The Questions (and Answers) of BDJ

View a printable version of this Q & A here.

Q:  When is the appropriate time to say Tefillat HaDerech (the Traveler's Prayer ) when flying?  My husband and I have a debate about this each time we fly.  One of us does it as the plane is taxiing, the other only after the plane lifts off. Which one of us is doing it right?  

A (RYK): The best answer is “yes”, although even this answer does not cover all of the many opinions that have been preferred about Tefilat Haderech for air travel. These opinions include:

1. Tefillat haDerech is not recited for air travel AT ALL. This opinion is based on the notion that in the Talmud the term derech (a “path” or “road”) refers exclusively to a ground route, not an air route. In defense of this argument, one could point to the numerous uses of the term derech in the prayer. The weakness of this argument of course is that this prayer was composed at a time when human air travel was still in the realm of fantasy, and that to read derech in this highly formalistic way is almost surely contrary to the intention of the Sages who simply wanted us to prayer for our safety while traveling. 

Even still, there are two comments worth making at this point:

a. If the airport you’re flying out of is more than 2.5 miles outside of the city limits, then the optimal time to recite Tefilat HaDerech is actually in the car on the way to the airport, once you exit the city limits.

b. Rabbi Soloveitchik was known to NOT have recited Tefillat Haderech on his weekly shuttle flights between Boston and New York, on the grounds that for him this flight was simply his “commute” to work, and not a flight that aroused any sense of danger or anxiety.

2. The majority of halachik opinion DOES mandate Tefilat Haderech for air travel. And here you and your husband are each following articulated Halachik opinions:

a. One school of thought says that Tefillat haDerech should be recited while taxiing toward lift-off. It is possible that the school of thought is influenced by the “derech = ground” argument cited above. It is more likely that it is based on the idea that [some] people find the take-off (and landing) to be the more anxiety-provoking part of the flight experience. 

​​​​​​​b.​​​​​​​ The other school of thought is that just as the general rule of Tefillat HaDerech (see 1a above) is that it should be recited upon leaving the safety of the city, in the context of air travel Tefillat HaDerech should be recited just after leaving the safety of the ground! This is what makes the most sense to me, but I know I am one among others :).

Q: I have noticed for some time that when reciting Kedusha during the Kedusha, many people (both in the pews and on the Amud) turn/bow left then right when they say the words v'karah zeh el-zeh v'amar.  A number of months ago I realized that neither the Koren nor the Artscroll Siddurim, which are known for their choreographic notes, include any instruction here.  I have been wondering where this comes from, and if it is permissible.

A (RYK): Great question. Prior to sometime in the 20th century, there are absolutely no references in halachic literature to such a practice. None. Not surprisingly then, it is anyone’s guess why and where and when this practice cropped up. One of the more compelling guesses as to what may have motivated the practice is a Midrashic comment found in Yalkut Shimoni. Commenting upon the phrase v’kara zeh el zeh v’amar in its original context, i.e. the prophetic vision in which Isaiah sees the angels calling out to one another just prior to their proclaiming kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, the Midrash posits that the angels are here calling out to one another (and perhaps also nodding to one another) saying, “Why don't you initiate the proclamation of kadosh kadosh? After all, you are greater than I.” Perhaps then, the 20th century neuvo-minhag developed as a re-enactment and memorializing of the angels’ practice of humility, through the mimicking of their actions when we recite kedusha ourselves.  

The thing that really made me smile when I was researching this is that there's an active discussion going on as to whether one should turn first to the right and then to the left, or vice versa. You gotta love the Jews :)! 

Q: Should one who is leading davening and/or making a bracha be careful not to "elongate" the end of a bracha so as not to create the "obstacle" of triggering listeners to answer amen too soon? Related: when leading bentching, should one say the end of each paragraph out loud, which risks others saying amen in the middle of their own bracha recital?

A (RYK): The Talmud testifies to the general power of answering amen to brachot (see here for more), and accordingly Rama (see Shulchan Aruch 59:4 and 183:7) encourages people, when davening the “Kriat Shema section” with a minyan or when bentching in a group, to hurry up and finish their own bracha prior to the leader’s finishing it, so that she can answer “amen” to the leader’s bracha. While all this would certainly seem to indicate that it is praiseworthy for the bentching leader to recite the final line of each bracha out loud (thus creating the opportunity for others to respond “amen”), it actually would depend on the circumstances. The reason that the Rama says that you should “hurry up” to finish the bracha before the leader is that it is actually forbidden to say “amen” and to thus interrupt yourself while you are still in the middle of your own bracha... Thus, in a situation in which people might be unaware of this prohibition and would simply answer “amen” to the leader’s bracha regardless of where in the bentching they themselves are, the leader would actually be “placing a stumbling block” in front of the folks in the group. On the other hand, if the whole group is singing the bentching together then the leader concluding the end of the brachot out loud just after everyone has finished singing them would make sense. 

Is a leader obligated to be careful to not elongate the final word of the bracha so as not to trigger people to respond “amen” prematurely (i.e. before the bracha is actually completely done)? The Shulchan Aruch (124:8) discusses this problem, and actually places the onus upon the responders to not answer prematurely, rather than upon the leader to not elongate. However it would certainly seem that the two should tango here. 

Q: Where do we draw the line between composing new prayers (e.g. a new version of a Yehi Ratzon or a El Maleh) and the idea that we can't create new brachot? Or are there parameters in which we can create new brachot?

A: (RYK) So this is a big question that I’ll respond with a few salient data points.​​​​​​​

1. When it comes to actual brachot, the Talmudic tradition is very particular. The Sages created the devotional formula of the bracha, composed the many specific brachot, and they reserved the license to do these things strictly to themselves. Though we take them for granted, brachot represent an incredibly creative and daring theological gesture (invoking the name of God a hundred times every day!), and the Sages felt that they should not be placed into the hands of the people-at-large. The line often cited in this discussion is that of R. Yosi in Tractate Berachot 40b, “One who deviates from the formula coined by the Sages in blessings, did not fulfill his obligation.” And beyond not fulfilling his obligation, as this principle comes to be understood, he is also doing something that is fundamentally off limits. This restrictive approach is applied to the core parts of the Tefilla that the Sages ordained as well. 
2. The most significant liturgical category of the post-Talmudic period is “piyyut”, liturgical poetry that is extremely creative and which was liberally added to our Siddur and Machzor. It is clear that Mi Sheberachs were also freely created and added throughout the centuries. It is noteworthy that piyyutim regularly invoke God’s name, but not in the formula of a bracha. 
3. In the modern era, prayers that grew up around the establishment of the State of Israel were obviously written and inserted into our liturgy, and after 1967 various changes and emendations to the “nachem” paragraph that we recite in the Amidah on Tisha B’av were also suggested by various authorities (see here for more). Though it should be mentioned that Rabbi Soloveitchik was famously opposed to the creation of any new prayers - for the State of Israel or otherwise - (and certainly to the emendation of existing prayers), as he read Rabi Yosi’s dictum extremely maximally. One could not be blamed for suspecting that Rabbi Soloveitchik was also being very wary of liturgical trends going on in the non-Orthodox Jewish world in his (and our)  time. 

Just a concluding commentary: Creating liturgy that “sounds right” is an extremely hard thing to do. We appropriately stand in awe of those who successfully did it, and simple humility should make us think carefully when creating new liturgy ourselves.