Berakhot also have an educational function to transform a variety of everyday actions and occurrences into religious experiences designed to increase awareness of God at all times.
For this purpose, the Talmudic sage, Rabbi Meir, declared that it was the duty of every Jew to recite one hundred berakhot every day.
There are three major categories of berakhah: Blessings over food are intended to sanctify the physical act of taking nourishment, those recited before performing a commandment serve to prevent the performance of the activity in an unthinking, rote way, and the blessings of praise serve to remind people of the presence of God in all situations.
When a mitzvah is performed for the first time in the year, the She'hecheyanu blessing ("...who has kept us alive and preserved us and enabled us to reach this season") is also added.
Even if one is certain that one's hands are clean (for example, at the Rabbinically instituted rinsing before breaking bread), one still recites the blessing afterwards to avoid confusion.
[10] These blessings are said on various occasions, including upon hearing good and bad news; on witnessing awesome natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning, high mountains or the ocean,[11] or a rainbow;[12] upon visiting a place where miracles have been performed in the past, especially in the Land of Israel, and the Birkat ha-Gomel, upon being saved from danger.
When the blessing occurs at the beginning of a prayer, the words Eloheinu Melekh ha-Olam ("our God, King of the Universe") are added.
[citation needed] The most common context in which an amen is required by halakha is after one hears a berakah recited.
[14] The source of this requirement is the verse in Deuteronomy 32:3: "When I proclaim the name of Hashem, give glory to our God."
This mandate refers to the mention of the Tetragrammaton, which was only pronounced at certain specific times within the confines of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Whoever heard this special name of God mentioned was obliged to respond with Barukh shem kvod malkhuto l'olam va'ed (ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד, "Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity").
[15] With the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, however, pronouncing the Tetragrammaton was prohibited,[16] and was replaced with the pronunciation Adonai.
"[18] The Talmud teaches that the word Amen is an acronym for אל מלך נאמן (’El melekh ne’eman, "God, trustworthy King.
So too with blessings on foods and smells; one is not required to likewise partake in order to answer "amen."
One may not respond amen to a beracha le-vatala (ברכה לבטלה, "blessing made for nought").
[35] If the blessing is being recited on food, one who responds amen to one's own blessing will either cause a hefseik (הפסק, "[prohibited] interruption")[36] or likely pronounce an amen yetoma, depending on whether one responds immediately or waits until after one swallows some food or drink, respectively.
Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank notes that anyone who lit candles should refrain from responding amen to the sheheheyanu blessing during kiddush because it would effectively be an interruption in their fulfillment of reciting kiddush, as they have already recited their sheheheyanu blessing.