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Why is Baruch Hashem L'olam said on Motzei Shabbos V'Yom Tov in Nussach Ashkenaz?

A priori question: Why do some congregations say Baruch Hashem L'Olam (BHL) at all?

The 2 possible answers I'd seen/heard previously:

  1. Shuls were outside of towns and people were afraid to spend so long after dark away from the town. To reduce this time, it was instituted to say BHL in lieu of Amidah.
  2. Similarly, the shuls were far away from people working in the fields and it would be dangerous for latecomers to remain alone. To allow them to catch up, BHL was added.

Based on this, we can understand why BHL wasn't said on Shabbos or Yom Tov - more people gathering and less time spent working Erev Shabbos/Yom Tov in general meant it wasn't necessary.

However, on Motzei Shabbos/Yom Tov, some congregations still say it, even though the same situation should occur - namely that the people have all been in Shul for Mincha and are still gathered together for Maariv. Why then do we say it on Motzei Shabbos and Yom Tov?

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    How does being "gathered together for Maariv" invaidate " people were afraid to spend so long after dark away from the town"? The reasoning of replacing the amida with a shorter version would still apply.
    – rosends
    Oct 22, 2015 at 17:09
  • @Danno That's not a bad question, but then it would apply on Friday Night and Yom Tov as well. I would assume that a group of people would be more comfortable being away from the town after dark
    – General_Twyckenham
    Oct 22, 2015 at 17:40
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    But the Baruch Hashem was designed to sub for the 18 brachot. Fri night and Yom Tov night don't have an 18 bracha based amida so the replacement wouldn't be appropriate. Those tefilot are already shorter.
    – rosends
    Oct 22, 2015 at 18:45
  • I'm doing some research on this, and I MAY have an answer, but need some help from any reader: *Minhag Eretz Yisra'el" is most closely followed by or resembles Nusach Ash. or Sefard? 2) Siddurei Amram and Sa'adia closely match with which of these two Nuscha'ot? Thanks for the help.
    – DanF
    Oct 22, 2015 at 18:55
  • @Danno That's a good point and would be an answer to my question. Thanks
    – General_Twyckenham
    Oct 22, 2015 at 19:04

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See this article that discusses a completely different focus as to why and whether the 5th Bracha of Kri'at Shema should be said on Motza'ei SHabbat and Yom Tov. While the article doesn't explicitly mention Yom Tov, it is geared to the discussion of including the themes of havdalah (said after Yom Tov, as well as after Shabbat) and hence, if that includes placing that in a 5th vracha ("Baruch Hashem") or not.

Digesting some points from the article:

Siddur Rav S'adia Gaon mentions saying a 5th bracha starting with the words "Baruch Hashem" and including some phrasing about Havdalah within it.

Siddur Rav AMram Ga'on also mentions that one should recite extra Tana"ch verses after the 4th bracha of Shema.

The article claims that these are remnants of Minhag Eretz Yisra'el.

I can't, offhand, state why some Nusach Ashkenaz shuls follow Minhag Eretz Yisra'el, here, and not with most other tefillot.

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