[Avodah] tfilat haderech and birchat hagomel

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 05:54:20PM -0500, Rich, Joel wrote:
: OTOH IIRC R' HShachter ( Nefesh Harav) says that R'YBS did not say
: tfilat haderech from Boston to NY because of it being a tfila bet tzara
: since the gemara mentions tfilat haderech right after
: it says someone who is in a dangerous place says a tfila- and today
: there is no feeling of danger.

But what about birkhas hagomel? Does crossing the Long Island Sound
qualify? I assume birkhas hagomel can't be a chiyuv, as it's a fill-in
for the qorban Todah. But would it be a berakhah levatalah?

It is likely wider than the path of Qeri'as Yam Suf, which is what
this instance of Birkhas haGomel commemorates.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha