25 Nov PARSHAS VAYETZEI: BIRCAS HAMAPIL

And he arrived at the
place and he slept
overnight there,
because the sun had
set. Bereishis 28:11
The Gemara (Berachos
60b) teaches that when
one goes to sleep, he should recite Shema to
provide protection from the negative spiritual
forces of the night, and he is also obligated to
recite the beracha of hamapil, which thanks
Hashem for providing the rest needed to sleep
and also asks for protection until the morning
when the person will awake with a refreshed
neshama. Although it is not explicit in the
Gemara, Tosafos (54a s.v. HaRo’eh) makes it
clear that one should recite this beracha with
shem umalchus, like any other beracha, and
this is codified in the Shulchan Aruch (O.C.
239:1)
Two Approaches to the Beracha
The Maharatz Chayes (and the Elyah Rabbah
239) write that hamapil is a bircas hashevach,
a beracha of praise for the gift of sleep in
general, and does not relate to the sleep of the
specific person who is reciting it. He proves
this from a comment of Tosafos relating to

sleeping in the sukkah. Tosafos (Berachos
11b) explain that although there is a mitzvah
to sleep in a sukkah, we do not recite a
beracha because if the person will not be able
to fall asleep, the beracha will end up being a
beracha l’vatalah. According to Tosafos’
logic, though, how did Chazal enact the
beracha of hamapil each night when going to
sleep if there is concern that the person will
not fall asleep? The Maharatz Chayes answers
that for a bircas hamitzvah, the beracha
relates to the specific mitzvah that the person
will perform, such as sleeping in the sukkah,
and if the person will not ultimately be able to
perform the specific mitzvah, the beracha
would have been a beracha l’vatala. However,
since hamapil is a bircas hashevach on sleep
in general, even if this person doesn’t
ultimately fall asleep, it is not a beracha
l’vatalah since the person still correctly
praised Hashem for the gift of sleep in
general. The Chayei Adam (35:4) explains
hamapil in a similar manner.
However, the Mishna Berura (Bei’ur Halacha
239 s.v. Samuch) disagrees with this entire
approach, and rules that if a person is unsure
if he will actually fall asleep, he should not
recite the beracha. He argues that the text of

the beracha suggests that it is a personal
beracha over one’s actual sleep, and not
merely a general beracha of praise to Hashem.
It uses specific, personal language, referring
to one’s own eyes and one’s own sleep, and
does not speak in general terms, as the
beracha of malbish arumim does by praising
Hashem generally for providing clothes for
all who require them. He adds that just as the
beracha of hama’avir sheinah is not recited in
the morning by one who did not sleep, so too
the beracha of hamapil is only appropriate if
the person actually goes to sleep. In response
to the Maharatz Chayes’ proof, the Mishna
Berura could respond that we assume people
on a regular night will not have trouble falling
asleep and therefore it is possible to enact a
beracha on it. It is only in the sukkah, when
sleeping arrangements are not typical, that
Chazal were concerned that a person may not
fall asleep right away, and they therefore did
not enact a beracha.
Another nafka mina between these two
approaches is whether or not one is permitted
to speak following the beracha. The Rema
(239:1) writes that one should not eat, drink,
or speak after saying the Shema, but should
go to sleep immediately. The Mishna Berura
(239:4) adds that if one becomes very
hungry or thirsty or needs to speak, he may
do so but should say Shema again. However,
if he has already said the beracha of hamapil,
he should not speak or do something that
would constitute a hefsek between the
beracha and sleeping. This aligns with the
Mishna Berura’s assumption that a person
recites the beracha over his act of sleeping
itself, and therefore there cannot be a hefsek
between them. The Maharatz Chayes,
however, would disagree and would permit
eating, drinking, or speaking after the
beracha. He presumably views the beracha
as a general expression of praise before
sleep, rather than something specifically
linked to the act of sleep itself, which would
permit activities afterward. In practice, Rav
Chaim Kanievsky (Ishei Yisrael, Teshuvah
283) ruled that if a person spoke after
hamapil he should not repeat the beracha.
This is due to a safek about whether a hefsek
affects the beracha, stemming from this
machlokes between the Mishna Berura and
the Maharatz Chayes.
If one uses the restroom after reciting
hamapil, the same machlokes would seem to
apply as to whether the person can recite
asher yatzar. According to the Mishna
Berura, this would be a hefsek and is
therefore forbidden, but according to the
Maharatz Chayes, it is not a problem. Most
poskim, though, including Rav Ovadiah
Yosef (Yechaveh Da’as 4:21), the
Debrecener Rav (Be’er Moshe 1:63), and
the Tzitz Eliezer (7:27), write that after

reciting hamapil, a person may recite asher
yatzar and other berachos or tefillos, such as
kiddush levana, that he may have forgotten to
recite, prior to going to bed.
Those Who Do Not Recite HaMapil
The above discussion is also relevant as a
possible explanation for the common practice
today in some circles to not recite the beracha
of hamapil at all. As we mentioned, the
Mishna Berura recommends that one who is
unsure if he will be able to fall asleep should
not recite this beracha, because failure to fall
asleep would render it a beracha l’vatalah.
Perhaps some developed the practice to omit
the beracha based on this concern. However,
according to the Maharatz Chayes, there must
be a different explanation for this practice, as
he holds there is no concern for beracha
l’vatala even if he never falls asleep.
Rav Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos V’Hanhagos
2:131) suggests that the text of the beracha
(“hamapil chevlei sheinah”) implies that the
beracha is not recited over the act of sleeping,
but on the moment of exhaustion that
immediately precedes sleep. He theorizes that
uncertainty in pinpointing the exact moment
when one reaches the stage of sleep may lead
some people to avoid reciting the beracha of
hamapil. However, this reasoning is
problematic, as people in the times of Chazal
likely faced the same challenge in determining
the precise moment of exhaustion, yet our
chachamim still instituted the beracha. Rav
Hershel Schachter (Nefesh HaRav page 153)
and Rav Sternbuch, in the name of Rav
Moshe Soloveitchik, suggest that perhaps
some do not say the beracha of hamapil
because in the generations following the close
of the Talmud, the rabbis instituted the recital
of the pesukim of “Baruch Hashem
L’Olam…” before Shemoneh Esrei of Maariv.
This passage contains many of the same ideas
of protection at night as the beracha of
hamapil and therefore renders the recitation
of hamapil unnecessary. This argument,
however, is also difficult in light of the
principle that one cannot change the format of
a beracha instituted by Chazal — the
“matbei’a shetav’u chachamim.”
Additionally, Rav Sternbuch points out that
many, including all those who live in Eretz
Yisrael, do not recite these pesukim, and still
do not say bircas hamapil.