Someone who is obligated to recite the bracha of Hagomel and did not recite it immediately, how long does he have to recite it?

Question: Someone who is obligated to recite the bracha of Hagomel and did not recite it immediately, how long does he have to recite it?

Introduction: Based on Tehillim (107), the Talmud in Brachot (54b) says:

 אַרְבָּעָה צְרִיכִין לְהוֹדוֹת: יוֹרְדֵי הַיָּם, הוֹלְכֵי מִדְבָּרוֹת, וּמִי שֶׁהָיָה חוֹלֶה וְנִתְרַפֵּא, וּמִי שֶׁהָיָה חָבוּשׁ בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִים וְיָצָא.

Four must offer thanks to G-d with a thanks-offering and a special blessing. They are: Seafarers, those who walk in the desert, and one who was ill and recovered, and one who was incarcerated in prison and went out.

An individual who finds himself in one of these four situations is obligated to thank Hashem. In the times of the beit hamikdash, that would mean brining a Korban Todah. Nowadays, Chazal instituted a bracha called Birchat Hagomel,

where the reciter says,

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוֹב

Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the world, who rewards the undeserving with goodness, and who has rewarded me with goodness.

Then the congregation responds, מִי שֶׁגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב הוּא יִגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב סֶלָה

May he who rewarded you with all goodness reward you with all goodness forever.

Here are some basic halachot  of Birchat Hagomel:

1.    The bracha should preferably be recited in the presence of a minyan of ten men (including the man reciting the bracha).

2.    Preferably there should be two Torah scholars present as part of the minyan.

3.    Preferably one should recite the bracha while standing

4.    It is customary to recite the bracha during Shachrit after kriyat hatorah and it is customary to give the reciter an aliyah.

5.    There is a debate if this bracha is limited exclusively to these four categories of people, or if anybody who is saved from a life threatening situation should recite it. Most poskim assume the latter. However, this is true if it was clearly a life threatening situation. If is was almost life threatening the halacha is not as clear. Therefore, one should consult his Rabbi to decide if you recite Hagomel after a car accident to determine if the bracha is warranted.

6.    A surgery that requires general anesthesia is assumed to be a life threatening situation and would warrant a bracha.

7.    Does flying on an airplane or a boat fall into this category of a dangerous situation?

a.    This is subject to some debate. Some assume it does for any flight, while others disagree that statistics show that airplane travel is less dangerous than traveling by car. With this logic one would never recite the bracha after flying on an airplane. However, the most accepted opinion is we combine the two categories from the Talmud that we only recite it if one travels by plane over an ocean or desert.

b.    When traveling over the ocean or desert, one would typically recite the bracha after his return flight home. However, many poskim suggest that when flying to Israel you should recite it both when arriving in Israel and when returning home.

c.    Someone who took a cruise in the ocean or a large sea should recite the bracha when he returns home.

8.    Our question considers the time period you have after the life threatening event or crossing the sea in which the bracha can be recited.

Answer: The basis for this question is based on the fact that the Talmud never mentions a time frame or some maximum amount of time that can pass between the time you experience an event that requires you to recite Hagomel and actually saying it.

1.    Tur writes that if you delay, you can still recite it as long as you still want to say the bracha. Some poskim explain that since Hagomel is patterned after the korban todah (thanksgiving) and that korban can be brought anytime, as long as you want to show thanksgiving, so too, birchat hagomel can be said indefinitely.

2.    Maran Beit Yosef quotes this but then says that the Orchot Chaim in the name of Ramban who says that there is a three day limit. He bases this on the Talmud in Eruvin (65a) that says that when someone arrives home from a long journey he should wait three days before praying since the exhaustion of the journey will not allow him to concentrate properly. Apparently for three days he is a called a בן דרך and thus Ramban says by Birchat Hagomel you should only have three days to recite it and after that you have lost the opportunity.

3.    Rashba writes that you have up until five days to recite it.

4.    Ra’ah adds another element that preferably one should recite Hagomel in the presence of a minyan of ten men. However, if a minyan is not present, you should wait up to 30 days to get a minyan to recite it, but after that you can recite it alone.

Maran Beit Yosef in Shulchan Aruch writes like the Tur above that technically you can say it indefinitely, but it is preferable not to let 3 days pass before reciting it.

Rav Ovadia proceeds to quote a number of later poskim who give a five day limit on Hagomel. He then raises the question of if we should heed to this position based on the principle of ספק ברכות להקל, when dealing with a doubt in a case of a bracha, we usually are lenient and do not recite the bracha, so why not be strict here as well after five days have passed? Rav Ovadia answers that this case does not constitute a real halachic doubt since Maran Beit Yosef knew of theses stricter opinions and yet was not concerned by them and ruled that the real law is one can say hagomel indefinitely. Rav Ovadia also quotes the sefardic Torah giant, Chida who agrees with the Shulchan Aruch.

Summary: While it is preferable to recite hagomel within three days of the incident requiring the bracha, and if you pass three days better not to pass five day, yet, if you did delay longer you can still make the bracha any time you have the opportunity to do so.

(Summary based on יחוה דעת חלק ג׳ סימן יד׳)