Question: Does one recite Shehecheyanu on buying sefarim?
[1] (Halacha 1080)
Shehecheyanu on Seforim and for One Who Rises to Prominence
Question: Does one make the bracha of Shehecheyanu upon buying seforim?
Answer: The Radbaz wrote1: 'Any item in which he rejoices because of its importance, whether a garment or an item for his use or seforim — whatever is important and in which he rejoices, he makes a bracha on it, even if he has others like them, and even if they are not actually new but even worn, since to him they are like new.'
And likewise in Seder Brochos of the RaMaM2 he wrote: 'Upon buying new clothes and upon buying seforim one should make the bracha of Shehecheyanu, and he should immediately learn from the sefer that he bought. And not specifically new ones, but also old ones that are new to him, which had never been his. And he should make the bracha at the time of their purchase even though he has not yet used them, for the bracha is only on the joy of the heart, that he rejoices in their purchase.'
However, the Magen Avraham3 wrote: 'And it seems to me that this applies specifically to items of use, but on new seforim one does not make a bracha, for mitzvos were not given for benefit; one makes the bracha only on mitzvos that come from time to time, as written in siman 22, see there. But in Birchas RaMaM he wrote to make a bracha on seforim.'
And in the sefer Mor U'Ketziah4 he wrote on this: 'I do not know what relevance this has here, for where do we say that mitzvos were not given for benefit? For example, regarding one who is forbidden by vow from benefiting from his fellow, that he may blow for him a shofar blast of mitzvah .. But how is it possible to say that no joy and pleasure reach the soul from mitzvos? Is there not there a great joy and a sweet pleasure to the soul, more than the pleasure and sweetness that reach it from "פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב" ("The precepts of Hashem are upright, gladdening the heart") (and all the more so with seforim, which have two advantages: they are dear to the soul, and also give satisfaction to the body, since their enjoyment depends also on a physical matter, that he rejoices and takes pleasure in seeing the seforim and the beauty of their script and their binding). So why should we not make a bracha on it? And the brochos of seeing were instituted for the pleasure of the soul, which is moved upon seeing a cherished thing; all the more so it is fitting and obligatory to make a bracha upon buying seforim that he lacked, and that are needed by him and dear to him.'
The Alter Rebbe as well, in Luach Birchas HaNehenin5, disagreed with the words of the Magen Avraham and wrote: 'One makes the bracha of Shehecheyanu on important new seforim whose purchase gladdens a person's heart, and they said "mitzvos were not given for benefit" only regarding performance of the mitzvah itself; but one who buys an item with which the mitzvah is performed, if it is an important item, he has pleasure from it as with other important items, since he already needs this important item for whatever purpose it may be, he has pleasure when he has his own.'6
However, in Seder Birchas HaNehenin7 the Alter Rebbe wrote that in practice the minhag is not to make the bracha, and these are his words: 'On other items of a person's use, even silver and gold items, the custom is not to make a bracha at all, neither upon their purchase nor upon their use, and this is the primary view, and likewise with seforim'.
> Thus we have seen that in practice one does not make the bracha of Shehecheyanu upon buying new seforim.
A person who, thank G-d, was chosen for an important position
Question: Must he make the bracha of Shehecheyanu on this?
Answer: The Mor U'Ketziah wrote, continuing his words cited above: '..It seems to me that the same applies when a worthy person, fit to rise to prominence, merits it and is appointed a leader over the community, with the will of Heaven .. such that the spirit of the Omnipresent and of people is pleased with him — he should make the bracha of Shehecheyanu .. and if he has a partner, a wife and children, he should make the bracha of HaTov VeHaMeitiv. Alternatively, HaTov VeHaMeitiv always applies to it, for in any event many derive physical and spiritual benefit from him, and this seems reasonable. ..' And see there for the lengthy discussion.
And the Shu"t Chasam Sofer cited him8 and wrote: 'And in the sefer Mor U'Ketziah by the Gaon Mahari Yaavetz .. he wrote that one who has been elevated to the rabbinate and expounds in public should also make a bracha, if he knows in himself that his entire intent in his rabbinate is for the sake of Heaven. And I recall that the companion of my youth, the Rav, our teacher Rabbi Mendel Lilg z"l, Rav of the beis medrash in Frankfurt, told me that he was a distinguished student of the great Gaon, our teacher Rabbi Dovid Strauss Katz zt"l, who was Av Beis Din in the holy community of Fürth and had first been a Rosh [Yeshiva] in Frankfurt am Main. And when he departed from Frankfurt and delivered a drasha in Frankfurt in the beis knesses, since his name was Dovid, he began: "ויברך דוד את ה' לעיני כל הקהל ויאמר דוד" ("And Dovid blessed Hashem before the eyes of all the congregation, and Dovid said"), "Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has granted us life, etc." (or perhaps HaTov VeHaMeitiv, I do not recall). It appears that the Gaon z"l was in doubt and was concerned about a bracha in vain; therefore he did as described above.'
And so wrote the Machazik Bracha9: 'If he rose to prominence and was appointed a leader or a Rav and the like, in this case as well it seems to me that he should make the bracha without Hashem's name and kingship, for certainly there is an obligation upon him to acknowledge the kindnesses of Hashem and to bless in His name; and the Rav, the Mor U'Ketziah, discussed this at great length, see there.'
And in Shu"t Mishneh Sachir he wrote9: 'But I am surprised, for it appears that these great ones z"l took it for granted that there is joy for one who rises to the rabbinate, whereas from Tosafos in Sanhedrin (17a, s.v. VeHem) it is implied that there is no joy for one upon whom the needs of the community have been placed. And since there is no joy, what place is there for the bracha of Shehecheyanu, which comes specifically where there is joy? Consider this carefully.
[And in a note he added: 'Regarding what I cited, that where there is no joy one does not make the bracha of Zman, see Chok Yaakov siman 489 [se'if katan 7], that only etc. Where there is joy or benefit one makes the bracha; and in the responsa of the Rashba (volume 1, siman 245) he wrote that Zman does not depend on joy but only on benefit — see there in the explanation of the law of Shehecheyanu, and in simanim 126 and 379, and Mahari Assad, Orach Chaim, simanim 154–155. And in the Pesikta on the pasuk "לא תשא שם ה' א' לשוא" ("You shall not take the name of Hashem your G-d in vain"), that it is forbidden to accept authority in order to benefit from it, for it is like adultery with a married woman. If so, what place is there to make the bracha of Shehecheyanu on the rabbinate? There is no joy, as written in the main text, and benefit is forbidden to him, as in the Pesikta. Consider this carefully.]
However, in Shu"t Tzitz Eliezer10 he remarked on their words: 'It is a wonder regarding the Machazik, the Sha'arei Teshuvah and the Chasam Sofer, who cite in the name of the Mor U'Ketziah without qualification that his view is to make the bracha of Shehecheyanu, while the Mor U'Ketziah himself immediately, adjacent to this reasoning, brings a second reasoning that he should make the bracha of HaTov VeHaMeitiv — and not only that, but he concludes regarding this second reasoning that "this seems reasonable".'
> 'Thus we have seen that there are poskim who wrote that a Rav or leader who is appointed over the community should make the bracha of Shehecheyanu or HaTov VeHaMeitiv, but in practice they ruled that he should make the bracha without Hashem's name and kingship'12 And in the next halacha we will look at the bracha of Shehecheyanu in Sefiras HaOmer.
Notes:
1 Volume 3, siman 412 (855) ↩
2 By Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Orpatshik ↩
3 Siman 223, se'if katan 5 ↩
4 Siman 223. The Shu"t Chasam Sofer cited it (volume 1, Orach Chaim, siman 156) and wrote: 'Behold, the Magen Avraham in siman 223 wrote that one who buys seforim should not make the bracha of Shehecheyanu, for mitzvos were not given for benefit, and on a mitzvah that does not come from time [to time] one does not make the bracha of Shehecheyanu; and he wrote that the RaMaM disagrees, and likewise in the responsa of the Radbaz. And in the sefer Mor U'Ketziah, the Gaon Mahari Yaavetz cried out loudly: what does "not given for benefit" have to do with this? And he concluded that one should make the bracha' ↩
5 Chapter 11, se'if 21 ↩
6 It should be noted that the Alter Rebbe wrote (Luach, chapter 11, se'if 1, and so too in Seder Birchas HaNehenin, chapter 12, se'if 1) that Shehecheyanu is on 'the joy of heart that comes to a person *from the good of this world*', and despite this he held that one may make the bracha on seforim. This is unlike the words of those who say that those who hold that the bracha of Shehecheyanu is on joy that comes from worldly good would certainly not make the bracha on seforim. And see Shu"t Maharam Schick, Yoreh De'ah, siman 254 ↩
7 Chapter 12, se'if 5 ↩
8 Cited above, note 4 ↩
9 Siman 223, se'if katan 8, cited in the Sha'arei Teshuvah, se'if katan 10 ↩
10 Orach Chaim, siman 73 ↩
11 Volume 22, siman 19 ↩
12 It should be noted that in similar cases the poskim wrote that he should take a new fruit or garment and make the bracha with Hashem's name and kingship, and have in mind also this joy. See Ben Ish Chai, Year Two, Parshas Re'eh, se'if 6 ↩
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