources before we delve into some of the details. Um is the Gamara in source number five. Now source number five is a fascinating Gamara but also a challenging Gamara to fully understand. Sheluchay mitam, they sent from them. So it was sent from from some from from a from a a city. Hizaharu be'ir buvita hizaharu bechabura hizaharu bivnay aniyim shema shemayhen tetzei Torah. You should be careful of your community and certainly it says at the very end you should also make sure to be nice and be careful to the children of poor people. Why? Because the future of Torah is going to come from the masses. It's going to come from the from the poor people, from those who are generally less educated. What as the pasuk says, yizal mayim midalyo shemayhen tetzei Torah. That the water will drip from the from the bucket cuz from there the Torah will come. As the Gamara, why are we assuming that we need the bnei aniyim um bnei ma'in mitzuyin talmidei chachamim latzeit talmidei chachamim mibneihem. Why do you need the poor people to to bring out the Torah? Why can't we you have talmidei chachamim, they have children. Why can't their children be the future talmidei chachamim? Why are we assuming that you need to deal with the masses are needed for the Torah? Every all the gedolim have children, let them become gedolim. Why don't they become gedolim? And as the son of a rabbi, we have what's called the rabbi's son syndrome or the preacher's kid, right? There's always the idea that very often the children of of preachers or of rabbis tend to have challenges. So again, what's what's the why is it that the children of of talmidei chachamim often don't continue in the same path? Amar Rav Yosef, shelo yomru Torah yerusha hilachem. The reason why that happens in general is because people will think that the ability to learn Torah or to become great in Torah is an inheritance. That the only people who can become great are the people whose poor parents were rabbis and that's not true. Anyone has the choice to become great in Torah learning. You You Learning Torah greatness in Torah is not something you inherit from your father or from your parents. Rather, it's something that you accomplish on your own. And in order to show that or to highlight that, that is why in general, again, this is not got into the comment and that's why tell me that I'm tend not to have children who are not tell me that not tell me that I'm of shades braid of media mark today shall we got rule a lot of war. So that they're not going to be harsh to the community. If if Torah greatness becomes somewhat of a of you know, of where there's nepotism and it becomes somewhat of just you know, a situation where it's in a stock aristocracy in a way passed down from parent to child, it ends up not being appropriate and not being fair for the community. My suit about it may God be with you because they're going to become tough on the community. I will just skip skip now just because of just because of the last line. And this is the most important for us. Why is it that rabbis kids or children of don't become tell me that she may be a Torah the reason is is because they didn't say the of Torah. These rabbis or the children of these rabbis didn't properly say Torah and as a result therefore their children didn't become tell me that the love you of my love as says my Steve what does it mean when it says in your me out me how she had me out of so that for a second let's look let's skip now to source number six for one second. Source number six I brought you the from your me out. You're me out is describing the destruction of your show line. It's source number six and I taught you your show line and I will turn your show line into waves the abode of turning can mean can mean mean can either mean a reference to the to big to big fish or it can also be a reference to alligators. Basically, Jerusalem turns into a wave of of animals coming and destroying. That are are will become desolate without anyone there. Says me who is the wise person who will understand what's happening and why it's happening? And I've got and will ask the following question, why is the land becoming lost? Why is this happening? Why is the entire the entire desert becoming lit up and destroyed without anybody coming by? Meaning this this destruction is happening and if you're smart, you'll ask the question, why? What's going on? What is the cause of all of this? And then answers because they left my Torah that I should not tell you that I put before them and they should not and they didn't listen to me and they and they didn't follow in my ways and they and they followed rather their own hearts and they and they followed and they followed after the that their that their that that that their that their parents had had had taught them. Says the and I'm going back to the three lines from the bottom. Three lines from the bottom in source number five. What does the mean when it says who is the smart person who will ask about this? The and the were all asked, what's the reason for this and no one gave a response until gave his own explanation. The the and the Torah says The passage says because they left my Torah. Ask the is there a repetition in the pasuk. The pasuk says, "They left my Torah, they didn't listen to me, and they didn't follow me." Says the Gamara, that's repe- that's that's repetition, it's redundant. You already later on in the pasuk you say that they didn't that they didn't listen to me and they didn't follow the Torah. What does it mean "al lo sham'u b'torati"? That's repe- it's it's redundant, it's unnecessary. Answers the Gamara, Amar Rav Yehuda Amar Rav, "She'ein m'var'chin baTorah t'chilah." The issue wasn't just that they didn't follow the Torah, the issue was that they didn't make the bracha of birkas haTorah. Now, for those of you who have seen this Many of you may have seen this Gamara, it's a fairly well-known Gamara. Those of you who are seeing this for the first time are probably shaking their heads and saying, "What? That's the reason? The reason for so much destruction is because they didn't make the bracha? So, if they learned Torah, they spent all their day learning Torah, but they didn't they forgot to make the bracha, or they were in they they were negligent and they didn't make the bracha, that's the reason?" So, that that is the obvious question. And as Rashi says, again, keep your a bit of a cliffhanger, we're going to see a number of approaches as to what this Obviously, there's something deeper here. That not saying birkas haTorah or a reference to not saying birkas haTorah refers to a certain attitude towards the Torah study, and an attitude and approach to Torah in general that was considered to be problematic. And that's what the that's what the Gamara is referring here. The question that I want to understand is what exactly was that approach. But, what we see from this Gamara, again, for us right now, is we see that there clearly is something fundamental about birkas haTorah. Birkas haTorah are not just regular brachot, we saw already we saw we saw just now a number of Gamarot that seem to hint to it being biblical, being d'oraita, we're going to get to that right now, whether it's d'oraita or d'rabbanan. We see a Gamara that clearly says that that the lack of birkas haTorah caused destruction for the Jewish people. We have to understand that, but that already highlights for us that there's something very fundamental about these brachot. And then, the final the final source I want to bring for you to highlight again the uniqueness of this bracha or the importance of this bracha is a line in the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruch in source number seven has a Now, again, remembering that the Shulchan Aruch is a is a halacha safer. He says something which he does as I as I understand does not say very often at all. Source number seven, birkot haTorah tzrichim l'hizaher ba me'od. When it comes to birkot haTorah, you have to be very very careful. You have to make sure to say these brachot. This is probably due to this Gemara and the other Gemara that we've seen. And we see this also in the conversations in the poskim. We're going to see soon the conversation in the poskim regarding if what what happens if you forget to say birkot haTorah and you or you're not sure if you said birkot haTorah. So, that's going to be very connected to our question, well, is the bracha de'oraita? Is it biblical? Or or is it derabanan? Is it rabbinic in nature? Cuz there's a But part of that conversation always is the rabbis always say on the one hand, maybe you shouldn't say it again because maybe it's rabbinic. On the other hand, you see them saying, "It's such an important bracha and if you didn't say it and you don't say it now, you're going to be missing out." So, we see that already part of the halachic conversation the rabbis are referencing, "This is an important bracha." And this is an important bracha that we need to say and obviously it's not just about saying it, but it's about understanding and appreciating its messages and what it can mean for us. I saw I think I saw a question or a comment. Okay. So, let's go now to the first major debate. The first major debate is whether or not birkot haTorah are de'oraita or derabanan. Is saying birkot haTorah a a commandment or or not? Now, at first glance, you might say to me, "Wait, Rabbi, we just saw a few Gemaras." And the Gemaras seem pretty explicit. The Gemaras seem to A, number one, they seem to say min haTorah minayin, which basically usually is a reference to being biblical. Number two, what did they compare birkot haTorah to? What was the other bracha that they referenced to? Birkot Amazon. BIRKOT AMAZON IN TWO GEMARAS, THEY basically equated Birkat Hatorah to Birkat Hamazon and Birkat Hamazon as we know is the only uh agreed upon Birkat Bracha that is Deoraita. But the fact that the Gemara is putting it together would seem to indicate that it should be Deoraita. Right? Now, also just to explain this a little bit more because I want to make sure that we understand what we're talking about here. All other Brachot besides besides Birkat Hatorah and sorry, besides all the Brachot besides Birkat Hamazon and according to some Birkat Hatorah, everyone agrees that those are Derabanan. Okay? So, for example, if I do we we we've discussed in the past that there are three three main types of Brachot. Generally three main types of Brachot. One is called Birkat Nehenin, Brachot that we that we say before we benefit from something. So, for example, before we eat food, we say a Bracha. Everyone agrees that that is Derabanan. That is only Rabbinic in nature. Okay? Then we have what we call Birkat Shema U'virkat Hoda'ah, Brachot of praise and thanks to Hakadosh Baruchu. Okay? The only one that's really Deoraita is is Birkat Hamazon. Um all others are considered Derabanan. And then we also have something called Birkat Hamitzvah, Brachot that we say before we do a Mitzvah. Where even if I'm doing a Mitzvah Deoraita, even if I'm doing a Biblical Mitzvah, for example, I'm sitting in the Sukkah. Everyone agrees that sitting in the Sukkah is a Biblical Mitzvah. Or shaking Lulav. Everyone agrees Lulav is a Biblical Mitzvah. Saying a Bracha beforehand is only Derabanan in nature. It's only going to be uh Rabbinic in nature. Even if I'm doing a Biblical Mitzvah because Brachot in general are considered to be Derabanan. The question is, what about Birkat Hatorah? Meaning, learning Torah, is that a Biblical Mitzvah? Sure. Learning Torah is certainly a Biblical Mitzvah. So, the question becomes, might there be a separate Mitzvah, not just to learn Torah, but to also say a Bracha before I learn I I I learn before I learned Torah. Okay? Everyone understand that? That that's that's the major question here. Now, why is that relevant? Because if you look at source number eight, let's start let's start with the with the Ram with the Ramban. Now, again, remembering that how many mitzvot are there in the Torah? According to our tradition, 613. Everyone agrees there's 613 mitzvot. That is our tradition from Chazal. The The challenge becomes in identifying what are those 613 mitzvot, okay? Now, there are a number of Correct. And not all mitzvot are applicable to everyone else. So, that's also true. But, in terms of we can't even agree on what are those 613 mitzvot. There are Gaonim and Rishonim who are what called mone mitzvot. They decided to take upon themselves to count how many mitzvot there are. Rav Saadia Gaon counts the 600 has a list of the 613 mitzvot. Famously, who's the one of the people who has most famously counted the mitzvot was the Rambam. The Rambam counted and lists he has what's called the Sefer Hamitzvot, where he goes through each of the mitzvot. And interestingly enough, his count is different than Rav Saadia Gaon's count. On the Rambam himself, you have the Ramban, Nachmanides, who went through the list that the Rambam has and disagrees in a number of different areas. He has a commentary on the Rambam's Sefer Hamitzvot, and he says, "Here's where I agree, here's where I disagree. Here's where the Rambam counted a mitzvah and I think he's wrong." And he And then he lists the ones because obviously if he thinks the Rambam is wrong, that means he has to have other mitzvot that he's going to put into the count. And then he lists all the ones that he thinks the Rambam left out. For example, just so we even know, two two of the probably the most famous machloket between the Rambam and the Ramban regarding mone mitzvot, one would be what we've discussed is there a mitzvah to daven, right? We discussed that in the in the past. According to the Rambam, there is a mitzvah to daven every single day. According to the Ramban, there is not necessarily a mitzvah tefillah is an opportunity more than an obligation. The Ramban does say that if that during times of tza'ar, there might be a mitzvah to do so, but not he does not agree with the Rambam. Another famous debate regarding the Rambam and the Ramban is regarding the mitzvah to live in Israel. Is there a Is there a mitzvah or a commandment to live in Israel? Ram The Ramban doesn't list that in his 613 mitzvot, and the Ramban takes him to task for it. He says, "How could you say that? Look at all these Look at all Look at all the different sukkim." Now, the Rambam himself never responded, so we don't know what the Rambam thinks. And there's a big debate amongst the meforshim trying to understand well, what does the Rambam not believe that there's a mitzvah, or does the Rambam really believe that there's a mitzvah, but for a technical reason he didn't include it? There's a lot of discussion, we're not going to get into the detail. The same thing happens here when it comes to birkot haTorah. So, the Rambam does not list a separate mitzvah to say birkot haTorah. He lists the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, but he does not list the mitzvah of saying the brachah on birkot haTorah. And the Ramban disagrees and says, "It doesn't make sense. Look at the gemaras. We have two gemaras. The gemaras say clearly that there is a mitzvah." Look at source number eight. Mitzvah tet vav. This is what If you look here, the the heading of source number eight, it's hassagot le haRamban le sefer haMitzvot. These are This is the Ramban's addendum to the Rambam, or or his questions on the Rambam, shichchot asim. These are the ones that he left out, the mitzvot asay that the Rambam left out. Mitzvah tet vav shenitztaveinu lehodot shemo yisbarach bechol eis shenikra baTorah. There is a mitzvah for us to thank Hashem anytime we're about to learn Torah, al haTovah haGedolah she'asah lanu betito baTorah eleinu vehodi'enu haMa'asim haretzuyim lefanav shebahem ninchal chayei Olam Haba. Says the Ramban, we have a mitzvah not just to learn Torah, but to thank Hashem for the privilege and obligation to learn Torah, and to thank him for giving us the Torah so that we know what we need to do in order to be able to achieve Olam Haba. That is a separate commandment. Just like we have a commandment to thank Hashem after we eat, so too we have a commandment to say a bracha before we learn Torah. And if you're wondering as I just kind of referenced the change, why is it that when it comes to eating the bracha is after and when it's bracha when when we're learning Torah the bracha is before we'll get to that soon. The Sefer Hinnuch has a beautiful suggestion. Ah, okay. So okay that's a that's a good suggestion that's good suggestion maybe maybe because you're never satisfied you're never finish. Okay, interesting. Well the the Sefer Hinnuch has a different suggestion but it said but that's a beautiful idea. It says and says the Ramban the book of says explicitly where how do I know that there's a bracha Torah from the from the Torah? And then the Ramban again we skipped some of it I didn't I didn't bring you the whole the whole text. The Sefer Torah mitzvah as it says he says it must be from all of our we see clearly that there is a mitzvah to say to say bracha Torah. The Ramban says no mitzvah now says the Ramban something else. He says okay here's the thing you could say sure there's a mitzvah to say the bracha but we're not going to list it maybe maybe for technical reasons the Ramban didn't list it as its as its own mitzvah. Maybe he includes the bracha that you say before Torah together with the act of learning Torah. That he says you're supposed to say a bracha and learn Torah that's all one mitzvah. SO HE AGREES THAT YOU SHOULD SAY the bracha but he doesn't count it as its own mitzvah because he considers it to be the same as learning Torah. It's all one mitzvah. Says the Ramban that can't be. Why? Doesn't make sense. He says because we have other examples where we do an act we do a mitzvah, we also then say a certain text and they're counted as two separate mitzvahs. What are some examples? One example is the mitzvah of bikurim. There is a mitzvah for a person who has first fruits to bring the bikurim. And there is two mitzvahs. One is to bring the bikurim, and then there's something called mikra bikurim, where he comes and he says that he says that he quotes the pesukim that are referenced in the Torah that a person is supposed to say as he brings the bikurim. Another example, says the Ramban, is Pesach night. Be'ezrat Hashem, when the Beit Hamikdash will will be rebuilt, we're all going to bring the korban Pesach. And as we bring the korban Pesach, there's also a commandment, which we do nowadays, called Sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim. We don't just do the mitzvah we of bringing the Pesach, we also have to tell the story. AND THOSE ARE COUNTED AS TWO SEPARATE MITZVAHS. There's the act and then there's the text that you say together with it. SO, SAYS THE RAMBAN, the same thing is true of birkat haTorah and learning Torah. They should be two separate mitzvahs, counted as two separate mitzvahs in 613 mitzvahs. That's the conclusion of the Ramban. As we know, the Rambam doesn't list it. How do we understand the opinion of the Rambam? So, this is a debate, as always, this is the debate. If you look in source number uh source number nine, source number nine, the Megillat Esther. So, interestingly enough, the Megillat Esther is a safer that was written I have a wrote I wrote it here uh in the 16th century and it was written as a not not sorry, not Megillat Esther meaning the the scroll of Megillat Esther. Megillat Esther is a is a Sorry, let me clarify. The Megillat Esther that we know in Tanakh was written much earlier. Megillat Esther is a safer that was written by by by by an early Aharon that was it's that he calls it the safer Megillat Esther. And he writes and what he does is he defends he it's a commentary on the Ramban defending the Rambam from all the questions that the Ramban asked. Whenever the Ramban would say, "Rambam, why didn't you list this mitzvah? Or why didn't you list this mitzvah?" And he And he asked all these questions on him. The Ramban himself never defended himself. So, the Megillat Esther comes and says, "I'm going to defend him and I'm going to respond." And he And he basically you have this debate going back and forth. You have the Rambam writing his safer mitzvot. You have the Ramban asking all of his questions and disagreeing. Comes the Megillat Esther and says, "I'm going to defend the Rambam from all the questions that the Ramban is asking." Here, however, interestingly enough, what does the Megillat Esther say? And I And I haven't seen Again, admittedly, I haven't seen that much, but this is the first time I've seen this in in the Megillat Esther. Says the Says the Megillat Esther, "Nirali kidivrei haRamban so kim." I think the Ramban's right. I have no explanation for the Rambam. He says, "I don't understand why the Rambam did not include the mitzvah of birkot haTorah in the 613 mitzvot." Lo yadaati lama lo mina aharav im lo hashiv she mitzvah sham bazeh pasuk hu al derech asmachta. He says, "If you're going to say to me, 'What about those Gemaras? The Gemara state explicitly min haTorah minayin?'" He says the Rambam must assume that it wasn't an actual source. It was what's called an asmachta. An asmachta means that the Torah was like hinting to this mitzvah, but it's not an actual source in the Torah for for for the mitzvah of birkot haTorah. That's the That's the Megillat Esther. He's basically saying, "I don't understand the Rambam. It seems clear that it should be a mitzvah d'oraita, but but the Rambam must assume that he he must have read those Gemaras differently." We'll We'll We'll We'll just move a little bit fast because of time. The Sha'agat Aryeh. Sha'agat Aryeh. Um not to be confused with Miftah Sha'agat Sha'agat Aryeh. Okay, this is a safer, not the Operation Roaring Lion from the from the most recent uh war. This is a safer that was written in the in the in the 1700s. Um and he also mentions the Rambam's opinion that the Rambam left out the mitzvah of birkot haTorah. And he says, "I don't understand why. It seems pretty clear that there should be a mitzvah. It must be the Rambam understood those Gemaras to be only what we call a Smachta, that he didn't It wasn't an actual source from the Torah. It was just a hint to it from the Torah, and therefore, saying Birkot HaTorah, according to the Rambam, is only is only derabbanan." But in source number 11, the Orach Chaim disagrees. The Orach Chaim says, "No, you guys You guys You guys are making a mistake. Really, the Rambam does believe it's a mitzvah deoraita to say Birkot HaTorah. Then why doesn't he list it?" He doesn't list it because he counts it as one mitzvah together with saying with with with with learning Torah. It's It's an issue of what you consider what you count when it comes to the count of the mitzvot. Look at source number 11. "Will any as daity ain okayn." "V'gam ha-ra" The underlined part in source 11. "Gam ha-Rambam s'vir aleishin ha-Torah." Even the Rambam agrees that this mitzvah is really midoraita. "May asha shever because the Gemara says pretty clearly that it's midoraita." "D'chein hu b'Yerushalmi Rosh Perek Zayin Brakhot." The same thing in Brakhot. "Ela d'svira she'zehu chelek m'chelkei ha-mitzvah d'limud Torah u'mitzvah achati." He understood that saying the Bracha and learning TORAH COUNT AS ONE MITZVAH. They're both from the Torah, but they count as one mitzvah, and that's why the Rambam doesn't list it as as its own mitzvah. That's the Shagas That's the Orach Chaim. So, just to summarize what we've seen so far is we have a a seeming debate between the Rambam and the Ramban whether or not the mitzvah whether or not the commandment to say Birkat HaTorah before you learn Torah is a biblical mitzvah or just rabbinic in nature. Now, I asked the question before, why is it that even if you assume that it's deraita, why do we say one before and one after? Why is it that the Bracha we say Birkat HaTorah we say before we learn Torah, and the Bracha of Birkat Hamazon, when it comes to food, we say after? So, look at source number 12. The Shefa Chinuch asks this question. He also assumes that it's a mitzvah deraita. "V'hin V'hinyana zeh she'chiyavnu ha-El Baruchu >> The fact that told us to make the that that we say before and when it comes to food we say after it seems to me When it comes to physical pleasure It's very hard to ask somebody to thank you for physical players pleasure that they have not yet received. The physical side of us when do we thank somebody for the food? When do we thank somebody for the physical pleasure that we get? After we enjoyed it. Before we enjoyed it if we haven't yet gotten THE ENJOYMENT IT'S MUCH HARDER for us to thank anybody or to think and therefore I could say YOU KNOW WHAT THE WHEN IT COMES TO PHYSICAL PLEASURES FIRST get the pleasure and then afterwards I ask you to thank me. I'm not going to require you to thank me before you actually have the pleasure. When it comes to spiritual types of pleasures When it comes to spiritual pleasures our our intellect knows that this is going to be pleasurable and therefore we're more able to recognize and feel and appreciate that pleasure before we actually learn Torah and therefore it's more appropriate for us to before we learn Torah stop and think for for for the Torah. And that's why we do it. I I would actually think I would like to suggest again this is my own idea. I think there's more to it. I think that perhaps we can even say that part of what we're doing when we do birkot haTorah is not just thinking Hashem, but framing our Torah learning. And as we're going to see, connecting to what does it mean when we say that those people didn't didn't say birkot haTorah before they and that's why the destruction happened. It wasn't necessarily about not saying the brachot, it was about how you approach your limud Torah and what Torah is meant to achieve and accomplish for you. And perhaps that's the reason why when we comes to Torah, we need to say the bracha before because it's about setting the tone for what this limud Torah is meant to be for us. But we'll But as Hashem we'll get to that. I want to do one one other thing. We have 2 minutes. And that is the big major question. I ask the question is is is is is our birkot haTorah de'oraita or de'rabbanan? Are they rabbinic and is saying the bracha birkot haTorah mide'oraita or is it biblical or is it rabbinic? You might say to me, "Rabbi, who cares? What's the difference? Aside from the fact that it's limud Torah and we get to understand better, but what does it really matter? I'M I'M A JEW, I'M A GOOD JEW. Whether it's rabbinic or it's biblical, I'll try to do the mitzvah." The answer is there's a big there's a one at least one very important nafka mina, big practical difference, whether this bracha is mide'oraita or mide'rabbanan. And that is, what do you do in a situation where where you're not sure whether or not you said the bracha. I don't know if I said the bracha or not. Okay. Now, as a general rule, normally, if you're not sure whether you said a bracha, we have a rule. What's the rule? The rule is safek brachot lehakel. If I'm not sure whether I said a bracha or not, then we're mekel cuz we don't want to repeat Hashem's name in vain. But that idea is based on the assumption that brachot are de'rabbanan. Brachot in general only mide'rabbanan. There is one bracha that if you're not sure whether you said it, you actually should repeat it. And what bracha is that? Birkat Hamazon because it's de'oraita. Look at source number 13. Kol habrachot im mistapek im berach im lav einam mevarech lo bat'chila velo basof. All other brachot, if you're not sure whether you said them, you should you should not make a bracha except for Hamazon mipnei shehu you should not make the bracha except for because it is now what about he doesn't mention here so the most assume that seems to assume like the bomb that the rabbin and therefore he says you shouldn't you shouldn't repeat it if you're not sure whether you said it in the morning you should says the you shouldn't repeat it the over here again I'm going to summarize for you quickly just because of time the quotes the fact that most disagree with the the and many others actually believe that is and he actually suggests that you should say that if you're not sure whether you said it you actually should say again however he makes a few points very interesting points number one he quotes the who says the following he says even though you should repeat if you're not if you don't if you're not sure whether you said it so then you should repeat but you shouldn't say all three just say one because when you say one of them that's enough to be to me to saying if you had to only say one which one should you say I should why I should one because the we saw said or at least said that's the best of the three and therefore he says if you have to say even if you have to repeat you should only but also there are a couple of other solutions you can have if you're not sure whether you said it if you're not sure whether you said it who did not yet say to her another option to avoid having to say it again is to is to listen to them say the have in mind to fulfill the obligation with them and to say amen another option that's mentioned is as we're going to we'll discuss this a little bit more in the future is there it let's say you haven't yet done it many that the which is the second bracha of birkot kriat shema, has the same theme or many similar themes to birkot ha torah and therefore you can have in mind when you say ahava rabba, have in mind, if you're not sure whether you said birkot ha torah already, when you say ahava rabba in shema by shema, you should have in mind to be yotzei the mitzvah of of birkot ha torah and and then you should try to learn torah right after davening so that you're learning torah right after having said having said the bracha. And the mishnah brurah says even more, he says let's say you it's afterwards and then you realize you're not sure if you said it. Let's say finished davening but you don't remember if you said birkot ha torah. As long as you said ahava rabba, even if you didn't have it in mind at the time, you it's still it's still can count because you said ahava rabba and you know you said it. Even if you didn't have in mind it it's better to have in mind I want to be yotzei the mitzvah when saying ahava rabba but even if you didn't b'di'eved, you you you fulfilled the mitzvah you don't need to repeat birkot kriat shema. One other solution the orach chaim mentions says if it's a leining day, then what you could do is to get an aliyah. Because if you get an aliyah, we talked we said before that the bracha before before the before the aliyah is d'rabbanan according to everybody but if you're not sure whether you said the bracha or not, if you get an aliyah, then you're certainly going to say the bracha and at least then you'll be yotzei you'll be yotzei your obligation to to say the bracha. Okay, we did >> Can you give an aliyah to someone who isn't even sure whether No, you can you can give it you can. Meaning everyone agrees you should say you should say the bracha when they cuz everyone agrees when they get the aliyah they should say the bracha. Uh so therefore they're saying the bracha before they get the aliyah that for sure. So okay, we we did a lot here and because of time I'm not going to summarize. Um b'ezrat Hashem, next time we'll we'll continue in our in our study there's a lot more to talk about birkot ha torah, a lot of fascinating conversations and debates regarding birkot ha torah. Um so b'ezrat Hashem we'll do that uh next week.