הושענא רבה @ Breuer's

This past הושענא רבה I decided to visit Breuer's (Khal Adath Jeshurun in Washington Heights), having heard that הושענא רבה davening there is a significant attraction, meaning that outsiders who may have little connection to the Kehilloh otherwise nevertheless attend הושענא רבה services there. As I was not at all disappointed, I therefore decided to write about all the unique things I saw there that are difficult to find elsewhere. I will list them in chronological order, i.e. in the order that they occur in the davening.

Shacharis began promptly at 6:55am with Adon Olam. The official מנהג המקום is to wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed, to which end those who do not wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed daven in the Sulzbach Shiur Room next to the main sanctuary until Hallel, where many of those that do wear tefillin take theirs off. The official מנהג המקום is also that everyone wears a talis (even those who are not married), hat (even those who are married), jacket and tie (some wore specifically white ties), in keeping with a proper festive environment. Despite rumors to the contrary, nearly everyone followed this dress code, although it was not specifically enforced as it has been in the past (where, for example, one who did not wear one already was offered a hat and talis, with the clear expectation that they accept the offer).

At this point I will skip to Hallel, as the regular weekday minhogim of Breuer's are beyond the scope of this article, and everything done until that point is more or less the same as a regular weekday (aside from these two pieces in ברכות ק"ש).

In Hallel, Chazzon Ezra Lasdun sang a Modzhitzer B'Tzeis Yisroel (of which I could not find a recording) for לך אזבח and הללו together, followed the official Naanuim Nigun (of which I also could not find a recording), which the Chazzon used for all 4 lines of הודו (indeed, there were naanuim for all 4 lines). After the Chazzon chanted each line, the congregation responded with הודו לה' וכו for all 4 lines, with naanuim (using the same nigun) for each line.

Following Hallel, the Chazzon put down his lulov in a canister next to the omud which was designated to be a lulov holder.

Above: the official lulov holder of Khal Adath Jeshurun

Following Musaf were Hoshaanos. The Aron was opened, three sifrei Torah were taken out by young bochurim who then put down the sifrei Torah on the bimoh and stayed with them for the duration of the Hoshaanos. In many congregations, the Chazzon says each line of Hoshaanos aloud preceded and followed by הושע נא (for example הושע נא למען אמתך הושע נא). Here, however, after the first 4 lines which introduce Hoshaanos any day of Succos, the Chazzon, followed by the Rav, then led the congregation around the shul, all the while singing the Hoshaana paragraphs to tastefully selected popular melodies (meaning, the Chazzon sang למען אמתך למען בריתך etc. together with the congregation without interspersing the lines with הושע נא, besides for the last two lines which were followed by a resounding הושע נא on the part of the congregation). Towards the end of each paragraph the melody would inevitably conclude, at which point the Chazzon would finish the paragraph in Nusach.

Now, while singing the lines of Hoshaanos without interspersing them with הושע נא before and after each line may seem strange at first glance, it should nonetheless be pointed out that in no siddur (of the many that I have encountered) is such an interspersion printed. To that end, while interspersing the lines of Hoshaanos with הושע נא before and after each line is certainly appropriate, it is nevertheless reasonable to assume that these were not part of the original piyyut-form and, as such, Breuer's does not say them. (I was later informed that similar customs are followed in certain Chassidic communities.)

After the initial 7 encirclements, everyone then returned to their seats for the remainder of the Hoshaanos service, which, on הושענא רבה, is lengthened by extra piyutim. The Chazzon finished each of these aloud in a Nusach, followed by the introductory line for the next piyut. Each introductory line was chanted aloud the Chazzon, with a resounding response by the congregation in the same Nusach.

After the very last piyut, the Chazzon chanted קול מבשר מבשר ואומר aloud in Nusach, followed by a resounding response from the congregation of the same in the same. This was done three times, each louder and with more emphasis than the previous. At this point the sifrei Torah were returned to the Aron, and everyone beat their arovoh on the floor two or three times. The concluding Kaddisch was chanted/sung in a festive melody, after which the congregation offered a resounding "Shko'ach!!", thanking the Chazzon for a [not so easy] job well done.

The service concluded with Oleinu, Tehillim, and a Dvar Halochoh from the Rav about מוקצה מחמת מצוה, each of which was followed by Kaddisch [said by one person at a time only, hence the need for multiple קדישים in the first place].

Above: the shtender from where the Rav delivers a Dvar Halochoh, covered with a festive cloth (changed immediately following davening from a white High Holiday cloth)

Overall, I found the davening very inspiring and uplifting. I hope to go back again in the future.

הושענות - Part 2

In a previous post, we offered a basic background for הושענות. Here we will discuss what to do if, for whatever reason, one does not have their own ארבע מינים with which to encircle the בימה for הושענות.

1

ספרדים are נוהג to encircle the בימה for הושענות - even someone who doesn't have their own ארבע מינים [1]. 

The earliest discussion of this point is based on a תשובה of רשי [2] who initially posits that encircling the מזבח (on which our הושענות are based) is dependent on the presence of an ערבה, which is what the מזבח used to be encircled with. We, however, encircle the בימה with all 4 מינים, so evidently we do not consider our encircling to be a חובה (in the sense that we are doing עבודה as was done in the בית המקדש) but rather only a מנהג בעלמא. To that end, apparently we do not consider our encircling to be dependent on the presence of ארבע מינים (as they are not the causative factor for the encircling to begin with), in which case even one who does not have ארבע מינים should still encircle the בימה. Then, however, רשי retracts his position based on the counterargument of his brother (identified in the footnotes of the Elfenbein edition as ר שמעיה, his תלמיד) to the effect that once we are doing זכר למקדש - we should then do exactly what was done in the בית המקדש as closely as possible, in which case, since the encircling in the בית המקדש was dependent on the presence of an ערבה - so too our encircling is dependent on the presence of ארבע מינים.

2

ב"י adds [3] that this argument manifests itself on שבת, where we do not use ארבע מינים (out of concern that people might carry them to shul where there is no ערוב) and, as such, we therefore don't encircle the בימה on שבת at all, rather many communities say הושענות stationary, without encircling the בימה.

Based on the above, there are those who say that someone who does not have ארבע מינים does not encircle the בימה, and so are אשכנזים נוהג [4]. (The ספרדים, presumably, rely on רשי's original position, which, upon critical examination, was not entirely disproven.)

3

Now, on הושענא רבה - even someone who doesn't have ארבע מינים should still encircle the בימה with an ערבה (assuming they have one), only that it looks like יוהרא [5]. This is because the מצות היום of הושענא רבה is the ערבה, so one can, theoretically, encircle the בימה with it if not that it looks holier-than-thou [6]. על דרך האמת, however, there is absolutely no ענין to encircle the בימה with an ערבה (even on הושענא רבה) at all. Rather, after קדיש תתקבל one smacks the ערבה on the ground, ideally with the proper כוונות [7].

4

In practice, a sensitive גבאי will pick out someone who, for whatever reason, does not have their own ארבע מינים to hold the ספר תורה at the בימה while everyone else encircles him, so as not to embarrass someone who does not have their own ארבע מינים.

וכך ראוי ונכון לנהוג בכל מקום.

[1] שו"ע או"ח תרס:ב ע"פ ב"י שם

[2] סי' קכא

[3] שם

[4] רמא שם ע"פ פסק רשי שהובא בטור להלכה

[5] מ"א שם ס"ק ג

What specifically constitutes יוהרא is not specified, but seemingly one who encircles the בימה with only an ערבה looks like they are being מהדר to do more similar to what was done in the בית המקדש than the rest of the ציבור.

[6] בח שם

[7] באר היטב שם ס"ק ד, כה"ח שם ס"ק יג-יד

ובזה מבואר מה שאין אנו נוהגין כהמשך דברי הרמא שמקיפים עם הלולב והערבה ביחד, שהרי ע"פ קבלת האריזל - הנה אין לחברם יחד כלל וכדאי' בערוה"ש שם סעיף ד "כי אין ראוי לעורר את הגבורות ואת הדינים במקום כניסת החסדים" (ועיי' כה"ח שם ס"ק טו). וצע"ק על אותם הטוענים ש'כל ישראל יוצאים ביד רמא' (בלי שום יוצא מן הכלל) שהרי כמה מאותם שטוענים כך - הרי מעולם לא ינהגו כדברי הרמא כשדברי האריזל סותרים לדבריו. 

?או"ח תרד:ב - סליחות בערב יום כפור: קצרות או ארוכות

Unlike the rest of אלול and עשרת ימי תשובה, where we say many סליחות before עלות השחר - on ערב יו"כ, on the other hand, we don't say many סליחות (though there are places that are נוהג to be מרבה in סליחות, everything depending on the מנהג [1]).

The explanation for those who don't say many סליחות is that, since it is אסור to fast on ערב יו"כ - therefore it is like a יו"ט, which is why we also don't say תחנון [2].

Those who, on the other hand, do say many סליחות - assume that the festive aspect of ערב יו"כ only begins from עלות השחר, whereas סליחות are meant to be said at night [3].

[1] רמא או"ח תרד:ב

[2] לבוש שם סעיף א

[3] שו"ע הרב שם סעיף ד

והנה מנהג קהל עדת ישרון הוא להרבות בסליחות בערב יו"כ כמו ה'יש-מקומות' שהזכיר הרמא, אבל לפמ"ש נתקשיתי בהבנת מנהגם שהרי הם לא אומרים סליחות כלל בלילה (אפילו סליחות ראשונות) - וא"כ הרי אין להם שום טעם עוד להרבות בסליחות, וצ"ע

ואפשר שמעיקרא היו אומרים סליחות באשמורת הבוקר - וכפי המנהג שהביאו כל הפוסקים לומר סליחות באשמורת הבוקר דוקא - וא"כ הרי חל הטעם שעדיין אין דין יו"ט קודם עלות השחר - ושנשתנה המנהג לומר סליחות בבוקר אבל לא נשתנה המנהג להרבות בסליחות - אבל אין כל זה מסתבר, אלא דוחק ועדיין צ"ע

ועל אף שהובא טעם בשו"ע הרב להרבות בסליחות - אבל מ"מ הרי מנהג חבד הוא שלא לומר סליחות בערב יו"כ כלל, והדברים מפתיעים 

At what point to start saying סליחות

1

We are נוהג to get up באשמורת to say סליחות and תחנונים from ראש חודש אלול and on until יום כפור [1]. This is because these days are ימי רצון during which משה רבינו ascended הר סיני to receive the second לוחות [2]. So is the מנהג of the ספרדים. The מנהג of אשכנזים, however, is that where ראש השנה is on Thursday or שבת then we start saying סליחות on the Sunday immediately prior. (Some also fast and daven a תפלת תענית, including עננו and ויחל, etc.)  [3]. The חשבון of these 4 days before ראש השנה on which סליחות are said is to compensate for the 4 days between ראש השנה and יו"כ on which we eat סעודות מצוה such that we cannot fast as some used to [4]. Where ראש השנה falls on Monday or Tuesday, however, then we start on Sunday of the week before ראש השנה, rather than the Sunday of the week of ראש השנה [3]. The reason for this difference is because even though, strictly speaking, 4 days would be enough, nevertheless they instituted that סליחות should consistently begin on Sunday, so that no one should get confused what day סליחות start [5]. אשכנזים do, however, blow שופר every morning (and in some places every evening) from ראש חודש and on, which is a subject for its own article.

The reason for the specification of אשמורת is because הקב"ה floats, as it were, in 18,000 metaphysical worlds, and at the end of the night (which is, evidently, what אשמורת refers to) - He floats, as it were, in this world, such that the end of the night - i.e. before dawn - is an עת רצון [6]. The source of this concept (as pointed out by ביהגר"א [7]) is איכה ב:יט where the idea is expressed that ראש אשמרות (lit. the head of watches) is an appropriate point at which to pour one's heart out to Hashem.

2

There are those who are נוהג that whoever leads סליחות also leads the davening throughout the rest of the day [8].

3

On a practical level, ערוה"ש [9] offers an advisory that those who are not fasting should replace words referencing fasting in a given סליחה with words referencing תפלה. Additionally, there are words in סליחות referencing night or אשמורת הבוקר as the time where the particular סליחה is being said. One who says סליחות in the morning (i.e. before שחרית) should skip those words so as not to be saying falsehood.

Postscript:

There are various other technical דינים relating to who should lead סליחות, in what specific order they need to be said with what liturgical framework (such as אשרי, קדיש and the like), what do if one is wants to say סליחות individually, etc. These are purely halachic (rather than מנהג) in nature and, as such, are far beyond the scope of this article.

[1] שו"ע או"ח תקפא:א

The טז (ס"ק ב) points out that on ר"ח itself, however, we do not say סליחות and תחנונים.

[2] ביהגר"א אות א שם ע"פ פרקי דרבי אליעזר פרק מו

[3] טור שם

[4] פרישה שם ס"ק ו

[5] שם ס"ק ז

[6] מ"א שם ס"ק א

A vague reference to this point is made in :עבודה זרה ג.

[7] שם אות ב ובפסוק "קומי רוני בלילה לראש אשמרות שפכי כמים לבך נכח פני ה" ופי' הריד שהוא לשון תפלה, כמו אל הרנה ואל התפלה

[8] רמא שם

[9] שם סעיף ד

Where to Make על נטילת ידים

There are those who are נוהג to wait until they get to shul before making a ברכה on washing their hands in the morning. When they get to shul, they then arrange the ברכה together with the rest of the morning ברכות [1], which are said in shul to be מוציא those who don't know how to make their own [2] ברכות (and even where there are no such people, nonetheless, there is no exception made [3]). [4]

The reason for this is because we don't make the other ברכות juxtaposed to washing our hands rather we leave them for where we get to shul, therefore the ברכה on washing hands also gets pushed off with them. ספרדים, on the other hand, hold that washing hands is no different than any other מצוה whose ברכה has to precede the מצוה, only that here one cannot make the ברכה before washing their hands because there is still רוח רעה on one's hands, to which end one should make the ברכה at the earliest opportunity, namely immediately following washing one's hands. The רמא himself (uncharacteristically) conducted himself like the ספרדים [5].

לבוש is singular among the אחרונים [6] to the effect that once עובר לעשייתן is not possible due to one's hands being unclean, there is therefore no preference at all to say the ברכה as soon as possible, but rather once it is pushed off it is then pushed off completely.

[1] שו"ע או"ח ו:ב. Additionally, there are those who wish to answer אמן to each other's ברכות, to which end they purposely say the ברכה later than they would have otherwise, in order to facilitate the saying of אמן to each other's ברכות. See שו"ת הרמע מפאנו סימן קט.

[2] ביהגר"א שם אות יב

[3] פרישה שם ס"ק ג

[4] According the בח (שם) this would only be allowed if one goes to shul right away, whereas if one engages in other tasks prior to going to shul then one must make the ברכה at home.

The בח seems to assume that if one goes straight to shul then that is already some form of עובר לעשייתן, whereas engaging in other tasks prior to that would be considered a הפסק גמור. This point, however, is not entirely clear from the בח itself but rather constitutes my own attempt to fill in the blank.

[5] טז שם ס"ק ד

[6] או"ח שם סעיף ב

אמירת קרבנות בכל יום - או"ח א:ט

There are those who are נוהג to say פרשת הכיור which was the first עבודה done in the בית המקדש on a daily basis, followed by the פרשה of תרומת הדשן, and then פרשת התמיד, followed by the פרשה of the מזבח הקטורת and the פרשה of the ingredients of the קטורת and how it is made, because after the קרבן תמיד is brought - the קטורת is brought. They then say the פרשה of ברכת כהנים, because at that point the כהנים would bless the nation [1]. This is the order of the עבודה as it was done in the בית המקדש, which our תפלה is supposed to take the place of.

Those who say קרבנות before מנחה, however, say פרשת התמיד before קטורת because that was the order of the עבודה of the afternoon קרבן תמיד [2].

[1] שו"ע או"ח א:ט וב"י על הטור שם

[2] מ"א שם ס"ק יב

Memorial Prayers 2 - השכבות (cont'd)

Following קריאת התורה on שבת morning (in some congregations on weekday mornings as well) we recall the souls of the departed. This is based on דברים כא:ט as darshened by ספרי there, as follows: כפר לעמך refers to the living; אשר פדית refers to the departed, meaning that the dead need כפרה. To this end, one whose relative’s yahrzeit or the like was the past week makes a memorial prayer and pledges צדקה in order to atone for the sins of the departed.

We do so specifically on שבת because at that point the shuls are full and those who are attending can take to heart that one day they will also need their sins atoned for, to which end they should be involved in תשובה ומעשים טובים while they still have the opportunity to do so.

Similar to אבהרחמים, which is a communal memorial prayer on behalf of martyrs collectively, individual memorial prayers (referred to in ספרדי tradition as השכבות, while having no formal title in the אשכנזי one) are subject to rules as to where they are said or not. While each congregation is entitled to establish its own custom in this regard, nevertheless we present here some broad guidelines as put forth by the פוסקים.

1) השכבות are not said:

a.      On שבת מברכים (even during ספירה, during which we would say אב הרחמים) including שבת מברכים חודש אב and שבת ר"ח אב

                                                              i.      Except for someone who was buried that week (according to some opinions)

b.      שבת ר"ח אייר

c.      All of חודש ניסן (even what of it that overlaps with ספירה, where we would say אב הרחמים)

2)השכבות are said on any other occasion at which there is קריאת התורה (I have seen those who are מקפיד   not to say השכבות on ר"ח, though this is by no means universal).

References: רמא או"ח רפד:ז, מ"א שם ס"ק ז-ח, מ"ב שם ס"ק יז-יח