[Avodah] Shehecheyanu on Mitzvos

[Akiva Miller]

.
Rabbi Yisroel Pinchos Bodner, in his "Halachos of Brochos vol. 2", on page
37-38, he explains that "Since pidyon haben is a mitzvah that is performed
only once in a great while and it is an occasion of great joy, Chazal
required the father to recite a shehecheyonu prior to performing the
mitzvah." (Immediately after, he writes about saying shehecheyanu at a bris
milah. I get the impression that in theory, the same halacha would apply,
but in practice there are some contra-indications involved.)

What about *other* mitzvos? On page 39 he gives examples like a bar mitzvah
boy putting on tefillin for the first time, a kallah lighting Shabbos
candles the first time, and (in footnote 85) someone who performs Kisui
Hadam for the first time. For these mitzvos, it seems that the poskim are
divided, and he offers practical ideas how to deal with that machlokes.

My question is: What makes Pidyon Haben different? Why can one definitely
say shehecheyanu on Pidyon Haben, but all these other mitzvos are
problematic? Rabbi Bodner gives extensive footnotes showing which poskim
hold this way or that way, but I did not see any *explanation* of this
distinction.

In footnote 75, he cites Gemara Pesachim 121b about saying shehecheyanu at
a pidyon haben. I suppose it is possible that this is the only mitzva for
which the Gemara explicitly says to say shehecheyanu, and that's why all
others are questionable. But that answer would make sense only if there
were a similarly explicit gemara about shehecheyanu at a bris milah, and I
did not notice that mentioned.

Any ideas?
advTHANKSance

Akiva Miller
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