Q: I recently became bar mitzva, and no one told me to make the beracha of Shehecheyanu the first time I put on tefillin as a bar mitzva. Was that correct and, if so, why? A: That is a very astute question for a bar mitzva, one which shows that already at your age, the study of Torah is not a new mitzva for you. There are two possible reasons to make Shehecheyanu when beginning to put on tefillin. One is that the performance of the mitzva is new, as you imply. The other is that he received a new, important commodity (like a new suit), which brings joy even to one who has put on other tefillin for years. According to both reasons, the time to make the beracha would not be the day of the bar mitzva, but the first time one puts on the tefillin. This is usually before the bar mitzva, each young man according to his minhag. The Rama (Yoreh Deah 28:2) says that one makes Shehecheyanu the first time he does shechita (ritual slaughtering) not on the shechita itself, which causes damage to a living thing, but on the mitzva to subsequently cover the blood. Based on this, the Taz (Orach Chayim 22:1) says that every time one does a mitzva for thefirst time he should make Shehecheyanu. However, many poskim take issue on the Rama and/or the Taz (Shach, YD 28:5; Ba'er Heitev ad loc. in the name of the Pri Chadash; see Beit Yosef, OC 22). The main rationale is that, with the stress of the beracha being on our meriting being alive at this time, that the mitzva mustbe one which is linked to a certain time of the year, and thus be cyclical. This actually may depend on our understanding of the beraita cited in Menachot (75b) (see Yechave Da'at II, 31 in the name of the Rokeach). The beraita relates that the kohanim who came to Yerushalayim to bring the mincha (meal offering) wouldrecite Shehecheyanu. Rashi explains that this is talking about the first time the kohen ever brought the mincha, and this would seem to support the Rama and Taz. However, Tosafot (ad loc.) says that kohanim made the beracha each time, because the kohen had the privilege to do so only twice a year, making it a cyclicalmitzva. As we have a rule that safek berachot l'hakel (when in doubt whether to make a beracha or not, do not utter Hashem's name possibly in vain), we do not make Shehecheyanu on first-time mitzvot. However, there is room to say that there is special justification for reciting Shehecheyanu on tefillin. The tosefta (Berachot 6:10) says that when one makes tzitzit or tefillin, he makes Shehecheyanu, and this is brought as halacha in the Rambam (Berachot 11:9). (There is discussion as to when the beracha is made, andwe usually make berachot later on than the classical sources indicate; see ibid. and Rama, OC 225:3, and more). The Tur, though, brings this tosefta only in regard to tzitzit, but not in regard to tefillin. The explanation appears to be that according to the Rambam, the fact that tefillin and tzitzit are mitzvot makestheir acquisition significant enough to warrant Shehe- cheyanu. The Tur disagrees, because only cyclical mitzvot get the beracha. He agrees that tzitzit warrants Shehe- cheyanu, because it is at least an article of clothing (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 22:1). But since tefillin is not an article of clothing (see BeitYosef, ad loc. and Har Tzvi, OC 21), its acquisition is not of material significance. Shulchan Aruch sides with Tur, and the accepted minhag among both Ashke- nazim and Sefardim is to not make Shehecheyanu the first time one puts on tefillin or on the bar mitzva. However, Mishna Berura (Biur Halacha 22:1) and Kaf Hachayim (OC 22:2) both suggest to put on an important new garment with Shehecheyanu right beforeputting on the tefillin for the first time, while having in mind for the tefillin, to cover the safek. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat
Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read
this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at www.ou.org or
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hebrew version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is
partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel A non-religious man once walked through Me'ah She'arim. A little boy asked him where his yarmulke was. Pointing towards the sky, the man said: "Up there - it's a big blue hat". "What a big hat for such a small head", commented the little boy. If you’ve enjoyed these stories, look
for Shmuel Himelstein's new book, "Wisdom and Wit", at your local Jewish
bookstore - an entirely new collection. Then there was the counterfactual (what do you think of this adjective that I just found?) "cont. on page 39", for the Lead Tidbit (Dear HaShem,). It really was continued on page 31. The error came from consulting the wrong layout chart for Torah Tidbits of different lengths. Sorry. Hope you found the continuation on your own. "Cont. from page 2" is usually more reliable than a "cont. on page so-and- so" designation, because sometimes the cont. on page so-and-so is only a guess and hope made earlier in the production schedule of TT. In other words, you sometimes have to read "cont. on page 29" (for example) as "this will be continued on page 29 IY"H and if we remember to continue it and if we have room... Snacks: In case you haven't noticed (or even if you have) the CCR dispenser is no longer empty, and has now become a jelly bean dispenser. Shehakol is the undisputed bracha for them. For fanatic CCR fans, we are sorry that you'll have to get your fix elsewhere. Note for JELL YBEAN lovers (or even
people who don't love them,but just eat them occasionally): Bracha Rishona
is, of course, SHEHAKOL. After-bracha is Borei Nefashot, but there are not
enough jelly beans in a 1š twist of the knob of the dispenser on the
entrance floor of the Center to say a Bracha Acharona. In fact, according
to SEFER KAZAYIT HASHALEIM, even 2 or 3 twists are not enough. Only if you
eat 4NIS worth of jelly beans within 4˝ minutes or so (something we highly
dis-recommend), then you'll have enough for a Borei Nefashot (but probably
be too sick to say it). The program culminated by a three- hour Vatikin davening with Rabbi Chaim Eisen as chazan. We thank the shiur-givers and partici-
pants who combined to make Hoshana Rabba a very meaningful and special day
at the Center. We hope it contributed to a favorable CHATIMA. Rabbi Charlap in his "Mei Marom" notes that this happens whenever the Jews return to the Holy Land, the nations say we are robbers (or in modern parlance they say that this is "occupied territory"), and that this is their land and not ours. It is only when we appreciate the fact that this land is our land, received from Hashem, that the claims of the nations are silenced. Only when the Jew realizes and knows that, He "has declared to his people the power of His works, that He may give them the inheritance of the Nations." Indeed the verse from Psalms does not read "He has declared to the nations" as we might expect; rather, "He has declared to His people (amo)"! If we do not behave as if this land is ours, how can we expect others to respect our claim? Aloh Na'aleh has been founded with the
mission of helping Jews realize that Eretz Yisrael is G-d's gift to us,
and it becomes ours when we actually possess it and dwell in it. Join us
to make this dream come true! Rashi argues that the Torah should have begun with Shemot 12:2, the first command concerning the status of Nissan as the first month. He explains, however, that Hashem first wished to describe His mighty deeds to Israel before giving them other nations' property (cf. Tehillim 111:6). We, the Jewish people, need to know that He created the world and apportioned it to whomever He pleased. Now, comments Rabbi Elachanan Sorotzkin, we better comprehend why Bnei Yisrael were also to write upon great stones all the words of the Torah on the day they crossed the Jordan River, including on the stones of the altar at Mount Eval (Shechem) in the heart of enemy territory (Devarim 27:1-8). For now our adversaries also saw
testimony of G-d's creation of the world. Here they also witnessed
reference to the Land that, "Hashem, G-d of your fathers, promised you [Bnei
Yisrael]". This land was to be dispossessed of its abominations so that
within its boundaries the Jewish people create a model society based on G-d's
statutes and laws. This is surely an extraordinary challenge. [The Parshat B'reishit Homepage]
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