Blessing of Chacham Harazim at the Assembly on Thursday
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Question
Is the blessing of Chacham Harazim recited at the assembly of a million?
Answer
Shalom and blessings
A participant in the assembly who is in a central location recites the blessing 'Chacham Harazim' only when he knows for certain that there are 600,000 people present.
[And since there are many errors in estimating the number of participants at the assembly, one should not bless unless, according to reliable sources, there are clearly over 1,000,000 people, as then there are certainly six hundred thousand].
Source
The Shulchan Aruch rules (Siman 224, סע' ה): "One who sees six hundred thousand Jews together says: 'Blessed are You... King of the world, Chacham Harazim'" (and its source is in the Gemara Berachot 58, see also Tosefta there, p"6 ה"ה and Jerusalem Talmud there, p"9 ה"א).
It seems that this blessing should be recited even if one does not see all six hundred thousand at once, but only when one knows there are six hundred thousand, and is in a central crowded place, even if there are not six hundred thousand in that place alone, but only in conjunction with the adjacent streets [see Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim p"3 ה"2 (at the beginning), Nedarim 24: and Ritva and R' Avraham min ha-Har there, and T"Z Siman 232 סק"ז, and Benayahu to Baal ha-Bach Berachot 58, and Shulchan Aruch there].
It seems that even women and children are included in the six hundred thousand [see Rashi Berachot there ד"ה אוכלוסי, and see also in Maharsha Berachot there].