0238 - The Rebbe Stopped Saying the First Bracha of Benching Out Loud Part 1

00:01 The stated by the farbrengens of Yom Tov was by the big farbrengens at the end of the Yom Tov, like the end of Rosh Chodesh and the end of Sukkos, the second day of Sukkos, when the Rebbe used to farbrengen the second day of Sukkos, the end of Simchas Torah, the end of Achdas Hapesach, the end of Shavuos, the Rebbe would wash and then at the end he would bench, would be mezamen and he would bench. And the stated was by the benching was that the first bracha he would say out loud the whole bracha. The other brachas he would only say the last line before the Baruch and then the Baruch and then the bracha and people would answer Amen. And also parts in Yaaleh Vayavo where people would answer Amen. But the first bracha was different. The first bracha he would say the whole bracha out loud. This happened till Rosh Chodesh Tov Shen Lamed Gimel. Rosh Chodesh Tov Shen Lamed Gimel by the farbrengen there was a change. He said it quietly like the rest of the brachas. And from then on, every time the Rebbe would bench, he would say the first bracha quietly, not like he used to do till then. And when it happened at Rosh Chodesh, we were wondering why did the Rebbe not say the first bracha out loud. So right after benching, the Rebbe said like this, "Dos was apen gezogt, de eshte broche b'lchische." The reason I said the first bracha quietly, I did it,

01:07 "l'heitsi fun divas meinen," to be meitzi to take out of those that think, "az man iz meitzi mid'broche reshaine," that we're meitzi them with the first bracha and they don't have to make the bracha. So the Rebbe said, I made it, said it quietly, they shouldn't think so. And we heard that in Gruzia and by many other Sefardim, they have the minhag that the first bracha benching, they're yeitzi with the one that's mezamen, with the one that says the bracha out loud. The other brachas they say, the first bracha they're yeitzi. And obviously the Rebbe didn't want that to happen. So in order not, they should not make that mistake and think that they're yeitzi with the Rebbe's bracha. So therefore the Rebbe said it quietly. That's what he said. Now we know that that time we used to give in after the farbrengens a tochen kotzer, a short tochen of the farbrengen Rebbe was magiyit. And then also a description of what took place by the farbrengen. So here too, we gave in a tochen and a description of the farbrengen Rebbe was magiyit. And the way it was written l'chatichilah, it said like this, that the Rebbe said, why did he say the first bracha benching quietly? "B'chdei l'heitsi midas elu shehinen nimetsiyom behabroche veinum tzrichim l'vorach matzman." To take out of the mind of those that think that I am meitzi them with the bracha and they don't have to make a bracha themselves. That's how it was written. The Rebbe was

02:19 magiyit, changed it. He made, he wrote like this, "B'chdei lishli latoes," to be sheila, to take away the mistake, "sho ha'amira b'kel rom," that the saying, obviously that I'm saying it loudly, "is b'chdei l'heitsi hashemin," is in order to be meitzi the people who hear. That's how he wrote. And he left the words, "veinum tzrichim l'vorach matzman," they think they don't have to make the bracha themselves. Now when I say what I think is the difference in the way it was written before and the way the Rebbe wrote it, the way it was written before, a person might have learned pshat, even though it wasn't a pshat, might have learned a pshat that you cannot be meitzi somebody with a bracha. So the way it's said that it's to take away from those that think that I'm meitzi them with the bracha. So people might think that the reason the pshat is that people think I'm meitzi them and I can't be meitzi them. You can't be meitzi with a bracha, which is not true. Mi ikar din, you could be meitzi somebody else with a bracha of benching. But the way the Rebbe wrote it, it's a different vort. He wrote it that I did it to be sheila, to take away the mistake, that the reason I'm saying it loud is to be meitzi. Because what the Rebbe is saying is I don't have a mind to be meitzi them and they wouldn't know that. So I said it quietly. They shouldn't think

03:26 that the reason I'm saying it loud to be meitzi. Now here there is no possibility of a mistake that you cannot be meitzi. Fakert is saying that I said it quietly, so they shouldn't think that the reason I'm saying it is to be meitzi them, even though you could be meitzi. But the way it was written before, people might think the pshat would have been that you cannot be meitzi. L'heitsi midas elu that I am meitzi them. In other words, maybe you can be meitzi. But the way the Rebbe wrote it, it's they shouldn't think that the reason I'm saying it is to be meitzi. I'm saying it loud to be meitzi. And I'm not. And therefore the Rebbe wrote, said, uh, I said it quietly. And from then on, as I said, the Rebbe never again said the bracha of, the first bracha of benching out loud. But what we see here is that when the Rebbe was magiya something, he wanted it to be very clear and made sure that every word is meduyek and it's very clear. Everything is correct and person shouldn't come to any mistake in the pshat.