Volume 7 Number 69
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Kohanim and Duchening (3)
[Warren Burstein, Arthur Roth, Norman Miller]
Kosher in San Diego
[Laurent Cohen]
New Sefer - Eruvin in Modern Metropolitan Areas
[Yosef Bechhofer]
Orlando, Florida
[Nathan Davidovich]
Shabbos Goy (4)
[Anthony Fiorino, Morris Podolak, Alan Davidson, David Charlap]
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From: <warren@...> (Warren Burstein)
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 93 21:34:11 -0400
Subject: Re: Kohanim and Duchening
While I have never looked up the sources, in the shul that I grew up
in, very few Cohanim kept Shabbat. The Rabbi tried to convince them
that they should duchan anyway, but they still used to leave the shul.
|warren@ But the cabbie
/ nysernet.org is not worried at all.
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From: <rotha@...> (Arthur Roth)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 13:14:25 -0500
Subject: Kohanim and Duchening
My understanding is that you are basically right; many poskim
(loosely, rabbis) have attempted to disqualify non-Sabbath observers
from duchaning and have been unsuccessful. The basic argument is that
violation of one commandment does not absolve a person from the rest of
the commandments as well; a kohen is commanded to transmit G-d's
blessing to the Jewish people.
However, many sources (I'm almost certain the the Mishna Brura is
one) disqualify a kohen from duchaning if he violates commandments that
apply SPECIFICALLY TO HIM AS A KOHEN RATHER THAN TO ALL JEWS IN GENERAL
(the idea being that he thereby destroys the sanctity of his being a
kohen, and so may not participate in any activities reserved
specifically for kohanim). For example, this applies to kohanim who
visit cemeteries, or marry divorcees or converts. Since most kohanim
who are non-Sabbath observers are not careful about cemeteries, there is
usually a valid reason for disqualifying them, though this is not a
direct consequence of their non-observance of the Sabbath.
Arthur Roth
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From: Norman Miller <nmiller@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 13:47:31 -0400
Subject: Re: Kohanim and Duchening
I was intrigued by Leon Dworsky's post. He reports that a kohen may be
disqualified from dukhening for four reasons, one being "if the
congregation hated him". My first question is whether such a reason is
limited to this or a small number of instances or whether it is more
general than that. Second, is there somewhere an underlying general
principle for such disqualifica- tion?
Norman Miller
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From: Laurent Cohen <cohen@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1993 09:48:07 +0200
Subject: Kosher in San Diego
Planning a trip in San Diego in mid July for a conference, I would
welcome any information on Kosher places, and a hotel or people to stay
by, close to an orthodox community on Shabbat.
Thank you
Laurent Cohen
On the other side, I would be pleased to help people visiting France the
same way.
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From: <YOSEF_BECHHOFER@...> (Yosef Bechhofer)
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 93 03:16:18 -0400
Subject: New Sefer - Eruvin in Modern Metropolitan Areas
With gratitude to Hashem Yisborach, I am pleased to announce that I have
just published a 62 page pamphlet in English entitled "Eruvin in Modern
Metropolitan Areas." The pamphlet contains three sections, on the
construction of metropolitan eruvin; the reshus harabbim issue; and sechiras
reshus. It bears the haskamos of Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg of Baltimore and Rabbi
Shlomo Miller of Toronto. For additional information, please contact me
directly by e-mail.
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From: Nathan Davidovich <0005426728@...>
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 93 14:36:42 -0400
Subject: Orlando, Florida
My wife and I will be attending the National Employment Lawyers
Association convention in Orlando, Florida from June 23 through 26th. We
are interested in finding out about the availability of kosher facilities,
home hospitality for Shabbos, and a daf-yomi shiur close to the convention
site, which will be held at the Disney World Swan Hotel. We haven't made
hotel reservations yet, and if there is a kosher hotel close to the
convention site, please let us know. Thanks for your help.
Nate and Amy Davidovich
MCI ID: 542-6728
(303) 756-7333 (work)
(303) 321-0179 (home)
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From: Anthony Fiorino <fiorino@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 16:32:28 -0400
Subject: Shabbos Goy
The historical development of the halachot relating to non-Jews and the
sabbath is treated in _The Shabbes Goy_ by Jacob Katz (published by the
Jewish Publication Society, Phil. PA, 1989).
Eitan Fiorino
<fiorino@...>
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From: Morris Podolak <D77%<TAUNOS@...>
Date: Mon, 02 Sep 91 09:40:30 +0200
Subject: Re: Shabbos Goy
[This appeared in Volume 2 #20, when the question of Shabbos Goy was
raised then - Sept. 1991. I have taken the liberty to reprint it. Mod.]
With respect to the question of a shabbes goy: The material is discussed
extensively in the literature. So extensively, in fact, that I didn't
bother responding to the first query because I was sure someone else
would do so, and do a better job. However, since no one else took up
the job, here goes...
According to the Torah, there is no prohibition in asking a goy to do
something for you on Shabbat. There is, however, a rabbinic prohibition
to do so. This is called "shvut" in halachic parlance. Because of
this, we may not ask a goy to open lights, cook something, turn on the
air conditioner, etc. Indeed there are a number of prohibitions on
enjoying the results of a goy's work on Shabbat if done specifically for
the Jew. Forgive me for not going into details here, I'd like to check
out the details before giving them, just to make sure I don't
misremember. If you are interested, a translation of the Kitzur
Shulchan Aruch (The Code of Jewish Law by S. Ganzfried transl. by Goldin
(?)) in English is a reliable source for the basics.
In any event, since the prohibition is rabbinic in nature, there is room
for leniency. Thus a shvut de shvut i.e. a second order shvut is
permitted if necessary. One could, for example, ask one goy to ask a
second goy to do work on Shabbat, although I doubt if many rabbis would
condone such an action unless it was something important. The idea here
is that asking a goy is a rabbinic prohibition (shvut) and all you are
asking him to do is ask a goy to do something. Since this latter is
also only rabbinically prohibited, it is a second order effect (shvut de
shvut) and may be done.
Another example: You open the refrigerator on Shabbat, and realize that
you forgot to unscrew the light bulb inside. You are not allowed to
close the door because that would put out the light, but if you leave it
open all the food will spoil, and you will sustain a significant
monetary loss, not to mention the fact that you will not have a Shabbat
meal. In such a case there are a number of poskim (Rav Moshe Shtern in
Be'er Moshe for example) who permit asking a goy to remove the bulb. In
this case the basis for the permission, is that it is letzorech mitzvah
(you need the food to do the mitzvah of eating 3 meals on Shabbat) and
perhaps hefsaid merubah (a large monetary loss).
Another example of where asking a goy is permitted is letzorech rabim.
If it affects a large number of people. I have heard this used as a
basis for asking a goy to turn on the air conditioner in a synagogue on
a particularly hot Shabbat, although not everyone is happy with such a
ruling. Rav Chaim David Halevi, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv
tells about when he was a young boy in Jerusalem and prayed in a
synagogue where the rabbi was a noted scholar. One Shabbat evening the
lights didn't go on and it was too dark to pray. They called an Arab
in, but couldn't tell him outright to open the lights, so they merely
pointed out to him that it was too dark to pray. The idea was that he
should open the lights on his own, without being directly asked. He
didn't catch on, however, and suggested that they open the lights. They
told him it was Shabbat and they were forbidden to do so. He still
didn't catch on. After a while the rabbi simply asked him to open the
lights, which he did. When he was asked how he could do such a thing,
since asking a goy is forbidden, he replied "asking a goy is forbidden,
but nobody said anything about a jackass" (with apologies for the free
translation). There is much more to be said, of course, but I hope this
gives the general idea.
Morris Podolak - <D77@...>
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From: Alan Davidson <DAVIDSON@...>
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 93 14:53:41 EST
Subject: Shabbos Goy
The usually voiced justification for having Non-Jews prepare Kiddush, lunch,
or Shalosh Seudos in a shul is that the Non-Jew is not hired specifically
for this task. If somebody is employed by the shul, the family, or what
not for other days of the week including Shabbos, the argument is that
shuls or families can have Non-Jews do things for them on Shabbos. A
similar analogy would be a newspaper carrier who delivers a paper on
Shabbos or Yomtov who also delivers a paper for the rest of the week.
There are people, myself included, who do have misgivings about this
justification, and argue that under no circumstances may a Non-Jew or a
non-observant Jew do something you would not do on Shabbos or Yomtov.
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From: <dic5340@...> (David Charlap)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 18:01:01 -0400
Subject: Re: Shabbos Goy
<James.Harper@...> (James Harper) writes:
>
>I was wondering if anyone has any information about the laws
>governing the "Shabbos goy." Some orthodox shuls hire a non-Jew to
>set out cakes and wine for Kiddush after Musaf and to serve
>shaleshudos. Is this practice kosher?
With certain restrictions, it is permitted. First of all, setting out
the cakes and wine is not a prohibited labor if everything was brought
to the shul before shabbos. If the person does other things (like turn
the lights on and off or actually cook something), then there could be
serious problems.
>I was under the impression that a non-Jew may not be hired
>specifically to perform a task on Shabbos.
That is correct, but this person is not normally hired for work on
shabbos. Instead, he is hired for work all week (eg: a custodial
position), and he volunteers his time on shabbos. It's a way to skirt
around the letter of the law.
Many shuls do not approve of the "shabbos goy" concept, legal or not.
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End of Volume 7 Issue 69
