Mishpatim Bulletin in PDF format

IT’S THAT SHABBOS WITH THE VEXING PROBLEM AGAIN—WHAT TO SAY IN BENTCHING OF SEUDAH SHLISHIS ON SHABBOS EREV ROSH CHODESH:

Here is the Rav’s opinion what to do lema’aseh:

  1. Don’t eat “pas” (challah, bread, cake) after sheki’ah–and only say retzei.
  2. If you did so, but not past 20 minutes after sheki’ah, only say retzei.
  3. If you did eat “pas” past 20 minutes, you have a problem. Aruch haShulchan says only retzei, MB says only ya’aleh veyavoh or maybe both. So don’t do this. Control yourself!

A contemporary Rav, in reaction to the constant chatter in his Shul during davening and keri’as haTorah despite his best efforts to have it stop, one Shabbos stopped the layning in the middle, and put away the sefer Torah, and did not let the remaining part of the sedrah be read. The shock therapy worked, and silence became the norm.

But, probably understandably, a tumult ensued about the propriety of what was done. The Rav himself put the question very succintly: Can one be mevatel the mitzva of layning the sedra of the week, and from all the mispallelim, due to the bizayon haTorah and of the Shul being perpetrated by some?

The question was brought to Rav Elyashav zt”l.

He brought 3 sources that the Rav acted correctly:

  1. Moshe Rabbeinu breaking the luchos
  2. Keri’as haTorah was already mevutal through the constant talking–nothing wrong with being mevatel a keri’ah mevuteless.
  3. The Ran in Beitzah points out that according to the opinion that the purpose of an eiruv tavshillin is for kovod Shabbos, so as not to forget to have enough Shabbos foods for Shabbos (see the sugya there), what is the logic in forbidding cooking for Shabbos if one forgets to make the eiruv–now he certainly won’t have anything for Shabbos!? Answers the Ran–I’ll say it briefly–shock threapy.You lose one Shabbos, but you’ll gain the rest. (The comparison is obvious.)