Heat Lightning - Beracha

QUESTION: Does one recite a beracha on seeing flashes of “heat lightning”?

ANSWER: Heat lightning refers to distant flashes of lightning that are so far away that there is no accompanying thunder. The Mishnah Berurah (227:3) cites the opinion of the Chayei Adam that perhaps this is not the type of lightning that Chazal were referring to, and therefore one should not recite a beracha. However, Aruch Hashulchan (227:1) and Tzlach (Berachos 59a) write that one does recite a beracha on heat lightning, and it is reported that the Chazon Ish ruled this way as well (Maaseh Ish, vol. 5, p. 89). Even according to the Mishnah Berurah, if it is a cold, rainy day, one does not need to wait, and indeed should not wait, to hear the thunder before reciting the beracha on the lightning. This is because one only has two or three seconds to recite the beracha after seeing the lightning and if it is cold and rainy, one can assume that this is regular lightning (see Piskei Teshuvos 227:3).

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