25 Jun DO SOLDIERS BENTCH GOMEL?

I. When to Recite
Gomel
One of the thankful
and praiseful blessings
we recite is Gomel, in
which we thank Hashem
in public for preserving
us in a dangerous situation. A soldier
engaged in combat certainly qualifies
as emerging from danger. If he returns
home for a few days during the war for a
brief rest, does he recite the blessing on
returning home even if he knows he will
return to the battlefield? This is all subject
to contemporary debate.
The Gemara (Berachos 54b) lists four
types of people who recite the Gomel
blessing: 1) someone who travels by sea,
2) someone who travels in the desert, 3)
someone who was healed from an illness,
and 4) someone who was released from
prison. There are three main debates about
this blessing about which Ashkenazim and
Sephardim generally disagree. The first
disagreement is about the scope of the
blessing. Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel)
says that anyone who survives a dangerous
experience outside the four case listed
above should, at most, say the blessing

without Hashem’s name (Shulchan Aruch,
Orach Chaim 219:9). This is the Sephardic
practice. Rav Yisrael Kagan (20th cen.,
Poland) says that Ashkenazic practice is to
recite the full Gomel blessing on surviving
any life-threatening experience (Mishnah
Berurah 219:32).
The second disagreement is that Rav Karo
says that Jews from France and Germany
(i.e. Ashkenazim) do not recite the Gomel
blessing when traveling from one city
to another. In other words, Ashkenazim
restrict category 3 to strictly desert
travel. In contrast, Jews from Spain (i.e.
Sephardim) recite the blessing on intercity
travel because at the time it was very
dangerous (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim
219:7). The third disagreement is that Rav
Karo says that anyone who is so sick that
he needs to lie down in bed (some add: for
three days) recites Gomel, even if his life
was never in danger (ibid., 8). In contrast,
Rav Moshe Isserles (16th cen., Poland)
says that the blessing is only recited after
recovery from a deadly illness (ad loc.). In
other words, Sephardim who follow Rav
Karo do not require deadly danger for the
Gomel blessing while Ashkenazim who
follow Rav Isserles do.

II. Returning Home
From War
Does a soldier recite
the Gomel blessing
on returning home
from war? According
to Ashkenazic
practice, if the soldier
experienced combat
then he survived
a life-threatening
situation and should
recite the blessing.
However, according
to Sephardic practice,
the combat does not
fall into any of the
four specific situations
and therefore the soldier should only recite
the blessing without Hashem’s name. Rav
Chaim David Halevi, the Sephardic Chief
Rabbi of Tel Aviv in the late twentieth
century, points out that a soldier certainly
travels from city to city. Therefore, by
traditional Sephardic practice, he should
recite the Gomel blessing over the
dangerous intercity travel. However, since
intercity travel is different than it was in
pre-Modern times, it is not clear whether
anyone should recite a blessing on intercity
travel. It is best that a Sephardic soldier
recite the Gomel blessing having in mind
both the intercity travel and the combat,
so that there are two arguments to permit
the full blessing (Mekor Chaim, vol. 2
94:3,11).
What if the soldier is merely on leave
and will return to the battlefield? Does
he recite the Gomel each time he returns
home or only after his war service is
complete? Rav Nachum Rabinovitch
(21st cen., Israel) points out that Rambam
writes that the Gomel blessing is recited
by someone who travels by sea when
he alights and someone which travels in
the desert when he reaches a settlement
(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Berachos 10:8).
Rambam sees the blessing as appropriate
only when the experience is completely
over. Rav Rabinovitch also quotes Rav
Yechiel Michel Epstein (19th cen., Russia)
who says that someone who is released
from jail but is on bail does not recite the
Gomel blessing because he is not yet fully
free (Aruch Ha-Shulchan, Orach Chaim
219:5). It would appear from this that a
soldier on leave who will return to battle
should not recite the Gomel blessing.
However, Rav Rabinovitch quotes Rav
Chizkiyahu Medini (19th cen., Crimea)
who notes the practice of charity collectors
from Israel who would recite the Gomel
blessing each time they arrived in a new

country by boat (Sdei Chemed, Asifas
Dinim, Ma’areches Berachos 2:11). Even
though these emissaries would travel from
place to place and then return to Israel, they
would recite the blessing at each stop. Rav
Medini argues that because each stop is
intended as a destination, it merits a blessing
even if they are additional destinations. If
so, Rav Rabinovitch argues, a rest at home
from battle is also an intended destination
and merits a Gomel blessing. According to
this, a soldier should recite Gomel every
time her returns home on leave from battle.
However, Rav Rabinovitch points out
that contemporary practice is not to recite
the blessing and that should be followed,
particularly when dealing with a rabbinic
blessing (Melumedei Milchamah, no. 33).
Rav Simcha Rabinowitz (cont., Israel)
follows Rav Rabinovitch’s logic without
his deferral to common practice (Piskei
Teshuvos 219:7 n. 32).
Similarly, Rav Eliezer Melamed (cont.,
Israel) seems to say that a soldier who
returns home from a specific mission should
recite Gomel even if after his leave he will
continue to another dangerous mission
(Peninei Halachah, Berachos 16:10). The
Dirshu Mishnah Berurah (219:1 n. 1)
quotes Rav Shmuel Wosner (21st cen.,

Israel) as ruling similarly (Shevet Ha-
Levi, vol. 9, no. 45). Rav Shlomo Aviner

(cont., Israel) quotes Rav Ovadiah Yosef
(21st cen., Israel) as saying that a soldier
should recite Gomel every time he returns
home on leave but Rav Aviner says that
Ashkenazim should only recite Gomel
at the end of one’s service (Rav Aviner’s
edition of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, 61:1,
vol. 2, p. 257).
I asked on social media what people are
seeing in shuls in Israel when soldiers
return on leave from the war in Gaza. The
response is mixed: some soldiers recite
Gomel each time they return home on leave
and some wait until the end of their service.