Lightning & Thunder - While Davening

QUESTION: If I am in the middle of davening and I hear thunder or see lightning, do I recite a beracha?

ANSWER: If one is in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei or in the middle of bentching, even between berachos, one may not interrupt. However, if one is in the middle of Pesukei D’zimra or between the berachos of Kerias Shema or between the paragraphs of Shema, one must stop and recite the beracha (Mishnah Berurah 66:19). Similarly, the Be’er Moshe (2:10) writes that if one is in the middle of learning Torah and hears thunder or sees lightning, he must stop and recite the beracha.

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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.