Should we stand during the blessing for hafrashat challah?
To answer the question if we must stand while reciting the blessing for hafrashat challah, we first need to determine whether this blessing is considered a birkat hamitzvah, which obligates standing.
* This is a translation of an article in Hebrew. For the original, including the extensive footnotes, click here.
A. Status of the hafrashat challah blessing
To answer the question of whether one must stand when reciting the blessing for hafrashat challah (separating challah), we must first clarify whether this blessing is considered a birkat hamitzvah (blessing for a commandment), which generally must be recited while standing, or whether this blessing falls into a different category.
The Mishnah (Challah 2:3) differentiates between a man and a woman who are not fully clothed when separating challah and reciting the blessing:
“A woman may sit and separate challah while undressed, because she can cover herself; but not a man.”
This distinction is codified in the Shulchan Aruch (YD 328:1):
“At the time of separating challah, one should recite the blessing ... Therefore, a man may not separate challah while naked, because it is impossible for him to bless in that state. But a woman may, as long as her face is turned toward the ground.”
From this it is evident that the blessing for separating challah may be recited while sitting. This raises a question about the general rule that birkat hamitzvot should be recited while standing, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch regarding the blessing on tzitzit (OC 8:1): “One should wrap oneself in the tzitzit and bless while standing.”
Indeed, the Magen Avraham (ibid. §2) questions this ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, noting the contradiction between the requirement to stand for the tzitzit blessing and the Shulchan Aruch's own allowance to sit while reciting the blessing for hafrashat challah. "It seems that it is permissible to bless while sitting, and this is [based on] an entire Mishnah." The Magen Avraham then attempts to answer his own question: “separating challah is not such a significant mitzvah, as one does it merely to render the food permitted—similar to shechitah (ritual slaughter).”
According to the Magen Avraham, hafrashat challah does not have intrinsic purpose; rather, one is not required to perform it if one does not wish to eat the ensuring bread, or if the dough does not meet the minimum volume that requires separation. Thus, the act is a means of preparing food by removing the prohibition of tevel (untithed produce).
From this reasoning, it follows that the blessing over hafrashat challah can be recited while sitting because it is not classified as a full birkat hamitzvah, which must be said while standing, but rather resembles a birkat hanehenin (a blessing over enjoyment), which does not require standing. This view is expressed by the Aruch HaShulchan (YD 328:5):
Know that although a birkat hamitzvah should be recited while standing—as we wrote regarding tzitzit, shofar, and other mitzvot, as also cited by the Yerushalmi—why then does the Mishnah say that a woman sits and separates challah? Because challah is meant to render food permitted, it is not quite like a birkat hamitzvah, and is more similar to a birkat hanehenin, like that said before shechitah.
However, the Vilna Gaon (OC 8:1) strongly disagrees with the Magen Avraham’s assertion that hafrashat challah is not a mitzvah:
“The words of the Magen Avraham, that challah is not a mitzvah, are baseless. Is it not forbidden to make a dough less than the [minimum] amount? In Pesachim chapter 3 we say: 'What is your reasoning? This stringency leads to a leniency.'”
The Vilna Gaon understood that the Magen Avraham treated hafrashat challah as a mitzvah kiyumit (an optional fulfillment), i.e., there is no obligation to separate challah unless one wishes to eat the dough—similar to shechitah, where one is not obligated to slaughter unless one wants to eat meat. Therefore, the Vilna Gaon objects based on the Mishnah (Challah 2:3) and Talmud Bavli (Pesachim 48b), which state that it is prohibited to intentionally make dough below the required volume to avoid the obligation of challah—implying that it is a mitzvah chiyuvit, and obligatory mitzvah.
This understanding, that hafrashat challah is a mitzvah chiyuvit, is also held by the Taz (YD 1:17), who writes that one must separate even if one does not intend to eat the dough:
“Regarding separating terumah, the essence of the blessing is on the mitzvah of separation—not on the prohibition of eating tevel—since the mitzvah of separation is obligatory even if one does not yet intend to eat from the produce.”
According to this view, that the blessing on hafrashat challah is a regular birkat hamitzvah, we are left with a question: Why, then, is it permissible to separate challah while sitting, as stated in the Mishnah and Shulchan Aruch?
B. The Source for the Requirement to Stand for a Berachah on a Mitzvah
1. The Absence of the Word "Lachem" ("for you")
Even if we define the berachah on hafrashat challah as a birkat hamitzvah, it may still not require standing. This can be inferred from one of the primary sources for the obligation to stand when reciting a berachah on a mitzvah—the Pesikta, authored around the time of the Geonim:
And you shall count for yourselves—'for yourselves' [implies] standing, as it says: From the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain, i.e., while standing. And from here we learn regarding any mitzvah that says 'lachem' (for you), such as circumcision and tzitzit—'circumcise for you each male,' 'it shall be for you as tzitzit'—that all of these must be done standing. This is both a midrash and a halachah.
According to this teaching, one must stand only when reciting a berachah on mitzvot where the word "lachem" appears, such as the examples brought: sefirat ha'omer, milah, and tzitzit. Based on this, there is no requirement to stand for the berachah on hafrashat challah, even if it is defined as a berachah on a mitzvah, since the word "lachem" is not stated in connection with it. Therefore, even if it is a berachah on a mitzvah, it can be recited while sitting, as not all mitzvah-related berachot require standing.
2. Sources in the Yerushalmi
Other sources attributed to the Yerushalmi (though not found in the Yerushalmi as we have it) appear to obligate standing for all berachot on mitzvot, without distinction.
One such source is cited by Rav Aharon of Lunel in Orchot Chaim (I, Hilchot Tzitzit §27):
Yerushalmi: All blessings must be recited while standing. This refers to berachot on mitzvot, not berachot over benefit (hana’ah). And I found support for this in the verse: And Shlomo stood and blessed (I Kings 8:14). Likewise, the Levites, as it says: To stand to serve (Deuteronomy 10:8), from which we learn that service must be performed standing. And our 'service' in performing mitzvot is thus done standing.
In explaining the difference between birkot hamitzvot and birkot hanehenin, the Bach (OC §8 s.v. u'mah shekatav) writes:
In the Yerushalmi: 'All blessings must be recited while standing'—this is said referring only to blessings on mitzvot, since we say 'He commanded us' and therefore must bless G-d while standing in honor of His command and our closeness to His service, as service requires standing—but not for berachot of hana’ah.
A second source attributed to the Yerushalmi relates to standing during the recitation of Kaddish, and is first cited by Rabbi Yehoshua Boaz in Shiltei HaGiborim (on Mordechai, Berachot ch. 4 §5): "Yerushalmi: 'Stand, for the word of G-d has come to you.' From here Rabbi Elazar said: When one answers 'Amen, yehei shemei…' and for all matters of sanctity, one must stand on one’s feet."
While this source is about standing for kaddish, which is defined as a davar shebikedusha (a sacred matter), Rabbi Yaakov Emden in Mor u’Ketziah (OC §8) expands the principle to all blessings:
Why must one stand when reciting a blessing? Because of the sanctity of G-d’s name mentioned in the blessing. This is derived in the Yerushalmi from the verse: The word of the Lord came to me and I stood…. From here we learn that when mentioning G-d’s name, one should stand. Thus, all berachot are equal in this regard.
We must note a key difference between the two Yerushalmi sources:
According to the first, standing is required only for birkot hamitzvah, not for birkot hanehenin, as it says: "This refers to berachot on mitzvot, not berachot of hana’ah."
According to the second, standing is required for all blessings, even birkot hanehenin, since they, too, contain mention of G-d's holy name. As Rabbi Emden wrote: "Why should berachot hanehenin be any different, given that they too mention G-d's sanctity?"
In any case, both Yerushalmi-based sources suggest that blessings on mitzvot require standing—with no distinction—unlike the Pesikta, which limits the requirement to mitzvot that include the word "lachem."
Thus, in light of these sources from the Yerushalmi, we return to the original question: According to the opinions that define the berachah on hafrashat challah as a birkat hamitzvah, why then is it permitted to recite it while sitting, as stated in the Mishnah and Shulchan Aruch?
C. Mitzvot that Involve Personal Enjoyment
One of the criteria for requiring standing during a birkat hamitzvah is that the mitzvah does not involve personal enjoyment, as stated in the Kol Bo (§72): “And the Gaon z"l wrote that one recites a blessing for taking a lulav while standing, and likewise for any mitzvah that does not involve enjoyment.”
Accordingly, for a mitzvah that does involve personal enjoyment, one may recite the blessing while sitting. It should be emphasized that this enjoyment does not turn the blessing into a blessing of enjoyment; rather, it remains a blessing on a mitzvah that happens to involve enjoyment. As the Sefer HaEshkol (ed. Auerbach, Hilchot Birkot Hoda’ah §23) writes: “What is written—that all blessings must be recited standing—is stated in regard to blessings for mitzvot that do not involve enjoyment.”
But for blessings on mitzvot that do include enjoyment, one may bless while sitting, as Rabbi Natan Gestetner clarifies in Responsa Lehorot Natan (Vol. I2 §2:16):
He [the Eshkol] is precise in writing that the requirement to stand applies to mitzvot that do not involve enjoyment—meaning that even if the blessing is not one of benefit but rather a mitzvah-blessing, still, since the mitzvah brings enjoyment, the blessing need not be recited standing.
The distinction between mitzvot that involve enjoyment and those that don’t requires explanation. It may be rooted in the purpose of standing while saying a blessing, which is to honor G-d while fulfilling His command. As Rabbi Yaakov Meshulam Ornstein (Yeshuot Yaakov OC §8:2) writes regarding the requirement to stand during blessings: “The main reason one should not sit is that doing so shows disrespect for the matter, and it implies that the fear of Heaven is not before his eyes.”
Therefore, it seems that when a mitzvah does not involve physical enjoyment, it serves as a clear sign that the mitzvah is fulfilled purely for the sake of obeying G-d's command. Thus, to recite the blessing while sitting would be disrespectful. However, mitzvot that also involve physical enjoyment—such as eating matzah, sitting in a sukkah, kiddush, hamotzi, and birkat hamazon—do not require standing for their blessings. In these cases, sitting does not show disrespect for G-d, because the mitzvah also aims to bring pleasure to the individual.
This definition appears in the words of Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank (Responsa Har Tzvi, OC II §130), who explains the ruling of the Magen Avraham that allows one to sit while reciting the blessing on hafrashat challah. This is not because the blessing is one of enjoyment, but rather because it is a blessing on a mitzvah that includes enjoyment:
When the Magen Avraham says that mitzvah-blessings require standing, it applies to mitzvot that themselves must be performed while standing—that is, mitzvot that do not involve personal enjoyment. But for mitzvot that also provide enjoyment, such mitzvah-actions do not require standing, and consequently their blessings do not require standing either. That is what the Magen Avraham meant when he said that hafrashat challah is not so much of a mitzvah—meaning, it is not entirely for G-d, but involves the person’s benefit too. A mitzvah like that does not require standing.
According to this explanation, one may recite the blessing on hafrashat challah while sitting even if it is considered a birkat hamitzvah, since the mitzvah provides enjoyment by permitting the dough for consumption. Rabbi Gestetner writes similarly (Lehorot Natan II §2:17):
Based on this, we can resolve the Magen Avraham’s question… regarding challah, for which we hold the blessing may be recited while sitting. What makes it different from tzitzit? According to the above, challah is a mitzvah that involves enjoyment—since separating challah permits the dough to be eaten. It is thus similar to the blessings for eating matzah and for kiddush, which, though they are blessings on mitzvot, nonetheless may be recited sitting because the mitzvah brings benefit. While challah is not identical to matzah—since matzah is a blessing over the eating itself—it is similar to kiddush, where the blessing is not over the drinking per se, yet one need not stand since enjoyment follows. The same applies to challah.
D. Mitzvot Primarily Associated with Women
Another criterion regarding whether one must stand for a birkat hamitzvah is found in the writings of Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Tabak (Erekh Shai OC §8, s.v. Magen Avraham §2). He addresses the Magen Avraham’s question—why the blessing for tzitzit is recited standing while that for hafrashat challah is said sitting. Rabbi Tabak distinguishes between mitzvot primarily performed by men (like tzitzit and sefirat ha'omer)—for which one must stand—and mitzvot primarily fulfilled by women, for which one may sit during the blessing:
A mitzvah that applies only to males—we derive it from sefirat ha'omer, which also applies only to men—and the same is true for tzitzit. This is clarified in the Zohar (Tetzaveh 183a): "A male matter must be done standing, not like the female, whose way is to sit." … Therefore, for challah, which pertains more to women, sitting is permitted.
His reasoning is based both on the source of the law and the manner in which the mitzvah is typically fulfilled. He begins with the derivation from sefirat ha'omer, brought earlier from the Pesikta (see B.1): “And you shall count for yourselves—lachem—standing.” From this, we learn that standing applies to mitzvot involving lachem, like milah and tzitzit. Since women are exempt from sefirat ha'omer, tzitzit, and milah, there is no standing obligation in their blessings.
Additionally, Rabbi Tabak cites the Zohar, which distinguishes between the female’s way—to sit—and the male’s way—to stand. Accordingly, the blessing for hafrashat challah, which applies more to women than men, may be recited while sitting. However, it would appear that if a man separates challah, he would need to recite the blessing standing, as implied by the Zohar cited by Rabbi Tabak—that it is the nature of men to stand.
E. Between Necessary Sitting and Casual Sitting
Rabbi Yaakov Meshulam Ornstein (Yeshuot Yaakov OC §8:2) writes that the obligation to recite blessings standing is due to the honor of G-d. Reciting G-d’s name while sitting is disrespectful. He writes: “The main reason one must not sit is because it is considered disrespectful, and shows that the fear of G-d is not before him.”
Based on this, he explains that the Mishnah allows a woman to say the blessing for hafrashat challah while sitting when she is not properly clothed—due to necessity and lack of choice. In other cases, however, one should not recite the blessing while sitting:
In my opinion, only when it is impossible to perform the act standing, is one permitted to bless while sitting. But where it is possible, one may not bless sitting. Since a woman cannot stand when unclothed, she is permitted to bless while sitting.
Similarly, Aruch HaShulchan (Yoreh De'ah §328:5) concludes: “This is the established custom, and it should not be changed.”
Conclusion
1. There is no obligation to stand for the blessing over hafrashat challah, even according to the opinions that define it as a birkat hamitzvah.
2. Nevertheless, it is preferable to stand during the blessing.