It’s Elul and we’re all looking for ways of to get closer to Hashem. Sometimes the best course of action is not to look for something new, but to improve what we’re already doing.

A year ago, I wrote some thoughts in this space on improving how we say brachos, reciting them out loud, more slowly, without mumbling or slurring them. Baruch Hashem, that article was very well-received, and I heard from many people that they improved their recital and understanding of brachos. It was perhaps the most positive feedback I have ever received on an article.

Building on that progress, this year let’s discuss responding Amen to a brachah — which Chazal call the seal and signature to all brachos (Berachos 53b). As the Gemara says there, “Gadol ha’oneh Amen yoseir min hamevarech — The one who answers Amen is greater than the one recites the blessing.”

The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 215:2) rules that one who hears a brachah has an obligation to answer Amen. The Mishnah Berurah there writes that this obligation is based on the pasuk “Ki Sheim Hashem ekra, havu godel L’Elokeinu — When I call the Name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d” (Devarim 32:3).

Poskim write that one must be very careful to answer Amen to brachos. The Chayei Adam (6:1) cites the Zohar Chadash (Rus), which says that not answering Amen is a severe failing in Hashem’s eyes. Consider the reward, then, for one who fulfills this obligation properly. As Chazal say, “Kol ha’oneh Amen b’chol kocho, poschin lo shaarei Gan Eden — Whoever answers Amen with all his strength, the gates of Gan Eden are opened for him” (Shabbos 119b).

The Alter of Kelm offers a perspective on why this is so highly treasured in Hashem’s eyes:

It would have been worthwhile for Hashem to create the entire universe and keep it in existence for 6,000 years even if only one Jew, only one time, said “Baruch Hu u’baruch Shemo.” Furthermore, the reward for saying one Amen is 1,000 times greater than saying one Baruch Hu u’baruch Shemo.”

He went on to say that 1,000 Amens equals saying one “Amen, yehei Shmei Rabba, and one word of Torah study equals 1,000 recitals of “Amen, yehei Shmei Rabba.”

(Just One Word, Esther Stern, Feldheim, page 59)

Saying one baruch Hu u’varuch Shemo just one time is the fulfillment of the entire purpose of all of Creation — and just one Amen equals 1,000 of those. Every time we answer Amen, we can remind ourselves that we are fulfilling the entire purpose of all of world history.

In explaining why saying Amen is so vitally important, the Maharsha (Berachos 53b) says that a brachah is a direct action to reveal Hashem’s Presence in the world and thereby increase emunah. But the impure forces created by our aveiros try to prevent this from occurring. The brachah “hangs in midair,” if you will. But when someone responds with a powerful Amen, an affirmation of the brachah that was said, this opens a second line of attack, an extra push that breaks through whatever is holding back the holiness of the Shechinah.

These thoughts have been weighing on me recently, especially after I saw real neglect in answering Amen over the course of just a few days. For example, I was sitting at a wedding next to a prominent talmid chacham. When he finished eating, he recited a brachah acharonah. I waited for the opportunity to answer Amen… but it never came. He said the brachah very quietly, all the way to the end.

I can only judge him favorably. He didn’t know me so well, and perhaps he thought I wouldn’t answer Amen, given how many people remain uneducated regarding this mitzvah. So, to avoid placing a stumbling block before me, he said the brachah too quietly for me to hear.

I was bothered by this rav’s assumptions, but a few days later, I understood where he was coming from. I was in shul, about to start saying birchos hashachar, and I asked someone nearby if he wouldn’t mind answering Amen. I could see he was leisurely drinking a coffee. But he brushed me off — he stood up suddenly and said he was in the middle of something and didn’t have time. Then he walked away.

Rav Avigdor Miller has an insight (Toras Avigdor, March 17, 2026) that helps us understand the psychology of someone who would reject the opportunity to answer Amen. Commenting on the Chazal quoted above, that answering Amen is greater than reciting the initial brachah, he points out that this apparently runs counter to another Chazal (Bava Basra 9a), “Gadol hame’aseh yoseir min ha’oseh — one who causes others to do good deeds is greater than the one who does the good deeds.”

By this logic, we’d think the one making the brachah would be the more important one; he’s causing the other one to answer Amen. But a different element comes into this particular case. Rav Miller describes the scenario typically seen in shul, where certain people are “demonstratively” saying birchos hashachar, disturbing others who are trying to say their own brachos.

As he so memorably put it, “So you’re saying, ‘Who told you to say your brachos so loud? Why don’t you say them quietly? I have to say my own brachos. Just because you want to say a brachah, I have to answer Amen?’ ”

This is a very human reaction, especially in the morning for someone who hasn’t had his coffee yet. But consider the person who manages to put aside his irritation and acquiesces to this other person’s desire to prompt him to say Amen.

As Rav Miller says, “I didn’t want him to make the brachos. I’ve got my own business to do, and he is intruding on my time by saying the brachos. So I have to stop what I’m doing and answer Amen. There, it’s greater — because you’re holding back your impatience at him and cooperating with him, because he wants to do something good.”

Saying Amen requires patience, and submitting to someone else’s time frame and agenda. It helps one to develop one’s middos, in addition to expressing great emunah.

Around 20 years ago or so, there was a worldwide movement to say Amen with greater awareness and excitement. There were books, posters, songs, children’s recordings, and more, distributed to all segments of Klal Yisrael, extolling the importance of answering Amen. However, while there are notable exceptions, it seems that the effect of this movement has faded somewhat, and we’ve lost the powerful focus in this area that we used to have.

So, for this Elul, Yamim Noraim, and beyond, let’s stop and notice when we hear others making brachos so we can answer Amen properly. We can start in our homes, making it a family project to make brachos out loud and answer Amen. Perhaps we could create “Amen chavrusas” in shul for our brachos, emulating the Shulchan Aruch’s description of former times (6:4), when people in shul would take turns saying brachos aloud and allow others to answer Amen.

The Beis Aharon says that the Arizal would even hear the morning brachos from as many as 100 people so he could respond Amen to them all. Despite his greatness and prowess in learning Torah with great depth, he specifically wanted to fulfill this mitzvah: to hear many brachos so he could respond Amen.

Many people have seen the video of Rav Chaim and Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky listening to each other’s brachos and reciting Amen. Apparently, it’s a very important endeavor.

With all of the above in mind, this Elul and Yamim Noraim, let’s try to make Amen great again.

Rabbi Boruch Leff is a rebbi in Baltimore, an editor, and the author of six books.