29. Saying Amen – part II

6:10 One must be careful to pronounce the word “Amen” properly, not hurrying the alef (A) or swallowing the nun (N). WE must also make sure that we do not say Amen before the person saying the blessing finishes his bracha. On the other hand, there must not be too big a gap between the blessing and the Amen. The one who says Amen should not do so louder than the one who blessed, based on Psalms 34:4, “Extol God with me and together we will praise His Name.” The Mishnah Brurah (24:47) says that this is equally true in other cases where we respond to another person in prayer, such as Barchu and zimmun (the call to bentching), although if he’s doing it to enthuse the other people in shul, then it would be permitted.

6:11 We do not say Amen to blessings we recite ourselves, except after the third blessing in bentching, where the Amen serves as a division between the brachos that fulfill a Biblical obligation and the one that is purely rabbinic in nature. If a person in shul completes a blessing simultaneously with the prayer leader, he does not say Amen. However, if he was saying one bracha and the leader was saying a different bracha, he can say Amen. (There are certain blessings, such as Yishtabach, where, if a person finished simultaneously with the leader, he might say Amen. This is because in those cases, certain authorities feel he might be able to do so even after his own blessing. While such is not our practice, it mitigates the scenario where he finishes concurrently with the chazzan.)