Question: Must a new brachah be recited if a person talks in between putting up multiple mezuzos in his house?
Short Answer: There is a major dispute amongst the poskim whether a new brachah is required. Many poskim rule that a new brachah should not be made.
Explanation:
I. The Issue
The Rama (Yoreh Dei’ah 289:1) rules that only one brachah is recited if a person is affixing multiple mezuzos in his house. This brachah, like many birchos ha’mitzvos, is recited before the first mezuzah is affixed.
The Beis Hillel (Rav Naftali Hirtz, 17th century, Yoreh Dei’ah ibid) comments on the Rama that the affixer must be careful not to interrupt and talk in between affixing the multiple mezuzos. If he talks (about a non-mezuzah topic), he must make a new brachah when affixing the next mezuzah. This is similar to tzitzis/talis, where no new brachah is necessary for someone who wears multiple pairs, as long as he does not interrupt before finishing wearing all of them.
The Beis Hillel adds that if the affixer puts up mezuzos in a different house, he must make a new brachah. This is different from b’dikas chametz, where no second brachah is required on a second house, because by b’dikas chametz, the mitzvah is just the beginning of the checking, as opposed to mezuzah, where the mitzvah is not completed until all mezuzos are affixed. Going from room to room, however, is not a hefseik.
The Beis Hillel is pretty clear that if an affixer talks in between affixing the mezuzos in one house, a new brachah is required.
II. Slaughtering Background
The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Dei’ah 19:5) cites two opinions whether a shochet, who is shechting multiple animals and talks in between, needs to make a new brachah. The first opinion holds that a new brachah is required, while the second opinion holds that no new brachah is recited. The Shach (7) notes that most poskim agree with the first opinion and a new brachah is required.
The Taz (6 & 9), on the other hand, disagrees with the Shach. The Taz explains that the first opinion holds that a new brachah is required because it compares sh’chitah to putting on t’filin, where talking necessitates a new brachah of L’haniach on the shel rosh. The second opinion, which the Taz himself adopts, distinguishes t’filin, as t’filin consists of two obligatory mitzvos (the shel yad and the shel rosh). Thus, if one talks in between, a new brachah is required to finish the mitzvah. Here, by sh’chitah, it is not obligatory, and the shochet can simply choose not to eat the meat of the second animal and forgo the sh’chitah. Thus, no new brachah is required on the next animal, similar to talking in the midst of a meal, where no new brachah is required on the remainder of the food (which you can choose not to eat).
Seemingly, mezuzah should be based on this machlokes between the Shach and the Taz. The Shach, who requires a new brachah even on sh’chitah, would certainly also require a new brachah on mezuzah, like the Beis Hillel. The Taz, who did not require a new brachah on sh’chitah since you are not required to shecht the next animal, would possibly not require a new brachah on the next mezuzah, as a person may always refrain from using that room (and thus no mezuzah would be necessary at all for that room).
III. Practically Speaking
Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l (Gam Ani Odecha, Rav Matisyahu Gabbai, 2:12) was asked whether a new brachah needs to be recited on mezuzah. He responded that no new brachah is necessary, as the dweller need not live in the room that does not yet have the mezuzah. In other words, Rav Chaim applies the ruling of the Taz to mezuzah. See also Birur Halachah (Vol. 6, p. 486).
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl shlita (cited in Kovetz Gam Ani Odecha, Vol. 15, p. 203) agrees that no brachah is necessary. However, he holds that ideally one should try not to talk in between affixing the mezuzos. Orchosecha Lamdeini (3:90) likewise rules that no brachah is made, especially because the Aruch HaShulchan holds by sh’chitah that no brachah is recited if you talk, like the Taz. The K’vius Mezuzah K’Hilchasah (12:7) likewise rules that no new brachah is recited.
However, the Birur Halachah (ibid) cites many poskim who disagree, including Chovas HaDar (Rav Y.Y. Blau), Pischei Sh’arim, and Shaarei Shalom. They all hold that a new brachah is necessary. Indeed, the Birur Halachah notes that shechting is different because it is unclear whether it is even a mitzvah! Similarly, Rav Nissim Karelitz (Gam Ani Odecha, Rav Matisyahu Gabbai, 2:12) holds that presumably there is an obligation on every room of the house (i.e., you are living in it already) and thus a new brachah would be recited.
IV. Another Idea
The K’vius Mezuzah K’Hilchasah (ibid) cites the T’vuas Shor who suggested that if you talk in between mezuzos, you should take a break and make a true hefseik before affixing the next mezuzah. When you affix the next mezuzah, a new brachah is recited, as you had a long and serious break in between. This suggestion is also made by the sefer Shaarei Mezuzos (p. 378).
The K’vius Mezuzah K’Hilchasah, however, challenges this reasoning. Since you are obligated to affix mezuzos as soon as you dwell in the house, you should not intentionally take a break. It is better that you affix the remaining mezuzos without a new brachah.
Rabbi Ephraim Glatt, Esq. is the Associate Rabbi at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, and he is a Partner at McGrail & Bensinger LLP, specializing in commercial litigation. Questions? Comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
