05 May PARSHAS BECHUKOSAI: RECITING A BERACHAH WHEN VISITING A CONCENTRATION CAMP

And I will remember
my covenant with
Yaakov, and even
my covenant with
Yitzchak, and I will
even remember my
covenant with
Avraham, and I will remember the land.
Vayikra 26:42
Introduction
Many Jews of our generation have had the
opportunity to travel to the sites of the
concentration camps in which millions of
Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
For children or grandchildren of survivors,
the trip is often even more meaningful. This
raises the question as to whether they should
recite the berachah of “She’asah li neis
bamakom hazeh,” which is generally recited
upon visiting a place where a person had
previously been miraculously saved from
death. Would a descendant of someone who
miraculously survived the Nazi
concentration camps also recite this
berachah when visiting the camps where
their parents or grandparents had been
imprisoned?

What Type of Miracle?
The Gemara in Berachos (54a) teaches that
one should recite this berachah whenever he
returns to the site where he experienced a
salvation. It is understood that all of the
berachos discussed in the Gemara are recited
with shem umalchus, as Tosfos (s.v. haro’eh)
points out.
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 218:9) records a
discussion as to whether the berachah of
“She’asah li neis” is recited only over a
miracle that is “yotzei miminhag ha’olam,”
supernatural, or even a natural event that led
to one’s being saved. The example of a
natural occurrence that is given is one who
is attacked by “ganavim,” and who then
screams and is saved (see Mishnah Berurah
32). The Shulchan Aruch concludes that one
who experiences a natural salvation should
recite the berachah without shem umalchus.
Rav Betzalel Stern (BeTzeil HaChochmah
5:62) points out that the Shulchan Aruch
HaRav rules that examples of one who
should recite a berachah include one who is
saved from a wild animal or bandits. This
seems to argue with the ruling of the
Shulchan Aruch. Rav Stern suggests that the

Shulchan Aruch HaRav is
referring to “listim,” who
intend to harm their victim,
while the Shulchan Aruch is
speaking of “ganavim,” whose
goal is to rob him and who
would harm him only if he
resists. Rav Stern suggests that
the Nazis would certainly fall
into the Shulchan Aruch
HaRav’s category of listim,
and one who was saved from
them should therefore recite
the berachah with shem
umalchus when visiting a
concentration camp where he/ she had been
imprisoned.
Rav Stern adds that the Nazis were much
worse than listim. Listim are not guaranteed
to kill their victims and might sometimes
meet their match and have to flee, while the
Nazis had such an advantage that it was
considered certain death to be at their mercy.
Furthermore, there was so much additional
death from disease and malnourishment
during the Holocaust that one who survived
such an ordeal can consider himself to have
experienced a miracle.
In contrast, the B’tzel Hachochmah 5:62
also quotes those who argue that since one
who was in a concentration camp did not
necessarily have a single moment in which
he was about to be killed and survived, he
would not be able to recite the berachah.
One who was attacked by listim had a
specific moment at which his life was
hanging in the balance, and he can
therefore point to a specific neis when
saying the berachah. Rav Hershel
Schachter concurs with this opinion.
A Descendant of the Survivor
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 218:4) rules
explicitly that all of one’s descendants
recite the berachah of “She’asah l’avi
neis.” However, the Mishnah Berurah (16)
points out that although one’s son or
grandson can say the berachah even if he
was born prior to the occurrence of the
neis, one’s great-grandchildren would not
recite a berachah unless their father was
born after the neis took place, since they
then owe their entire existence to the
miracle.
The Meishiv Nevonim (based on the
Rosh, Berachos 9:1, and Ma’adanei Yom
Tov 2) explains that there are two separate
reasons for a child or descendant to recite
this berachah. The simplest is that one
owes his entire existence to this neis. The
second is that one feels extremely close to
his grandfather and has a great deal of
hakaras hatov for the neis, even if he

would have survived (or been born) without
it. This second type of obligation does not
carry over to a great-grandchild, as the usual
relationship of one who is three generations
removed is often not as close.
The Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Seder Birchos
HaNehenin) argues that any descendants of
the survivor should recite the berachah,
regardless of whether they owe their survival
to the neis. The Kaf HaChaim (218), in
contrast, rules that even a grandchild would
not recite the berachah unless he owes his
survival to the neis.
Conclusion
Based on the multitude of opinions, if one
assumes that surviving the camps is the type
of miracle for which one would recite a
berachah, both children and grandchildren
would certainly say the berachah if their
existence is contingent on that survival.
Great-grandchildren whose existence is not
dependent on this neis would not recite a
berachah, and if it is dependent, it is subject
to machlokes. In virtually all instances,
descendants of Holocaust survivors owe
their existence to the miracle of that
salvation, since their parents would have
never been born had the survivor perished in
the concentration camp.
If, however, we conclude that only
supernatural miracles or specific incidents
that almost led to one’s demise require a
berachah, one would likely not say a
berachah when visiting a concentration
camp, or he should say it without shem
umalchus.
Rav Betzalel Stern suggests that one should
attempt to find the most specific area where
the neis actually occurred, and if he doesn’t
know exactly where it was, he should stand
in a place that has a view of the largest
possible area. He adds that if one’s relative
survived multiple camps, he should recite
the berachah in all the places, first
mentioning the camp he is in but including
the other camp in the berachah as well each
time.