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Rabbi Sternbuch notes that Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky (1913-1979, late rosh yeshivah of Ponevez Yeshivah in B’nei Brak) “has come to a conclusion similar to those authorities who rule that the one who needs to say HaGomel is not included in the minyan because the requirement isn’t based on tzibbur but on hoda’ah. It is not comparable to Birkat Chatanim for which bridegrooms are included in the minyan necessary to receive their blessing (Ketubot 8b). According to one sage (R. Abahu, supra 7b), this is also derived from the same verse (Psalms 107:32), ‘Vi’romemu’hu b’khal am u’vmoshav zekeinim y’haleluhu – Let them exalt Him in the assembly of people, and praise Him in the session of the elders’ – our source for reciting HaGomel before a minimum of 10 men, aside from the one saying HaGomel.”
He further explains that “with the bridegroom, it is simply a matter of the need for a tzibbur to recite such a blessing. Therefore, the bridegroom may be included in the minimum quorum of 10. However, the simple meaning of ‘Vi’romemu’hu b’khal am… – Let them exalt Him in the assembly of people’ is that [a person saying HaGomel] must recite the blessing as praise before 10 men. If the verse would have read [with the word order altered to], ‘B’khal am y’romemu’hu – In the assembly of people, exalt Him,’ then I would understand it to mean that He be exalted in the midst of the entire assembly [with the person saying HaGomel included]. Since the verse does not read this way, the requirement is to say HaGomel before 10, not including the one reciting the blessing.”
Now, in fact, there is a twofold difficulty with the above reasoning. First, in the Gemara (supra Ketubot 7a-b), we find that R. Nachman, in the name of Huna b. R. Natan, derives Birkat Chatanim from Ruth 4:2, “Vayikach asara anashim mi’ziknei ha’ir, vayomer shevu poh, vayeshvu – And he [Boaz] gathered 10 men from amongst the elders of the city and told them sit here, and they sat.” From this verse, it is clear that Boaz gathered ten men aside from himself, which seems a clear proof that he, as the bridegroom, could not be included in the minyan. If so, according to R. Nachman, bridegrooms should not be included in the minyan. Yet, the halacha (Mechaber, Even Ha’ezer 62:4) is that the bridegroom is included.
Second, according to R. Abahu, how is it possible to derive opposite inferences from the same verse – that HaGomel requires 10 men aside from the one saying HaGomel while Birkat Chatanim requires only nine aside from the bridegroom?
(To be continued)