Prayer and Blessings
If one forgot to say Yaaleh VeYavo in Birkat Hamazon on Rosh Chodesh, what is the ruling?
Question
Rav Shalom, if during Rosh Chodesh I recited Birkat Hamazon and forgot to say Yaaleh VeYavo, do I need to recite it again from the beginning or not?
Thank you, and have a good day.
Answer
Greetings,
One does not repeat Birkat Hamazon, since there is no obligation to eat bread on Rosh Chodesh, and it emerges that one could have chosen not to eat bread and thus not become obligated in Birkat Hamazon (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 188:7 and 424:1, and Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 1). However, if one remembered that one had not said Yaaleh VeYavo before beginning the blessing of Hatov VehaMetiv, then one should say: Baruch She-natan Roshei Chodashim Le-Ammo Yisrael Le-zikaron (Shulchan Aruch there). According to Sephardic custom, this blessing is said without Hashem's Name and kingship (Chazon Ovadia, Chanukah, pp. 257-258), and according to Ashkenazic custom, it is said with Hashem's Name and kingship (Mishnah Berurah, siman 188, s.k. 25, and Biur Halacha there, d.h. omer. So too in Mishnah Berurah, siman 424, s.k. 2).
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
