[Avodah] Simchas Yom Tov

[Prof. Levine]

At 06:25 AM 5/20/2009, R. S. Pick wrote:

>The following argument was suggested:
>
>There are opinions that allow one to daven early and even make
>
>Kiddush early. Also, waiting to daven after Tzeis is a D'Rabbonon.
>
>However, simchas Yom Tov is a D'oreisa. Most people do not enjoy
>
>beginning to eat at say 9:30. For kids it is particularly difficult.
>
>Therefore, davening after Tzeis and then beginning to eat late
>
>conflicts with the simchas Yom Tov of many. How can this D'Rabbonon
>
>take precedence over simchas Yom Tov?
>
>In the areivim list I suggested that concerning simchas yom tov at nite:
>
>Not so simple about that simchas yom tov, some authorities hold there is no
>simchas yom tov at nite, but only in the daytime in accordance with korbanot
>hachag. Accordingly, eat your beef and drink that wine in the day time.  The
>only nite that simcha is mandated is leil shmini atzeres which has a special
>limud (ribbui).
>
>
>
>Now that the above argument has become more sophisticated with d'rabbanons
>and d'oraitas involved, let's not forget that most mainstream rishonim and
>posekim hold that keriyat shma should be recited after tzeis.  This was then
>combined with birchot keriyas shma to be recited after tzeis. The Rosh who
>represents minhag ashkenaz and others record that one should say tefila with
>the congregation but wait with keriyat shma and brachos until after tzeis
>According to all these posekim, davening immediately after sunset is a
>bedieved situation.  Mention was made of Jacob Katz's article about the
>development of the custom to daven early, and how with the vilna gaon and
>the Chassidim and the advent of normal clocks, they went back to the old
>time religion of the first mishna of brachot and wait with arvit so that
>keriyas shma and brachot should be said on time.
>
>So perhaps the argument should be reversed: on the day of accepting the
>torah one should look not look for kulos (lenient rulings) but return to the
>pristine halakha of the very first mishna in sha'as as poskened by the
>majority of rishonim and posekim and say keriyat shma with brachot bezmano.


I am the one who wrote the first paragraph above about starting to 
eat at 9:30. First of all, I am wrong about the time here in 
Brooklyn. The YI of J will daven Maariv at 9:08 next Thursday night. 
Allowing 20 minutes for Maariv and 10 minutes for me to walk home 
means that I will not be home before 9:40. Other nearby shuls will 
start Maariv even later. Shkia on 5/28 in Brooklyn is 8:17 PM. Some 
shuls will wait 60 minutes after Shkia to start Maariv, others 72 
minutes. Those who daven with these minyanim  will start to eat even later.

Let me, for the sake of argument,  grant you that there is no simchas 
Yom Tov at night. What about causing one's family members Tzar or at 
least considerable inconvenience to one's family and guests? Is one 
allowed to do this for a minhag or even a D'Rabbonon. I do not know.

What I do know is what was written in the article "Setting Limits 
Based on the Insights of Harav Mendel Zaks, zt'l"  that appeared  in 
the Hamodia Magazine on March 18, 2009. I have posted this article 
with the permission of the Hamodia at 
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/hamodia/setting_limits.pdf

The author, Rabbi Moshe Hubner, writes:

"On the other hand, the Beis Hamikdash was a stationary building; 
Bnei Yisrael were never going to move it to a location outside 
Yerushalayim. Therefore, the more donations were accepted, the more 
mitzvos the givers would acquire and the more glorious the Beis 
Hamikdash would appear, at nobody else's expense.

Harav Zaks stresses that this should teach us all a great lesson in 
consideration. In attempting to fulfill a commandment, a person must 
first consider the impact of the mitzvah on others. Even if a deed 
appears good or charitable, one must contemplate and project the 
outcome beforehand. An individual will not receive the same benefit 
and reward for doing a mitzvah if it creates a burden for someone else."

In many homes starting to eat after 9:30 does indeed create a burden 
for others. (This is why early minyanim of Erev Shabbos after Pesach 
are so popular in many places.) Given this and the fact that there 
are those who say that one can daven early, I fail to see why one 
would wait.  It seems to me that the truly religious approach would 
be to have concern for one's family and daven early.

I have been told that Reb Yisroel Salanter used to say, "The other 
person's gashmius is your ruchnius." (If this is not an accurate 
quote, there are certainly many stories about him to show that this 
is the way he conducted himself.) Why not do the ruchnius thing?


Yitzchok Levine 
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