[Avodah] One African-American Family's Journey to Judaism

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 10:34:20PM -0400, T613K at aol.com wrote:
: Anyone who follows the link RYL provided will see that it says  you can't 
: /cook/ for goyim on yom tov, it doesn't say you can't invite them to  your 
: table.

The issur deOraisa is cooking when it's not for the Yom Tov, and therefore
would include cooking for anyone who isn't mechayev in that YT. In order
to prevent someone from doing so knowing there would be guests at the
table "shema yarbeh bishvilo", there is a gezeira against inviting a
non-Jew to one's Yom Tov meal.

See SA OC 512:1. (Mar'eh maqom gotten from RGStudent's post of
13-Apr-2005.)

The Taz (512:6) writes that under sufficient motivation, one is
permitted to invite a non-Jew to a Yom Tov meal. (Mar'eh maqom from
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol15/v15n002.shtml#04>.) However,
that "sufficient motivation" might be situations where e.g. the poreitz
invited himself, or other significant mishum eivah.

The deOraisa is avoided by simply not making any special dishes, or
extra pots/pans of the same dish. Putting more food in the same pot
isn't assur -- although one still has to then deal with the gezeira.

REMT writes in the post write after RGS's
<http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol14/v14n115.shtml#10>:
>> May a nonJew attend a seder?  If not why not?

> Only on a Friday night. It is prohibited to invite a non-Jew to
> any Yom Tov meal on a day when cooking is permitted, shema yarbeh
> bishvilo. (OC 512:1)

I agree that lemaaseh, there are heteirim found for inviting all of an
intermarried family, or inviting prospective gerim. I don't know what
they are, though.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             For a mitzvah is a lamp,
micha at aishdas.org        And the Torah, its light.
http://www.aishdas.org                   - based on Mishlei 6:2
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