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Davening Together – Apart

Davening Together – Apart

We all know that this year’s Rosh ha-Shanna will be vastly different from holidays of prior years. We will not be buoyed by the voices of hundreds as we sing the tefilot together. Spending yontif outside of the shul building or with many fewer people inside will be painful. 

However, it is important to remember that, for many people, this experience is not so different from last year. There are people who, for a range of reasons, don’t find their way into our shuls. Maybe they feel excluded socially by the members of the shul. Maybe the way the Rabbi talks does not leave space for their life experiences. Maybe they have not been driven away but neglected ever to attend in the first place, worried about the judgment of others or their own imagined insufficiencies. People have been isolated from the warmth of our communities for too long, and it has taken the pandemic to open our eyes to that reality.

I would like to offer a simple gemara as a reminder for ourselves this year. Masechet Berachot 7b tells us that Rav Nachman did not come to shul. R. Yitzchak reaches out to him and asks him why he didn’t come. He asks from a place of respect and curiosity, not attack or condemnation. Rav Nachman responds, simply, “לָא יָכֵילְנָא – I couldn’t” and offers no further explanation.

Rav Yitzchak offers to bring a minyan to his home, and Rav Nachman tells him not to bother everyone. Rav Yitzchak makes one final offer to Rav Nachman: let’s arrange to have a messenger tell you when the minyan in shul is davening. Rav Nachman seems puzzled and asks, “מַאי כּוּלֵּי הַאי – what is all this for?” 

Before we see the conclusion of the sugya, note that Rav Yitzchak tries in several different ways to devise something that will work for Rav Nachman. There is no doubt that these efforts are, at least in part, due to Rav Nachman’s standing in the community. But what might it look like for us to reach out to everyone, regardless of connections and prominence,  and try to find a way to make shul feel genuinely welcoming for everyone?

Rav Nachman quotes R. Yochanan and says: 

וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּתִי לְךָ ה׳ עֵת רָצוֹן (תהילים סט:יד) – 

אֵימָתַי עֵת רָצוֹן? 

בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהַצִּבּוּר מִתְפַּלְּלִין.

But as for me, let my prayer be unto You, Lord, in a time of favor (Psalm 69:14)

When is the desired moment of prayer? 

When the community is praying.

This concept has some very specific Halakhic implications for people who are davening at home. If you can’t be in shul, it is best to align the time of your own davening with the timing of the shul. What is the status of someone who prays at the same time as the shul, but from home?

The standard approach to this gemara can be seen in Rabbeinu Tam (cited in Tosafot, Avoda Zara 4b, s.v. keivan d’ika, Tur, Shu”a O.C. 90:9 with the Peri Chadash). He asserts that when you pray at home at the same time that the minyan prays in shul, your prayers cannot be rejected. While that idea is especially appealing, I think there is another approach to this text that is important to consider, particularly this year.

In the 15th century, Rabbi Shlomo b. Shimon Duran was asked about someone who took a vow not to enter the shul for a specific amount of time. Is such a vow considered akin to taking a vow with the intention of nullifying a mitzvah?

שו”ת הרשב”ש סימן כד (ע’ ג”כ סימן קכה) שלמה בן שמעון דורן 

עוד שאלת. מי שנשבע שלא יכנס לבית הכנסת לזמן קצוב אם הוא כנשבע לבטל את המצוה…?

Shu”t Ha-Rashbash #24 (125) (c.1400 – 1467)

And you also asked. If someone took a vow not to enter a synagogue for a specific amount of time, is that like taking a vow in violation of mitzvah?

The first part of his answer is that since there is no mitzvah from the Torah to attend shul, this is not technically a violation of that rule. 

תשובה. אינו כנשבע לבטל את המצוה. חדא שאינה מצוה דאורייתא. 

Answer: This is not considered to be a vow in violation of a mitzvah for two reasons. First, there is no Torah commandment [at stake].

He then says something astounding: 

ותו דהא יכול להתפלל בביתו בשעה שהצבור מתפללים והוי כמתפלל עם הצבור כדאיתא במסכת ברכות. 

And in addition, he can pray in his home at the time when the community is davening, and he is considered to be praying with the community (tzibbur)…

According to Rabbi Shlomo Duran, when you time your tefilot to align with the community, it is considered as though you are actually davening with the community! [See Rambam Hil. Tefila 8:1, with the Kesef Mishna who appears to say the same thing.] Maybe this year we need to promote and encourage this approach of the Rashbash and remind ourselves that — even when we are in separate back-yards, or fields, or gyms, or social halls, or parks, or sanctuaries — we are still all davening together.

Even as we feel a sense of separation more than ever before, our tradition offers us ways to surmount our physical limitations. By davening simultaneously but apart, for the sake of one another’s safety, we can draw on this profound sense of unity and feel our words rising heavenward from every corner of our distanced but undivided communities.

May we all be blessed with a year of health.

 

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (9) – Bringing it all together

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (9) – Bringing it all together

“The siddur is the most important work of Jewish spirituality” – this was how I began these essays. A number of people reached out to me to clarify what I meant and to try to support this claim. While I do not think that I can prove such an idea, let me return to that point from a different perspective.

Let’s be honest about pesukei d’zimra for a moment. For most people, even those who are committed, regular daveners this is the section that most likely to get skipped or cut for one reason or another. It feels repetitive and it is hard to discern a clear through line that brings it all together. While it does contain some of the most majestic selections of Tehilim it is difficult (for me) to muster the energy and focus for each and every section.

However, when we step back from the details and look at pesukei d’zimra from a bit of a distance, some very powerful and beautiful ideas emerge. What this series strove to do was zoom out and evaluate the spiritual themes that are applied to pesukei d’zimra from the outside – both from the Gemara and rishonim. A careful analysis of those competing ideas and models leads to some important guidance for how to sit with pesukei d’zimra as well as what it means to be a prayerful human being. Let us begin with a brief review and then see if we can make meaning from all these data points. …

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (7) – an Independent Unit – Zohar

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (7) – an Independent Unit – Zohar

Gratitude bestows Reverence

The Zohar, like Rav Sa’adia and the Rambam, presents pesukei d’zimra as functioning outside of the parameters of the amida. In parashat Vayakhel (דף ר׳ ע״א – ר׳ ע״ב) the Zohar offers a kind of commentary on the siddur. In that section we learn that there are six mitzvot – not obviously related to tefila – that can be fulfilled through davening: Fear of God, Love of God, Blessing God, Unifying God, the Priestly Blessing, being ready to give up our lives for God1. After introducing these six Mitzvot, we are then told which section of the siddur is connected to which Mitzvah. Let’s see how the Zohar understands the role of pesukei d’zimra:

זוהר ב:ר”ב  ב 

לְיִרְאָה אֶת הַשֵּׁם, פִּקּוּדָא דָּא קַיְּימָא בְּאִלֵּין תּוּשְׁבְּחָן דְּקָאָמַר דָּוִד מַלְכָּא, וּבְאִינּוּן קָרְבָּנִין דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, דְּתַמָּן בָּעֵי בַּר נָשׁ לְדַחֲלָא מִקַּמֵּי מָארֵיהּ, בְּגִין דְּאִינּוּן שִׁירִין קַיְּימִין בְּהַהוּא אֲתָר דְּאִקְרֵי יִרְאָה. וְכָל אִינּוּן הַלְלוּיָהּ, דְּאִינּוּן רָזָא דְּיִרְאָה דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. וּבָעֵי בַּר נָשׁ לְשַׁוָּאָה רְעוּתֵיהּ בְּאִינּוּן שִׁירִין בְּיִרְאָה…

Zohar 2:202b

To fear God: This commandment is fulfilled through the recitation of the praises of King David, as well as the Torah’s sacrifices. For in those areas a person must awaken one’s self in awe before the Creator. For these songs are grounded in malchut which is called fear. And all those chapters that have the word Halleluya, which are the secrets of the fear of the Holy Blessed One. A person is required to place his will into these songs with fear…

…

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Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (2) – Hallel, Shabbat 118b

Introduction to Pesukei d’Zimra (2) – Hallel, Shabbat 118b

The gemara in Shabbat 118b is the basic starting point for understanding pesukei d’zimra. 

תלמוד בבלי שבת קי”ח ב

אמר רבי יוסי יהא חלקי מגומרי הלל בכל יום…כי קאמרינן בפסוקי דזמרא. 

Bavli, Shabbat 118b

Rebbe Yosi said, “May my portion be among those who complete Hallel every day”…When we make this statement, we are referring to pesukei d’zimra.

Rebbe Yosi’s statement here is aspirational, “יהא חלקי – may my portion be;” he expresses a desire to do something beyond the letter of the law. At this early stage, the practice of pesukei d’zimra was clearly optional. Only with the formalization of the sections to be recited1 as well as berachot does pesukei d’zimra become an obligatory section of Tefila.

The gemara here presents us with two ideas of Hallel. One is the tefila recited at appointed festive occasions (מועדים); the other is a daily opportunity to praise God2. Just as Hallel is recited with a beracha beforehand and a beracha afterward,3 so too pesukei d’zimra. This idea is made explicit by the Rif in his commentary on Masechet Berachot where he brings the sugya from Shabbat 118b.

רי”ף ברכות כ”ג א

וגרסינן בפרק כל כתבי הקדש [שבת קי”ח ב] אמר ר’ יוסי יהא חלקי עם גומרי הלל בכל יום …כי קא אמרינן בפסוקי דזמרה אמרינן…ותקינו רבנן למימר ברכה מקמייהו וברכה מבתרייהו. ומאי ניהו? ברוך שאמר וישתבח. הלכך מיבעי ליה לאיניש דלא לאשתעויי מכי מתחיל בברוך שאמר עד דמסיים [ליה] לשמונה עשרה 

Rif Berakhot 23a

And it is written in the chapter kol kitvei (Shabbat 118b): R. Yosi said, “May my portion be among those who complete Hallel every day”…When we make this statement, we are referring to pesukei d’zimra…And the Rabbis instituted that people recite a blessing before them and a blessing after them. And what are these blessings? Baruch she-Amar and Yishtabach. Therefore a person is forbidden from interrupting once they recite Baruch she-Amar.

The basic structure of pesukei d’zimra mirrors Hallel – an opening and closing beracha surrounding verses and chapters of praise4. Once this structure is in place, we have one way of approaching this unit of tefila. Hallel on Sukkot comes along with a certain type of joy. While that kind of overwhelming joy is not possible, and not appropriate, on a daily basis, we have some emotional direction when entering into pesukei d’zimra. Our starting place is that of joy. The idea that we are meant to approach God with joy is a powerful reminder of the nature of the relationship that many seek to cultivate with the Creator.

Beginning our day with joy is not always easy. The siddur is, in some ways, an emotional and spiritual roller coaster. As we will see though our study of pesukei d’zimra, even within this one section there are different – and sometimes competing – themes, values and ideas that we encounter along the way. Learning to become aware of our own internal experience and then working to direct those feelings towards God is not easy. I hope and pray that we are able to joyfully stand before the Creator of the World every day of our lives. The reality of the world in which we live is that such an aspiration may sometimes be impossible. It is perhaps this reason that R. Yosi introduces us to pesukei d’zimra with a plea to be blessed to complete these words with joy every day.

Introduction to the Prohibitions of the Mourner (2) – Moed Katan 14b to 16a, summary

Introduction to the Prohibitions of the Mourner (2) – Moed Katan 14b to 16a, summary

The gemara in Moed Katan (from 14b until 16a) addresses fourteen different behaviors that are either required or forbidden by a mourner: observance during a Holiday, haircuts, head-covering, wearing Tefillin, greeting, learning Torah, laundry, tearing garments, over-turning the bed, work, washing, wearing leather shoes, sexual intercourse and sending sacrifices to the Beit ha-Mikdash. The sugya is confident about the rules relating to the mourner and quotes a verse (or one berayta) to prove the rule. After clarifying the rule for a mourner, the sugya then seeks to understand how that same rule does or does not apply to one who has been excommunicated and a person with tzara’at1.

Here is an example of that structure:

תלמוד בבלי מסכת מועד קטן דף יד עמוד ב

אבל אסור בתספורת מדקאמר להו רחמנא לבני אהרן (ויקרא י:ו) רָאשֵׁיכֶם אַל תִּפְרָעוּ  

מכלל דכולי עלמא אסור (דף טו עמוד א). 

מנודין ומצורעין מה הן בתספורת? 

תא שמע מנודין ומצורעין אסורין לספר ולכבס…

Bavli, Moed Katan, 14b

A mourner is prohibited from cutting their hair, as the merciful one taught in the Torah to the children of Aharon, “Do not bare your heads” (Vayikra 10:6) –

from this we learn that everyone else is prohibited from cutting their hair.

Those who have been excommunicated and those with tzara’at – what is their rule regarding haircuts?

Come and hear: Those who have been excommunicated and those with tzara’at are prohibited from cutting their hair… …

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Introduction to the Prohibitions of the Mourner (1) – Moed Katan 14b to 16a

Introduction to the Prohibitions of the Mourner (1) – Moed Katan 14b to 16a

We are now going to begin a lengthy series that addresses the various behaviors that a mourner may not engage in during shivva, shloshim and the 12 months. In some ways, this is the bread and butter of Hilkhot Aveilut, as many mourners’ questions  involve these topics. As we will see, some of these prohibitions feel intuitive to us today while others speak less readily to the 21st century mourner.

I also want to emphasize the following point: people in Yeshivot often think about the laws of Aveilut as based heavily on minhag. While a few areas are, in fact, driven by long standing communal practice – particularly around matters relating to davening – the vast majority of this material functions as normative Rabbinic law.

Despite the fact one siman asks which aspects of Aveilut are from the Torah and which from the Rabbis, most of these laws are understood to be Rabbinic, with a few exceptions.  However, there does appear to be more flexibility in the laws of Aveilut than we might typically expect to find. Nonetheless, we should not read that flexibility as meaning that these are “just” minhagim;  instead, that flexibility reflects the Rabbinic understanding that these laws are meant to express and respond to a deep human need.  …

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Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (04) – Understanding the Apparent Contradiction of the Shulchan Aruch

Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (04) – Understanding the Apparent Contradiction of the Shulchan Aruch

Let us briefly review the three approaches to the nature of the exemption of the onen that are found in the Shulchan Aruch.

1) In Orach Chayyim 71:1, Rav Yosef Karo says that the onen is exempt and prohibited when directly involved with burial preparations. However, if there are people to care for the physical needs, we do not stop the onen from performing Mitzvot (“exempt but permitted”). This is the approach of R. Yitzchak quoted in Tosafot on the page (Berachot 23b s.v. v’ein mevarvhin alav and Or Zarua Section 2, Hilkhot Aveilut siman 417) as well as referred to by the Rosh (Berachot 3:1 & Moed Katan 3:54).

2) The first position brought anonymously in Yoreh Deah 341:1 is that the onen is exempt from all positive Mitzvot but is permitted to perform them. This is the opinion of Rashi (Berachot 17b s.v. vi-ein mevarech) and Rambam (Rambam Hilkhot Avel 4:6 and Hilkhot Kriyat Shema 4:7).

3) The second approach in Yoreh Deah 341:1, introduced with the phrase “יש אומרים – some say”, is that the onen is exempt and prohibited from performing all positive Mitzvot. This is the majority position of Tosafot (Berachot 17b s.v. vi-ein mevarech), Ra”ah (Berachot 16b s.v. mi she-meito mutal) Rosh (Berachot 3:1) and Talmidei Rabbeinu Yona (Rif, Berachot page 10b).  …

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Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (03) – Unpacking the Shulchan Aruch

Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (03) – Unpacking the Shulchan Aruch

We are faced with a complex passage of the Yerushalmi and a three way debate of the Medieval commentators regarding how to understand the exemption of the onen – exempt but permitted (פטור ומותר – Rashi & Rambam), exempt and prohibited (פטור ואסור – Tosafot, Ra”ah, Rosh, Rabbeinu Yona, based on the Yerushalmi) or it depends on the situation (R. Yitzchak, Rosh). Let’s see if we can make sense of two seifim of the Shulchan Aruch – one in the laws of mourning and one in the laws of Shema. 

Here is how Rabbi Yosef Karo codifies this law in the context of the laws of mourning:

Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, Hil. Aveilut 351:1

[A] And the [onen] is exempt from all the [positive] Mitzvot of the Torah. 

[B] And even if he does not need to be involved with the needs of the one who passed because there are others who will take care of those needs [he is exempt]. 

[C] And some people say that even if the onen wanted to be stringent on him or herself and make blessings or answer amen after the blessings of another, he is not permitted.

[D] (and see Orach Chayyim siman 71).

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות אבילות סימן שמא סעיף א

[א] ופטור מכל מצות האמורות בתורה. 

[ב] ואפילו אם אינו צריך לעסוק בצרכי המת, כגון שיש לו אחרים שעוסקים בשבילו. 

[ג] וי”א שאפילו אם ירצה להחמיר על עצמו לברך או לענות אמן אחר המברכין, אינו רשאי 

[ד] (ועיין בא”ח סי’ ע”א). 

In section [C], Rav Yosef Karo clearly refers to the position that the onen is exempt and forbidden from positive Mitzvot (Tosafot). When we read section [B] in light of section [C], it appears that the first anonymous position is that of Rashi and Rambam: that the onen is exempt and also permitted to fulfill positive commandments. This approach understands exemption and permission to apply whether or not the onen is required to be physically involved with the needs of one who has passed. To be clear, the implication of this reading is that even if the onen has no one to assist with the needs of the one who has passed, they are still permitted to fulfill Mitzvot if they are interested in doing so. …

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Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (02) – The Yerushalmi that Drives the Halakhic Discourse

Onen (אונן) Between Death and Burial (02) – The Yerushalmi that Drives the Halakhic Discourse

There are times when a specific passage in the Talmud Yerushalmi gets pulled into the flow of Halakha and sets the tone for the subsequent discourse. In the case of the onen there is a powerful sugya from the Yerushalmi that is brought by the Tosafot1and ultimately defines the parameters of the Halakhic conversation. Because of the importance of this text, we will analyze it piece by piece.

We begin with a simple drasha that removes the onen from the category of Mitzvot:

תלמוד ירושלמי (וילנא) מסכת ברכות פרק ג

א”ר בון כתיב לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת יוֹם צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ (דברים טז:ג) 

ימים שאת עוסק בהן בחיים ולא ימים שאת עוסק בהן במתים.

Yerushalmi, Berachot 3

Rebbi said, “It is written in order that you remember the day of the Exodus from Egypt all the days of your life (Devarim 16:3) –

Days when you are involved with life, and not days in which you are involved with death.

This Midrash makes a blanket statement that only days that are filled with life are meant to be days of Mitzvot. However, days in which a person is, “עוסק בהן במתים – involved with those who are dead” are simply not days to do Mitzvot. This is a strong statement about the nature of a life imbued with Mitzvot.   …

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Tearing Garments (קריעה) – An External Expression of an Internal Experience (01)

Tearing Garments (קריעה) – An External Expression of an Internal Experience (01)

The practice of tearing garments at the funeral (קריעה, kriya) has developed in a fascinating manner. Throughout the Gemara the act of kriya seems more like a natural, almost spontaneous expression of loss or grief. In response to terrible news people, would rend their garments. The reality for most today is that the moment of tearing needs to be imbued with meaning because it takes place in a very limited context, not because it is a natural expression of loss.

When learning kriya, people often begin with the question of its authority – Rabbinic or Torah – a question we will address that in the third installment of the kriya essays.  But the psychology of this ritual is essential to its performance, and I am organizing this material around emotional potency rather than the typical Halakhic taxonomy. The physical act is meant to express an internal emotional state. Let’s look at one story about a particular Amora (rabbi from the Gemara) who experiences loss.  The Gemara in Moed Katan 20b tells of the tragic passing of Ameimar’s grandson. The following sugya asks some very specific legal questions about this story. We will begin with the narrative portion of the Gemara with a simple translation, intentionally maintaining the unclarified pronouns for now: …

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