Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Repeat Offense

Dayan Yosef Greenwald

January 20, 2022

Q  You recently wrote (“Stop-Loss Order,” Parshas Bo) that one who began to recite birkas hamazon out of uncertainty and remembered in middle that he had said it earlier, must stop. This appears to contradict the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 76:7-8), which says that if one is unsure whether a puddle on the floor is urine or water, he may recite brachos nearby, because safeik deRabanan lekula. Even if he later discovers that it was urine, the bracha he made need not be repeated, because he acted correctly in making it. If that bracha is valid, why must one stop in middle of birkas hamazon if he correctly recited it misafek?

A Once a person has bentched, his second bentching is meaningless, because he already fulfilled his obligation. Therefore, if he remembers in middle that he already recited it, he must stop. In the case of the puddle, the bracha he made is inherently valid; the question is only whether he was permitted to recite it. Because he followed the halacha that says he could recite the bracha in a case of safeik, it was valid, so there is no need to repeat it.