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We are beginning siman 4. The Chayei Adam writes that if a person forgot atah chonantanu, and they know they will be unable to make havdalah on a kos, they must repeat shemoneh esrei. We learned yesterday that, generally, if a person forgets atah chonantanu, they do not repeat shemoneh esrei, since they will be reciting havdalah on a kos. However, over here, where a person knows they will not be able to recite havdalah on a kos, they must recite havdalah in shemoneh esrei. Therefore, if they forgot to recite atah chonantanu, they would repeat shemoneh esrei.
If they have not yet said Hashem’s name in the bracha of chonein hada’as, they can still recite atah chonantanu in chonein hada’as. If they remember before shomeah tefillah, they can insert atah chonantanu in shomeah tefillah. Generally, we only insert bakashos in shomeah tefillah, and not hodaah. Although atah chonantanu has elements of hodaah, it is also a bakasha, so it can be recited in shomeah tefillah.
If a person forgot atah chonantanu in shomeah tefillah, if there is a possibility they will obtain a kos before the end of Sunday (i.e., before Sunday after sunset), they do not need to repeat shemoneh esrei, and should rather make havdalah the next morning. If one is not sure whether they will obtain a kos by the end of Sunday, they should repeat shemoneh esrei. If they are still in the middle of shemoneh esrei, but after shomeah tefillah, they would go back to atah chonein. If they have finished shemoneh esrei, they go back to the beginning. However, if they anticipate obtaining a kos on Sunday, they do not have to repeat shemoneh esrei.
Even if one anticipates obtaining a kos before the end of Sunday, if they are still before shomeah tefillah, they should still insert atah chonantanu in shomeah tefillah.
There is one exception: Tisha B’av. if Tisha B’av falls out on Sunday, or was pushed from Shabbos to Sunday, if one forgets atah chonantanu in shemoneh esrei, they will not be making havdalah until Sunday night (i.e., Monday), and, based on what we have just learned, one should have to repeat shemoneh esrei. Tisha B’av is an exception, and one would not repeat shemoneh esrei but would rather wait until havdalah on a kos on Sunday night.
The Chayei Adam explains that Tisha B’av is an exception because when Tisha B’av immediately follows Shabbos, Sunday night is the proper time to recite havdalah. Therefore, waiting until Sunday night is appropriate. On any other motzei Shabbos, if one will not obtain a kos until Sunday night (i.e., Monday), they would repeat shemoneh esrei.
Summary
- Generally, if one forgot atah chonantanu, once they recite Hashem’s name in the bracha of atah chonein, they do not go back, since they will anyways recite havdalah on a kos. However, until then, they cannot perform melacha. If they recite Baruch hamavdil bain kodesh l’chol, they may do melacha.
- On the other hand, if they know they will be unable to recite havdalah on a kos until after Sunday, they would have to go back to atah chonantanu. If they had already finished shemoneh esrei, they would repeat shemoneh esrei.
- Either way, if one is before shomeah tefillah, they should recite atah chonantanu in shomeah tefillah.
- The one exception is when Tisha B’av falls on Motzei Shabbos. If one forgot to recite atah chonantanu in shemoneh esrei, they do not repeat shemoneh esrei, but wait until havdalah on Motzei Tisha B’av.
