15 Aug ONE HUNDRED BRACHOS– GETTING READY FOR ELUL- PART TWO

Last week, we
explained the objective
of Elul is to achieve
Ani l’Dodi, a closeness
to my Beloved, namely
to Hashem. We also
suggested that a great
way to acquire dveikus, attachment to
Hashem, is to make meaningfully one
hundred blessings every day. Finally, we
cited the Bach which was elaborated on
by Rav Pincus, zt”l, zy”a, that a powerful
protection from the malach hamaves, the
angel of death, as instituted by Dovid
haMelech, is the proper fulfillment of a
hundred blessings daily.
In this article, I would like to share with
my dear readership the nuts and bolts of
how to reach the goal of one hundred
blessings. During the week, for men at
least, this milestone is easily attainable.
We start with the three Shemone Esreis,
each having 19 blessings, giving us a
total of 57 brachos. We are already
more than halfway there. Then we have
the blessings of al netilas yodai’im,
asher yotzar and Elokai neshama
which are 3, then another 3 blessings

of birkas haTorah, one blessing on tzitis
and two on tefillin, the 15 brachos of
birkas hashachar, the two brachos of
Boruch She’amar and Yishtabach, and
the 8 blessings before and after Krias
Shema in the morning and the evening.
Together, these equal 34 giving us the
total of 91, the numerical value of amein.
The Steipler Gaon says that the average
person goes to the lavatory around every
3 hours. Even for a young person, that’s
another 4 blessings, bringing us to 95.
If we eat bread once, that’s 6 blessings,
comprised of al netilas yodai’im, hamotzi
and the 4 blessings in bentching, taking
us over the top to 101. This is besides
the rest of the day when we make
shehakols, borei nefashos, mezonos and
al hamichye. And it doesn’t include the
birchas hamapil. So, as I mentioned,
during the week it’s a piece of cake (pun
intended!) to reach our important goal.
Shabbos however is an entirely different
story. We have 4 Shemone Esreis
including mussaf, but they have only 7
blessings each, giving us a total of 28
instead of 57. We do bentch 3 times, so
that’s another 18, coming to a total of 46.

We have 2 brachos of Kiddush in the
night and one during the day. We have
one blessing on the tallis katan, another
on the tallis gadol, al netilas yodai’im,
asher yoztar, and Elokai neshama
which make another 5. The 3 of birkas
haTorah, 15 of birkas hashachar, 2 of
Baruch She’amar and Yishtabach, and
7 associated with Krias Shema. That’s
another 35 bringing us to 81. So we are
now short 19 blessings! The Mishnah
Berurah writes that if we answer with
concentration amein to the blessings
before and after the Torah of each of the
aliyas and of the birkas haftorah, this
is considered like making a blessing,
bringing us to our goal. Others say that
the boruch Elokeinu, boruch adoneinu,
boruch malkienu and boruch moshi’einu
that we say in Ein Kelokeinu also count
towards the one hundred blessings. Yet,
great people like Rav Chaim Kanievsky
and the Satmar rebbe, zt”l, zy”a, tried to
reach the coveted objective of 100 actual
blessings and they would run an active
count in their minds to accomplish the
blessings that they needed. Here are
some ideas. Many people make a borei
minei bisomim on hadassim, during
Kiddush Friday night which adds a
blessing. After the meal, a person
could snack on a few rugelach, a sip
of tea, and a piece of fruit adding
another 5 blessings. A mezonos,
a ha’eitz, a shehakol, al hamichya,
and borei nefashos. Then, there is
the bracha of hamapil. A coffee
and a slice of cake to enable one to
daven better in the morning adds
another 4 blessings. Rav Klonimus
recommends making a Kiddush
before the lunch with some kichel
and herring. This adds another 4
blessings. If you take a nap in the
afternoon and then change your
tallis katan upon arising, you have
another blessing. Before leaving
to mincha, take another snack.
Perhaps a drink, some grapes and
some peanuts, or popcorn adding
another five blessings, ha’eitz,
ha’adama, shehakol, al ha’eitz and
borei nefashos. Now, let’s count the
yield of our efforts. That brings us
to 21 added to our 81 taking us to
102 and a great accomplishment. If
we are short, we could always smell
the besomin once or twice during
the day as long as there is a sizable
interval between the times.
It’s a great feeling to know that
we’ve strived to reach this prized
closeness to hashem and spiritual

protection.
On Yom Kippur when we can’t eat, it is
not possible to get to 100. I once asked
Rav Moshe, zt”l, zy”a, when I brought
him besomim to smell during this holiest
of days, ‘Since we can’t reach 100, is
there any reason to attempt to get as
close as possible through the smelling of
the besomim?’ He answered me in the
affirmative. I extrapolated from this that
women who don’t say 3 Shemone Esreis
every day and therefore fall short of 100
blessings should still try to get as close
as possible to the 100 blessing milestone.
It’s also interesting that the Gedolei
Yisroel of Eretz Yisroel such as Rav
Cham Kanievsky wanted women to say
3 Shemone Esreis each day while Rav
Eliyashev said it was praiseworthy for
them to do so, perhaps so that they too
should achieve the one hundred blessing
protection. We should also note that
even if we get to 100, we still have to
work hard on them being meaningful
blessings and not just mechanical,
mindless mutterings.
In the merit of our renewed attempt
at 100 meaningful daily blessings, may
Hashem protect us and bless us with
long life, good health, and everything
wonderful.