Saying amen | Imamother

amother

Honeydew

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 4:19 am

crust wrote:

In one sentence, can you explain your objection to this?

I don't object. As Etky said, it's halachically neutral to have an amen party.

I am concerned about bal tosif - a poster on this thread called these parties a mitzvah. And I'm perplexed by the refusal to admit that these are new, female-led practices.

amother

Peach

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 4:52 am

amother wrote:

Hashem yirachem! Hundreds of generations of Jews have lived and died without knowing about this mitzvah.

Like I said, if you want to say amen, go to shul.

If these parties aren't to feed a female need, why aren't men making them too?

Hashem Yerachem INDEED!!! Do you realize what you wrote here???
Hundreds of generations of Jews have lived and died without knowing this mitzvah

Generations of Jews sacrificed their lives al kiddush Hashem, but didn't know of the mitzvah of answering Amen to a brocha???
do you really believe they were that ignorant - they didn't answer Amen to brochas at home, or in public food kitchens, as well in shul, and in other places answering Amen not on a brocha over food or drink?

In many Jewish communities, "Amen" is amongst the first words that Mothers teach their babies.

As for men making brochas parties: I have seen it and heard of it amongst men - more of Rebbes making a brochas party with their young talmidim in cheder.

amother

Honeydew

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 5:01 am

amother wrote:

Please calm down. Jews have said amen to brachos for thousands of years. It's the parties that are new.
And yes, little boys learn to say amen. That's lovely but irrelevant.

amother

Peach

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 5:13 am

amother wrote:

There's no harm until it becomes an expectation and/ or obligation. ("What?! You took challah by yourself?! Don't you know you need 39 other women?!")

From my perspective, if you are over five years old, you're probably old enough to say brachos on your own. If you want to answer Amen to a group, go to shul and daven with a minyan.

And if you want to create new rituals, be honest about what you are doing. Again, I don't know that it's necessarily forbidden to create new rituals, but there's no obligation, either.

I agree with you on this.
I usually don't join the 40 women group saying Tehillim for ... or taking challah for ... e.t.c
b/c it's a pressure for me if unintentionally I'll miss out on a day or two. And the group is dependent on the 40 women doing it every day.

If I do do a 40 days for something, I do it individually - by myself, and say initially that it is
with a bli neder if I unintentionally forget one day or more.
And I do something that it is easy for me to do and remember, like lighting a candle 40 days l'ilui nishmas Rabbi Menachem Mendel ben Reb Yosef mi'Riminov zt'l is a well known segulah for a yehshua.

Tried and tested and b'H got the needed yeshua from Hashem.

But when I light the candle I say: Hashem, please help me in xyz in the zchus of the tzaddik....
The help really comes from Hashem, and the tzaddik is a holy kli via which to get the help, that is if Hashem thinks it's best for the person to get it. The tzaddik davens by the Kisei haKavod for the person.

Thought it's already past chatzos Tisha B'Av where I live, I am still hoping and praying that Hashem Grant Klal Yisrael the Geulah Sheleimah this Tisha B'Av and the remaining hours of the fast turn into a Yom Tov!!!

Halevai!!! Kein Yehi Ratzon!!! Amen.

amother

Peach

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 5:25 am

amother wrote:

Please calm down. Jews have said amen to brachos for thousands of years. It's the parties that are new.
And yes, little boys learn to say amen. That's lovely but irrelevant.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what the poster was referring to - I thought she was posting about saying Amen in general.

And re men saying Amen - I was just answering the poster who asked about it, so it wasn't irrelevant.

Smile

an easy fast to all.

amother

Peach

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 5:39 am

amother wrote:

The seudas Ameinim is a mitzvah, b/c it gets many women at one time to answer, "Amen" to a brocha/s.
Imagine what that creates in Heaven.
With each Amen one says, a new positive Malach for oneself is created - this is what I learned in school, in seminary, and read in sefarim.

mommy3b2c

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 6:15 am

etky wrote:

I can only speak from my own experience and from the literature that I have read about the phenomena of seudot amen and hafrashat challah sessions. They are all about female bonding and carving out an all-female space within a religious context. Not feminism, or even female 'empowerment' in the feminist sense- rather a space apart from the men within which women can socialize, be the main actors, 'run the show' and fill with religious content that is valuable to them. Sometimes there will be a female speaker and/or singing and dancing. Often the seuda is conducted as a segula for a refuah for a relative or friend or for a zivug. It's a spiritual 'girls night out'.

And if this is true, what's wrong with that?

I have been to hafrashas challah for 40+ women. We always did it for a zechus for someone. It was always beautiful. I see it as a way to say "G-d, look at all these sincere women. They all took time out of their busy lives to do this special mitzvah. They are all coming together to say amen to each bracha, so that each bracha is even more powerful.
Most of them don't even know the person that needs our zechusim. Ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu. This is how Jewish women choose to spend their (not so) free time. In all these women's zechusim, please help this person in need."

I always feel that the fact that so many are doing a mitzvah in one room makes the mitzvah more powerful.

Another beautiful thing that I noticed is that there are always so many different "types" of Jews gathered together. The Achdus is incredible. I'm sure it must make Hashem proud.

etky

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 6:56 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Absolutely nothing. To each their own, especially since this seems to fill a need in a very positive way.
I do get from this thread that some posters feel social pressure to attend these sort of 'womens' events.
But as I said in a later post, that's a different discussion...

mommy3b2c

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 7:02 am

etky wrote:

If people feel pressure, the problem lies within themselves. They need to work on their self esteem. They need to stop caring so much about what others think. But like you said, thats a whole other discussion.

I have never heard of an amen party, but I have been asked to domchallah many times. Sometimes I say yes, amd sometimes I say no. No pressure involved.

Moonlight

Tue, Aug 01 2017, 8:00 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

I agree 100%. This should not be about pressure. If Amen parties mean pressure to you, do all neighborhood women's events pressure you? Does that mean we should never have women's events because someone might some how feel pressured? I totally don't get this thread and why anyone has an issue with amen parties