Jerusalem, July 23 - A local physician who regularly attends the same morning service has started worrying about another attendee who cannot seem to wit until the end of someone else's benediction before blurting out the response, the doctor disclosed today.
Dr. Efraim Shohat, 60, voiced his concern today that another everyday participant in the 7:00 AM Shaharit minyan at the Shtiblach synagogue in the Katamon neighborhood almost always blurts out "Amen!" prematurely, before anyone reciting a blessing or other passage has finished - and the urologist fears that such prematurity plagues the man in other parts of his life.
"I'm trained to diagnose and treat a very specific set of dysfunctions," Dr Shohat explained. "Most of my patients are men with one or more of a narrow group of... performance problems. The tendency here is clear, and I hope that man has gone to see a competent diagnostician about his specific issue."
Standard Jewish practice calls for one who hears a benediction to wait for its completion before affirming it with an "Amen." Ancient scholars cautioned against saying the word before ascertaining the acceptability of whatever is recited, an important safeguard in a world that still featured rampant idolatry and the invocation of those false gods in liturgy, as well as concern that the unscrupulous might insert offensive material into statements ostensibly geared toward divine praise.
Through the generations, spiritual leaders have further refined the sensibilities surrounding Amen, even associating a premature Amen with the premature death of one's loved ones. Dr. Shohat preferred to focus on the more immediate, clinical implications of the phenomenon.
"It's been at least four months since I first noticed," he recalled. "In that time, you'd think this man would realize he needs to seek treatment, or at least get himself checked out. And maybe a competent treatment plan would have kicked in by now. But I see no progress, and it's raising my hackles. I wonder whether I should say something."
The doctor has made observations of this nature before, but not with the same level of recurring concern. During the communal readings of the book of Esther that take place on Purim, a custom has developed of "erasing the name of Amalek" by making noise at each mention of the Amalekite villain Haman. However, the core observance involves hearing every word of the text, and many attendees fail to wait until the reader has finished saying "Haman" before making the customary racket, often involving yelling epithets. Shohat has remarked on those premature ejaculations along similar lines.
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