Question about Blessings
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Question
Hello, Honorable Rabbi, I have been returning to religious observance for several years and used to recite the morning blessings in sequence, regardless of the actual performance and timing of the action. After studying Tractate Berachot, page 60b, I discovered that the sages established in the Gemara that one should bless at the time of performing the action and bless only for the actions you are obligated to perform. Since it shook me that I was not acting correctly, I checked in the Rambam, Laws of Blessings, and there I found that he rules exactly according to the language of the Gemara, that one should bless before the action and only for actions you are obligated to perform. I also checked in the Shulchan Aruch, and initially, he rules like the Gemara that one should bless the blessings at the time of their action and only for what you are obligated, and then he changes his opinion and writes: "And nowadays, it is customary to bless these blessings in order after washing hands, for as long as the hands are not clean, they should not be blessed, and what we say in Pesachim 7: all blessings are blessed before their performance, this is the blessing of the commandments in which it is said 'and commanded us', one must bless the Holy One, blessed be He, first for what He commanded us and brought us closer to His service, but a blessing of thanks and praise like these can be blessed afterward." Also, Ashkenazim, who follow the Rosh, bless all the blessings in the synagogue. In light of the above, I have several essential questions: 1. How can a sage rule against an explicit Gemara? Against the words of the Tannaim and Amoraim? 2. Isn't the law of the Gemara binding on the entire people of Israel? 3. How can the Rosh bring a distinction not mentioned in the Talmud and turn the blessings into a custom of the world and as a result bless them in the synagogue instead of at the time of performing the action? Thank you for your response Avraham Levi
Answer
Hello Rabbi
The Shulchan Aruch wrote that it is not customary as stated in the Gemara, but rather to say all the blessings together after washing hands. See the sources.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, Siman 46, סעיף 2
Now, because the hands are not clean and also because of the common people who do not know them, it is customary to arrange them in the synagogue