Morning Brachos – Mishnah Berurah
Shalom aleichem Rabbi Lauffer. Thank you for answering my last question. The Mishnah Berurah writes “Even if one rises after midnight for some purpose and intends to go back and sleep a further settled sleep subsequently, he may nevertheless say all these morning blessings then and will no longer have to say them when he gets up in the morning. This applies to all the morning blessings apart from the blessing Elokay Neshamah, which he should say then without the conclusion, and the blessing Ha-Ma’avir Sheynah, which he should say then without mention of the Divine Name. When he gets up subsequently in the morning, he should say these two blessings with mention of the Divine Name and the fact that He is King, as they should properly be said.” Does the fact that he writes “even if one rises after midnight” imply that if one rose before midnight, or if he did not sleep at all, he should not say the morning blessings until it is actually dawn? And what does he mean by “for some purpose”? If he awakens for no purpose at all would the din be different? Thanks.
Answers
The ruling of the Mishnah Berurah does not include someone who woke up before midnight because the Brochos that day are still applicable to him. That means that he should not recite the Brochos if he wakes up earlier than midnight.
Not sleeping at all brings with it a slew of complicated Halachic issues. If a person did not sleep at all, or who slept for less than half-an-hour, they should find someone who did sleep and ask then to recite the Brochos out loud so that they can answer to “amen” to the Brochos. In that way, they fulfill their obligation.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team