QUESTION: The Gemara says that when Rav visited Bavel, he saw that the
community recited Hallel on Rosh Chodesh. He wanted to stop them, until he
noticed that they skipped portions of Hallel. He understood from their
omissions that their recitation of Hallel was merely a Minhag that they
observed from their forebears.
RABEINU TAM (cited in Tosfos) learns from here that we recite a Berachah upon
the performance of a Minhag, because if the people in Bavel did not recite
the Berachah for their Minhag of saying Hallel, it would have been obvious to
Rav that they were doing a Minhag and he would not have had any reason to
stop them. Rabeinu Tam (cited in TOSFOS in Sukah 44b) points out that this is
also evident from the fact that we recite Berachos upon the performance of
the Mitzvos on Yom Tov Sheni (such as the Mitzvah of Lulav on Sukos, and the
Mitzvah of Matzah on Pesach), the second day of Yom Tov outside of Eretz
Yisrael, even though Yom Tov Sheni Shel Galuyos is only a Minhag, as the
Gemara says in Beitzah (4b).
In addition, the HAGAHOS MAIMONI (Hilchos Chanukah 3:7, #5) cites another
proof for the ruling of Rabeinu Tam from Maseches Sofrim, where it says that
we recite a Berachah ("... Asher Kideshanu b'Mitzvosav v'Tzivanu...") upon
reading each of the Megilos. The obligation to read the Megilos (Eichah,
Koheles, Rus, Shir ha'Shirim) at certain times of the year is not mentioned
anywhere in the Gemara and is obviously only a Minhag, but we still recite a
Berachah!
Rabeinu Tam points out that although the Gemara in Sukah (44b) says that no
Berachah is recited for the Minhag of Chibut Aravah, the Minhag of saying
Hallel on Rosh Chodesh (and reading the Megilos) is different.
What is the difference between these Minhagim and the Minhag of Chibut
Aravah? Rabeinu Tam says that the Minhag of Chibut Aravah is nothing more
than an act of moving the Aravah. Reading Hallel, though, is a more
significant act, "because it is like reading verses from the Torah."
What does Rabeinu Tam mean? How can we say, "... Asher Kideshanu b'Mitzvosav
v'Tzivanu...," just because it is "like reading verses from the Torah?" In
what way were we commanded to read Hallel any more than we were commanded to
do Chibut Aravah? Moreover, how does that explain why we recite Berachos on
Yom Tov Sheni?
ANSWER: The BRISKER RAV (end of Chidushim on Maseches Sukah) explains as
follows. Rashi in Sukah (44a) says that the reason we do not recite a
Berachah for a Minhag is because there is no Mitzvah of "Lo Sasur" ("do not
turn away from what they (the Chachamim) instruct you") to observe a Minhag.
However, the RAMBAM (introduction to Mishnah Torah) says that Lo Sasur
includes the obligation to listen to any Mitzvah d'Rabanan *and* to any
*Minhag* that the Rabanan taught us to practice. If so, why do we not recite
a Berachah for the Minhag of Chibut Aravah?
The Brisker Rav explains that it must be that the Berachah recited on the
performance of the act is not related to whether the act is a Minhag or a
Mitzvah. Rather, when the Chachamim instructed us to observe a certain
Minhag, but they did not enact it as a Mitzvah, they wanted to give it a
different status than a Mitzvah. They wanted it to have a status of an
obligation of a Minhag, and not an obligation of a Mitzvah. This means that
they wanted us to perform a certain practice, but without giving the act the
definition of a new Mitzvah (a "Shem Mitzvah"). For example, when the
Chachamim enacted the Minhag of Chibut Aravah, they did not want it the act
to be defined as any more than an act of picking up an Aravah and hitting it
upon the floor ("Minhag Tiltul b'Alma" in the words of Tosfos here). It is
not a new category of Mitzvah called "Chibut Aravah" which one is "Yotzei" or
"not Yotzei."
For such a Minhag, a Berachah is not recited. This explains why some Minhagim
are different, and a Berachah is recited before their performance. The acts
which we do on Yom Tov Sheni (Lulav, Sukah, Matzah) are already defined as
acts of Mitzvah, since they wer given as Mitzvos the day before, on the first
day of Yom Tov. The act of picking up a Lulav on Yom Tov Sheni is defined as
an act of Mitzvah of "Netilas Lulav," and not just a motion of bending down
and picking up a palm branch. The same applies to reading the Megilos and
reciting Hallel. When Rabeinu Tam says that Hallel is no different than
reading from the Torah, the act of reading the Torah is a Mitzvah for which
the Chachamim instituted a Berachah, and thus any act of reading a portion of
the Torah is already defined as the type of act that was given a "Shem
Mitzvah" of Keriyas Torah. That is why we may recite a Berachah when reading
the Megilos and when reciting Hallel.
The RAMBAM (Hilchos Chanukah 3:7), though, rules that one does not recite a
Berachah for Hallel on Rosh Chodesh "because it is a Minhag, and we do not
recite a Berachah for a Minhag." However, he seems to contradict this ruling
elsewhere, since in Hilchos Yom Tov (6:14), he writes that Yom Tov Sheni is
also a Minhag, yet he agrees that we *do* recite the Berachos for its
Mitzvos. Why is Hallel different from the Mitzvos of Yom Tov Sheni, according
to the Rambam? Both should require a Berachah!
The Brisker Rav explains that the Rambam agrees with the difference between a
Minhag which is defined as an act of a Mitzvah and a Minhag which is merely
the motion of an act, but is not defined as a Mitzvah. That is why he writes
that we recite Berachos for the Minhag of Yom Tov Sheni. Reading Hallel,
though, is different. The Brisker Rav, quoting his father Rav Chaim, explains
that it is not so simple that the Berachah recited for reading the Torah is a
Birchas ha'Mitzvos. There is reason to say that the Berachah we recite for
reading from the Torah is not a Berachah for performing the Mitzvah of
reading the Torah, but rather it is a Berachah recited out of reverence for
the Torah, as the Gemara derives from the verse, "Ki Shem Hashem Ekra Havu
Godel l'Elokeinu" (Berachos 45a). Hence, we never find that reading the Torah
is a pre-defined act of Mitzvah for which a Berachah of Mitzvos was
instituted (perhaps Berachos are not made on such Mitzvos), and therefore
Hallel cannot have a Birchas ha'Mitzvah of "li'Kro Es ha'Hallel" by virtue of
it being an act of Mitzvah like reading the Torah!