[Avodah] eruv tavshilin

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

A question was raised regarding one who makes an eruv tavshilin even though he plans to do absolutely nothing which requires the eruv: Is he doing a mitzvah by making the eruv, or would it be a bracha l'vatalah?

I had suggested that the mitzvah is in the *hachanah*; preparation is a mitzvah if and only if one is sincerely planning on doing the later act. There's no bracha l'vatala if one washes netilas yadayim and then changes his mind, but it *is* l'vatala if one washes while planning on *not* eating bread.

Then I asked for other examples of this sort of preparation, and a few were suggested to me offlist, which I'll now pass on to the group.

(a) Shechita - If one shechts an animal, and says the bracha on it, even though the plan is for this animal to go uneaten, was that a bracha l'vatala?

(b) Trumos and Maasros - If one maasers some produce, and says the brocha on the maasering, and plans to neither eat the food, nor use it for any other purpose which would have been assur if it was still tevel, was it a bracha l'vatala?

I have no idea what the answers are, but I can't help but suspect that the same answer will hold for all four of these cases. If sources are found which indicate differing answers, I'd be very intrigued to see the differences.

Akiva Miller

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