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Introduction
The exact nature of the obligation to recite one-hundred Berachot a day is a matter of debate. While the origin of this obligation certainly indicates that it is a rabbinic enactment, there are those who maintain that it is a Torah obligation (perhaps a Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai – a law that was communicated orally to Moses at Sinai. Such laws, while unrecorded in the Torah, have the status of Biblical law). Some maintain that one need only participate in one-hundred Berachot a day (such as by listening and answering amen to the Berachot of others) and that actually reciting one-hundred Berachot a day oneself is merely meritorious. It is evident from Maimonides’ introduction to his Sefer HaMitzvot that some earlier compilers even included reciting one-hundred Berachot a day among the 613 Mitzvot! [Maimonides himself maintains that it is clearly a rabbinic institution, and thus, should not be counted among the 613 Biblical Mitzvot.]
Given the array of opinions as to the law’s exact origin and the nature of its obligation, it ought not surprise us that there are also many differences of opinion as to the exact parameters of fulfilling one’s daily one-hundred Berachot. Among these questions:
1. Are women obligated? This question will be addressed more thoroughly in our fifth installment of this series, Be’Ezrat Hashem.
2. When does a day start for the purpose of this obligation – at sunset or dawn? Most authorities maintain that the obligation begins at night. There is also an opinion that one only has the daylight hours to fulfill the obligation.
3. Does answering a Zimmun count as a Beracha towards one’s daily obligation?
4. May one contrive a situation that requires him to recite a Beracha he otherwise would not be required to recite (Beracha Sh’eina Tzericha) exclusively for the purpose of reciting one-hundred Berachot?
5. When reciting a Beracha, must one have in mind the intention that it count as one of his one-hundred daily Berachot?
6. If one starts Shabbat early, do his Friday afternoon Berachot count for Friday or for Shabbat? Similarly, if one recites Birkat HaMazon for Seuda Shelishit after Shabbat has ended, do the Berachot count for Shabbat or for Sunday?
For these and similar questions, it is advisable that one consult one’s own rabbi or Halachic advisor.