Question: When approaching the mitzvah of Kiddush Levana, should priority be granted to performing the mitzvah at the earliest time – Zerizin u’makdimin l’mitzvot – or to such time as the most people would be available to join in together – B’rov Am hadrat Melech?
Michael Katz
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Answer: It depends, as we shall see. In another example based on the Gemara (Berachot 53b), halachic scholars ruled that B’rov Am has priority. As such, on Friday night the halacha should be that one person makes Kiddush for all present rather than every person reciting Kiddush by himself or herself. We are talking about when there is a large gathering such as in a hotel, where all eat together in the same dining room. Thus, should each table make Kiddush as soon as they are assembled at their table, or should all wait until everyone is seated throughout the dining room and then have one individual recite the Kiddush aloud for everybody?
This question and its response seem to be more theoretical than practical. Indeed, I have found myself in such gatherings many times, yet I have never seen the practice mentioned above. Usually, each one makes Kiddush at his own table. Perhaps this falls under the rubric (Berachot 45a) of “pok chazi mai ama dvar – let us go out and see what the people do.”
There is an interesting consideration suggested by the Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Orach Chayyim 213:sk6) where it says that even though one generally gives preference to the concept of B’rov Am, at Kiddush one may however not be so mandated. The argument is that when one person includes another in the recitation of a beracha, the person who recites the beracha becomes his shaliach – his agent. To the extent that Friday night Kiddush is a mitzvah d’Orayta – a biblical mitzvah, one cannot compel a person to perform a mitzvah via a shaliach, since we have the rule “mitzvah bo yoter mi b’Shlucho – it is a greater mitzvah for one to perform the mitzvah when he wishes to do so himself.”
The following may demonstrate how b’rov Am may nevertheless be the preferred procedure.
The Rambam (Hilchot Berachot 1:11) rules that one may be discharged of the obligation to recite a beracha even without responding “amen,” provided that the above listener heard the entire beracha and intended to be included in it (and obviously that the one reciting had the intention to discharge those listening). Moreover, he adds, whoever responds “amen” after the beracha is considered to have recited the beracha itself [and is surely discharged].
Kesef Mishna was troubled by this halacha. His concern was that if one may observe a beracha without saying “amen,” then what is the value of saying “amen” altogether? Therefore, Kesef Mishna posits that when one does not respond “amen,” he may not be compared to the person who recited the beracha.
The meaning may be as follows: When one recites a beracha for others, the reciter becomes the shaliach of all those present. Yet when the listeners respond “amen,” it is deemed as if they actually recited the beracha themselves. Add to this the fact that reciting “amen” is deemed greater than making a beracha (Berachot 53b).
As such, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav would agree that the recital of “amen” after a beracha eliminates the function of shelichut. Thus, the halacha of B’rov Am should mandate that one person recites Kiddush for all.
Insofar as in Kiddush Levana the practice is that each recites his own beracha, surely we have never seen anyone discharge another’s obligation by reciting the beracha for him/them. It is only that we wait for the auspicious occasion (usually a motza’ei Shabbat) (see Aruch HaShulchan 426:sk6 citing Masechet Soferim), when all are assembled in their Shabbat finery to accept the Shechina, as it were, as an assembly rather than as individuals. As such (see Aruch HaShulchan 426:sk7 citing Rema), there is no problem if an individual fears that by waiting for motza’ei Shabbat there might be a cloud cover preventing one from fulfilling the mitzvah, and therefore zerizin u’makdimin will rule the situation and thus he properly does not wait.
