<html><div>RMicha Berger wrote:</div><div> : : The Gra made a berakhah "al akhilas matzah" whenever eating matzah during<br>: : the entire 8 days of Pesach. He holds that while the mitzvah chiyuvis<br>: : is only the first night(s) of Pesach, there is a qiyum mitzvah by eating<br>: : matzah the rest of Pesach.<br>: <br>: I was only sorta right.<br>: <br>: It is generally assumed that the unnamed "tzadiq" referred to in the<br>: Maharsham 1:209 who made such berakhos was the Gra. But the Sedei Chemed<br>: also discusses it, to no conclusion, in vol 8 "chameitz umatzah" 14:10.<br>: <br>: So, I guess it's not so clear after all. Thanks to RJSchnur for pushing<br>: me to look it up.</div><div> </div><div> It seems inconceivable that the Gaon would have had such a shitta without mention being made in Maasei Rav. It is certainly a bigger chiddush than, e.g., making a b'racha whenever entering the sukka, even without eating; yet that is mentioned, while a b'racha on matza other than at the seder is not.</div><div> </div><div> Furthermore, even a casual glance at the Maharsham's t'shuva makes it apparent that his reference is not to the GR"A. For one thing, it is most unlikely that he would refer to the GR"A as "tzaddik echad," wiith no reference to his gadlus baTorah. Secondly, he makes reference to the GR"A in the t'shuva itself, citing his opinion in the Maasei Rav that it is a mitzva but not a chiyuv, without even a hint that he is the bracha-making tzaddik. Finally, I doubt that he would have characterized the GR"A as "ein ruach chachamim noche heimenu," as he writes dismissively of the anonymous tzaddik echad.</div><div> </div><div>EMT</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></html>