Monday, December 27, 2010

Happy But Sad

A lot of Yidden are coming to visit Yerushalayim during this "season to be jolly". If a person is so jolly maybe he/she should say the bracha of shehecheeyanu upon arriving at the City Of Our Dreams?

I was recently reading a Torah journal that was published periodically about 100 years ago in Europe called "Vayilakeit Yoseph". A Rav named Rav Yitzchak Weiss [Hashem Yinkom Damo] was asked why the Kohen Gadol doesn't say Shehecheeyanu upon entering the Holy Of Holies every year.

He answered as follows: Brachos were decreed during the second Beis Hamikdash. When the Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies at that time he saw that the Aron was missing [it was only there during the time of the first Beis Hamikdash - Yoma 21, I think]. This was a cause of great distress. When feeling distress one doesn't make a shehecheeyanu.

Then I searched further and found that based on this responsum Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein ruled that we don't make a shehecheeyanu upon coming to Yerushalayim because of the distress we feel that the Beis Hamikdash Hashlishi is not yet built.

WE WANT MOSHIACH NOW!!!!