Me'ah Berachos - Timeframe

QUESTION: When does a day begin for the counting of one hundred berachos? Does one begin counting from sunset, when the halachic day begins, or does one begin counting from when one wakes up in the morning?

ANSWER: Poskim, including the Mishnah Berurah (46:14), begin their count of the hundred berachos with the beracha of Ha’mapil which is recited at night before going to sleep. This would indicate that the counting of berachos begins with sunset and, like most other mitzvos, it follows the halachic day. This is also evident from the Mishnah Berurah who writes that we are short 13 berachos on Shabbos because we daven a shortened Amida on Shabbos with 7 berachos instead of 19. Even with kiddush, Musaf and extra meals, we can only recite 100 berachos by adding extra food. This calculation for Shabbos presumes that we begin counting berachos for each day from sunset to sunset (halachic day).

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.