Birkas Hagomel After Being in a Terrorist Attack or a Near-Miss Car Accident

Question

I was on a bus in Eretz Yisroel, and suddenly a terrorist started to shoot bullets in the direction of the bus. Boruch Hashem, no one on the bus was injured, but at the moment, it certainly felt like we were hovering between life and death. All of us who were on that bus have the following question: Should we recite Birkas Hagomel because we were potentially in great danger, or perhaps because no one was actually hurt we are not meant to recite this brocha?

Also, if I have to recite Birkas Hagomel, must I make sure that two of the people listening to my brocha are talmidei chachomim? 

Finally, I would like to ask for a brocha from the rov.

Rav Sternbuch 

The question you are posing was once asked to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo 23:1), and the rov ruled that if a terrorist fires bullets in your direction, you do not recite Birkas Hagomel unless you were hit by one of the bullets.

Rav Auerbach understood that a person is only considered to have been in danger if he was actually hit by the bullets.However, I view the parameters of this halacha differently. Since the brocha of Birkas Hagomel was established for one to recite after he has been saved from danger, it seems to me that if a person was in a terrorist attack, even if he was not actually hit by bullets, he has still been saved from a situation of danger. Therefore, as long as the attacker was shooting in your direction, you should recite Birkas Hagomel.

In a case where the terrorist could have shot in your direction and did not, you do not recite Birkas Hagomel, for this is considered a natural salvation and not a miraculous one. As you yourself expressed in your question, a person who had bullets shot at him and was not hit feels that he was saved miraculously, while a person who did not have shots fired in his direction feels that he was saved naturally.

The explanation I am presenting regarding a “dangerous situation” applies only to a terrorist attack and not to a car accident. If a person was in a car accident and could have been seriously injured, he recites Birkas Hagomel. However, if he was in a near miss and was saved at the last moment from an accident, since this is commonplace, it is considered and feels like a natural occurrence and one would not recite Birkas Hagomel.

We can add that there are countless dangerous situations involved with driving a car on a highway or even on a regular street. If a person were to recite Birkas Hagomel every single time he was saved from a car accident, he could technically recite this brocha every single day. Therefore, one recites this brocha only if he was actually in a dangerous accident and was spared from death (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 2:136 and 7:27:16).

I would like to add that when a man or woman recites Birkas Hagomel, it is proper to recite Mizmor Lesodah afterward, preferably with neginah, meaning with a tune, just as a person who brought a korban todah would do. On Shabbos, when a korban todah is not brought and therefore Mizmor Lesodah is not recited, one should recite Mizmor Shir L’Yom HaShabbos, where we express “tov lehodos laShem” (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 1:195).

As far as your question regarding whether two people listening to your brocha need to be talmidei chachomim, the Gemara (Brachos 54b) learns from a posuk that Birkas Hagomel must be recited in front of a kahal, meaning ten people, and also in front of a moshav zekeinim, which is two talmidei chachomim. The Shulchan Aruch (319:3) cites this as the halacha. Even though most poskim rule that one fulfills his obligation without this, the Vilna Gaon implies that this is a necessary requirement. These talmidei chachomim should preferably be poskim, and some learn that these two are in addition to the ten (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 1:196).

I give you my brocha that Hashem should spare you from all danger and help you use your experience to come closer to Him.