Q. I read in the name of the Alter of Kelm that you don't recite Birchat Hagomel after Yom Kipur for having survived the judgment of the Yme Hadin, since you really don't know what the sentence was and when during the year it may be carried out. Why then do we not recite Hagomel at the last moments before years end?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit"a indicated that our sages established birchas hagomel only for one being saved or having recovered from physical dangers and illnesses that one can actually see and experience. The Alter of Kelm zt"l used the analogy only to emphasize how real the Days of Judgment should be in our eyes and was said only as a "Musar" exegesis, not a Halacha ruling.
However, in regards to the brocho of mechaye hamessim recited when meeting a dear one after not seeing him for twelve months (Shulchan Aruch O.H. 225:1 and Mishna Berura ibid. 4) the fact that one survived the Yimei Hadin is a factor indeed.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit"a.
Important Numbers
