While driving at a high speed (within the speed limit!), a deer ran across the highway and I hit it. The car was totaled but, miraculously to me, I wasn't hurt and didn't need any medical care. Does this obligate me to recite Hagomel – the special blessing recited when surviving a dangerous situation unharmed?
Yes, absolutely! Thank God nothing happened to you, but it was definitely a life-threatening situation and it requires that you recite this blessing. The blessing is recited in front of a minyan (a quorum of ten men). The text of this blessing is “Blessed are You, Lord out God, King of the Universe, Who bestows good things on the unworthy, and has bestowed on me every goodness.”
The men then answer: “Amen. He Who has bestowed on you every goodness, may He continue to bestow on you every goodness, Selah.”
