[Avodah] sfira bracha

[Akiva Miller]

.
Regarding the tangent concerning Baruch Hu Uvaruch Sh'mo: Over the course
of Yom Tov, I  remembered that a number of years ago, I personally chose to
refrain from saying this phrase for a very specific reason:

VERY often the chazan doesn't pause long enough (sometimes not at all)
before continuing with the final words of the bracha, with the result that
those words are drowned out by the tzibur, and few-to-no people ever answer
Amen to it. Sometimes, the chazan will simply continue with the next
bracha,  blissfully ignorant of the mishap. Other times, we are treated to
a tragic miscommunication, in which the tzibur is waiting for the chazan to
finish the bracha, and the chazan can't figure out why no one answered.

So I refrain from speaking, and I try to hear the chazan, and/or watch for
visual cues from the people who are closest to him, so that I can be among
those who do answer Amen. I acknowledge that Baruch Hu Uvaruch Sh'mo is an
important thing to say, but Amen is even more important, and I see the
tradeoff as "yatza hefsedo b'secharo".

Akiva Miller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20230528/bb9abb93/attachment-0003.htm>