I Began the Blessing of Emet VeYatziv Before Yotzer Or
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Question
An incident that happened to me this morning:
Because of various preoccupations I prayed Shacharit very close to the end of the time for Kriat Shema.
When I reached the end of the blessing of Yishtabach, there were 4 minutes left until the end of the time for Kriat Shema, and since I did not want to lose the merit of reciting Shema with its blessings, I did what seemingly is the correct thing to do: I recited Kriat Shema immediately after Yishtabach, and after Kriat Shema I said the blessings of Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, and afterwards Emet VeYatziv. For the order of the blessings, after the fact, does not invalidate, and even when all the blessings come after Kriat Shema it is still considered Shema with its blessings.
What happened, however, was that out of habit of speech and together with the distractions, I found myself, after Kriat Shema, in the middle of the blessing of Emet VeYatziv. That is, instead of beginning the blessing of Yotzer Or after finishing Kriat Shema, I began the blessing of Emet VeYatziv, and when I realized this I was already in the middle of the blessing, at the words “al harishonim”. I then wondered what I should do: should I finish the blessing of Emet VeYatziv and afterwards say the blessings of Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, thereby apparently losing the juxtaposition of redemption to prayer (semichat geulah letefillah), or should I interrupt in the middle of the blessing of Emet VeYatziv — since it does not begin with “Baruch”, interrupting in the middle is less severe — and say Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, and afterwards say Emet VeYatziv again?
What should I have done?
Thank you very much for your response.
Because of various preoccupations I prayed Shacharit very close to the end of the time for Kriat Shema.
When I reached the end of the blessing of Yishtabach, there were 4 minutes left until the end of the time for Kriat Shema, and since I did not want to lose the merit of reciting Shema with its blessings, I did what seemingly is the correct thing to do: I recited Kriat Shema immediately after Yishtabach, and after Kriat Shema I said the blessings of Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, and afterwards Emet VeYatziv. For the order of the blessings, after the fact, does not invalidate, and even when all the blessings come after Kriat Shema it is still considered Shema with its blessings.
What happened, however, was that out of habit of speech and together with the distractions, I found myself, after Kriat Shema, in the middle of the blessing of Emet VeYatziv. That is, instead of beginning the blessing of Yotzer Or after finishing Kriat Shema, I began the blessing of Emet VeYatziv, and when I realized this I was already in the middle of the blessing, at the words “al harishonim”. I then wondered what I should do: should I finish the blessing of Emet VeYatziv and afterwards say the blessings of Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, thereby apparently losing the juxtaposition of redemption to prayer (semichat geulah letefillah), or should I interrupt in the middle of the blessing of Emet VeYatziv — since it does not begin with “Baruch”, interrupting in the middle is less severe — and say Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba, and afterwards say Emet VeYatziv again?
What should I have done?
Thank you very much for your response.
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
Since the blessing of Emet VeYatziv does not begin with “Baruch”, you should have stopped and gone back to Yotzer Or, and then continued in the proper order.
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