Do You Need to Say Birchas HaTorah Before Typing Divrei Torah?

Hi, I write articles for a halacha forum. Sometimes I wake up early and start typing divrei Torah right away. Do I need to say Birchas Hatorah before I start typing, or only if I’m actually learning out loud?

Thank you for your question.

The answer:

First, I would like to commend you for spending time to spread Torah, especially nowadays when so many people are in search of the truth. What you are doing is a great zikuy harabbim.

So lehalacha we say that you should say the brachos of birchas hatorah before typing, and that if you do not say the pesukim of Yevorechecha after the brachos, you should say aloud a few words that you are typing, so that it would be a definite obligation for you to say the bracha.

The answer in depth:

We all know that before one reads aloud from the Torah, he is obligated to recite the brachos of birchas hatorah. This is learnt from the possuk כי שם ה' אקרא הבו גודל לאלוקינו meaning that before one reads the Torah, (which is called the name of Hashem since it is in fact made up of Hashem’s name), one must first recite a bracha. Now, if a person writes divrey Torah we can ask, is it like speaking, since he is not only thinking divrey Torah but is also writing whitch is an action, or would it be considered only thought since he is not actually verbalising what he is writing?

The Shulchan Aruch siman 47 seif 3 writes that writing is not just like thinking, but it is more like speaking, and therefore one is obligated to recite birchas hatorah before writing.

שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות ברכות השחר ושאר ברכות סימן מז

הכותב בדברי תורה, אף על פי שאינו קורא, צריך לברך. 

The Mishneh Berurah seif katan 4 asks on the Shulchan Aruch, how can we say that writing is like speaking? Since he is only writing divrei Torah, it is no less than thinking divrei Torah. And the Shulchan Aruch himself writes in seif 4 that just by thinking divrei Torah one is not obligated to recite the bracha beforehand. So why do we say that writing should be any different?

Hagaon HaRav Amrom Fried shlitah writes (Azamroh Lishmecho issue 308) that we can suggest three explanations to understand the Mechaber, that writing divrey Torah is not the same as merely thinking about them.

1.      That it says in the possuk that one should learn Torah and pass on the Torah to one’s children, as it says ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם. So by writing divrey Torah it is a way that one can pass the Torah on to one’s children, similar to speaking, so it is also a proper way to learn Torah. Whereas just thinking divrey Torah is lacking this part, that the Torah is being passed on to one’s children.

 שו"ת רבי עקיבא איגר מהדורא קמא סימן כט

דאמאי מברכים על הכתיבה כיון דכתיבה הוי רק הרהור, וכבר יישב בשו"ת שב יעקב הנ"ל, ותורף דבריו משום דמ"ע של ת"ת נפקא מקרא דושננתם לבניך ולמדתם את בניכם מש"ה ממעטים הרהור, דבהרהור לא שייך ללמד את בניו, משא"כ בכתיבה עדיף בזה מהרהור, דע"י כתיבה יכול ללמד לאחרים והוא בכלל ושננתם לבניך עיין שם, 

Responsa of Rav Akiva Eiger, Mahadura Kama, siman 29
 He asks why we recite a bracha on writing Torah, since writing is considered like mere thought, and thought alone does not require a bracha. The Shev Yaakov answers this. The main point is that the mitzvah of Talmud Torah is learned from the verses “Veshinantam levanecha” and “Velimadetem osam es beneichem.” From here we see that simple thought is excluded, because through thought alone one cannot teach his children. Writing, however, is better than thought, since through writing one can teach others. This is included in “Veshinantam levanecha.”

2.      The Mishneh Berurah writes that the Mechaber’s opinion is that since he is doing an action by writing, it is considered more than just thinking, and therefore, he needs to recite a bracha beforehand.

3.      The Mishneh Berurah adds another reason. Since people, when they write, generally read out what they are writing, therefore one needs to say a bracha beforehand. This is the quote of the Mishneh Berurah.

משנה ברורה על שולחן ערוך אורח חיים הלכות ברכות השחר ושאר ברכות סימן מז סעיף ג

וי"א דדרך הכותב להוציא תיבות מפיו בשעת הכתיבה. 

There are those who say that when a person writes words of Torah, the normal way of writing is that he speaks the words out loud as he writes them.

Le’halcha – in practice:

Hagaon HaRav Fried shlitah writes that when writing divrei Torah one should read out loud some of the words he is writing in order to be definitely chayav a bracha according to all opinions. This halacha applies both to Bnei Ashkenaz and Bnei Sefard.

Wishing you much success. 

1. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 47:3–4
2. Mishnah Berurah 47:3–4
3. Azamroh Lishmecho, Issue #308 
4. Rav Akiva Eiger, Responsa, Mahadura Kama, Siman 29
5. Shev Yaakov