תענית בערב ראש השנה ובימים אחרים בתקופת הימים הנוראים

1

On the first day of סליחות, many people are נוהג to fast [1]. In the opinion of the [2] חידא it is better to do תשובה and מעשים טובים and not to מחמיר on the ציבור.

2

We are נוהג to fast on ערב ראש השנה [3], even children [4]. The reason for this fast is that ערב ראש השנה is a יום רצון [5].

3

מדקדקים are נוהג to fast all ten days of עשרת ימי תשובה[6], which is correct [7].

4

All the above fasts need not be completed [8], even the fast of ערב ראש השנה, because we need to be מוסיף מחול על הקודש [9]. Meaning, since ראש השנה is a יו"ט, therefore it is appropriate to ‘add’ to the יו"ט by not fasting the entire day [10].

We do not read ויחל (the standard קריאה for a תענית) on them – even on [11] ערב ראש השנה (on which it is standard that everyone fasts).

An individual who is fasting the entire day says עננו by מנחה, but the שליח ציבור does not say עננו regardless [12].

5

If there is a ברית מילה on ערב ראש השנה – then everyone can eat [13] the entire day, even if the  בריתis in a different shul [14] in the same קהילה. Before the ברית, however, only the בעל ברית )i.e. מוהל, סנדק, or אבי הבן) can eat [15]. [The בעל ברית also should not say {mournful, supplicatory, or penitential} תחינות or פיוטים with the ציבור [16] {as doing so would not be appropriate for the festive mood he is supposed to be feeling}.]

Additionally, if one does not feel well – then one is completely פטור from fasting [17].

6

One whose body is not strong enough to endure all the above fasts (with the exception of ערב ראש השנה which is significantly more important than the others) should not still push themselves to fast anyway, because then they may end up losing more than they gain by putting themselves at risk for not being able to fast on יום כפור. For the purpose of these fasts, after all, is for תשובה, in which case אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוון את לבו לשמים [18].

7

Many people are נוהג to eat on ערב ראש השנה before עלות השחר {not merely as a practicality but rather} because of חוקות הגוים as, apparently, the גוים used to fast before their holidays [19]. To that end, we specifically eat instead באשמורת before the day brightens so that the fast of ערב ראש השנה should not be considered a תענית גמור [20].

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[1] מ"א או"ח תקפא ס"ק ח

This is only true for בני אשכנז who begin סליחות approximately 4 days before ראש השנה. בני ספרד, however, who say סליחות the entire חודש אלול do not have a מנהג to fast on the first day of סליחות. (כף החיים שם אות נה)

[2] ברכי יוסף שם אות ח

This may be especially true for someone whose learning will be disrupted by fasting (אור לציון חלק ד פרק ב סעיף א). Otherwise, however, אור לציון there says one should indeed fast the entire day.

[3] מחבר שם סעיף ב

[4]  מ"א שם ס"ק ט ובמ"ב (שם ס"ק טז) מובן כוונת המ"א דתינוקות היינו נערים ונערות בני ובנות מצווה, וצ"ב מדוע פירש כך את דברי המ"א שלא כפשוטן

[5] שם. והקשר בין תענית ליום רצון – דה"א דיש ענין להתענות ביום דין דווקא ולא ביום רצון – לא נתפרש וצ"ב

[6] Meaning, all the days between ראש השנה and יום כפור, although צום גדליה and יום כפור are already fasts anyway, and ראש השנה is a יו"ט so one is not even actually allowed to fast. Additionally, there is always a שבת between ראש השנה and יו"כ, during which one would not be allowed to fast as well. According to the ערוה"ש (שם סעיף ט), there are יחידים who compensate for those 4 days (including ערב יום כפור on which there is a מצווה to eat) by fasting during the (minimally) 4 days of סליחות before ראש השנה.

[7] רמא שם

[8] שם, ובמקור חיים איתא שהמהרל מפראג התענה והשלים כיון שתענית זה הוזכר – כלומר שיש לו סמך – במדרש כדאיתא בטור

[9] מ"א שם ס"ק י

[10] One could easily ask from תענית אסתר, which is supposed to be the day before פורים, and yet there is no דין of מוסיף מחול על הקודש such that the fast would therefore end earlier. However, 2 differences come to mind: 1) פורים, having no איסור מלאכה per se, does not have קדושת יו"ט and, as such, there is therefore no longer any place for הוספה מחול על הקודש; 2) תענית אסתר is a דין, whereas fasting on ערב ראש השנה is a מנהג. Therefore, even if we were to argue logically that it would be appropriate to be מוסיף מחול על הקודש by not fasting the entirety of תענית אסתר (where it indeed occurs the day before פורים), still, חזל were not קובע any such loophole, to which end we have no right to do so ourselves.

[11] שם ע"פ מימרא דרב חסדא (תענית יב.) "כל תענית שלא שקעה עליו חמה – לאו שמיה תענית"

[12] מ"ב שם ס"ק טו וכך לגבי שאר הימים שמתענים בהם יחידים

[13] רמא שם ומ"א שם ס"ק יא

[14] מקור חיים שם

[15] מ"א שם

[16] אשל אברהם שם

[17] ערוה"ש שם סעיף יא ושאר פוסקים

[18] ולח מטה אפרים שם סעיף לו

[19] רמא שם

ובערוה"ש (שם סעיף יא) איתא שאין זה מנהג נכון דאין לאכול קודם עלות השחר, וכוונתו צ"ב

[20] לבוש שם

צבע חוטי הציצית

There are those who say that one must make the ציצית [strings] from the same color as the טלית because it is a הידור מצוה where the בגד and the strings are the same color, and so are the מדקדקים נוהג [1]. This is based on the רמבם who writes [2]:

טלית שהיא כולה אדומה או ירוקה או משאר צבעונים - עושה חוטי לבן שלה כעין צבעה, אם ירוקה ירוקין, ואם אדומה אדומין.

A טלית that is entirely red or green or other colors - we make its white strings similar to its own color: if green - green; and if red - red.

The רמבם, in turn, is based on a ברייתא [3] which teaches that a טלית colored entirely תכלת [which is blue] can hold strings of any color (besides for indigo [which is blue]). This is because if a טלית is made of תכלת and its strings are blue - then someone may think that all the strings are blue from תכלת (which is derived from a sea creature and would be כשר) rather than blue from indigo (which is derived from a plant and would be פסול). The ברייתא is teaching us that ציצית strings do not have to be white per se, but rather a different color than תכלת.

The רמבם there continues:

היתה כולה תכלת - עושה לבן שלה משאר צבעונים חוץ מן השחור מפני שהוא נראה כתכלת וכורך חוט אחד של תכלת על הכל כדרך שעושה בשאר ציציות שאינן צבועין.

If a טלית was colored entirely blue - then one makes its strings (which would otherwise be white) from all other colors besides for black [4] which is similar to תכלת; one then wraps one string of תכלת around the other strings the way one does for other ציציות that are not colored.

There are those who disagree on this point, however, saying that even for a טלית made entirely of blue fabric one can nonetheless wear blue strings. To that end, all of כלל ישראל is נוהג to wear a white טלית with white strings, thereby avoiding any מחלוקת הפוסקים [5]. An additional reason to wear a white טלית is because Hashem's clothing, as it were, is described by דניאל [6] as being white like snow.

אשכנזים, specifically, who were not always מקפיד to wear a white טלית were still נוהג to make the ציצית strings white regardless of the color, because אשכנזים are only מקפיד that the material should be the same but not the color [7]. One should not change this מנהג [8]. Even, however, someone whose טלית גדול is of whatever color (not specifically white) - nevertheless, a מדקדק should make sure that at least his טלית קטן should be white, so as to satisfy all opinions where he makes the strings white [9].

[1] לבוש שם סעיף ה ,טז שם ס"ק ז ,מחבר או"ח ט:ה

[2] ציצית ב:ח

[3] מנחות מא:

[4] The רמבם here is לשיטתו in that the רמבם (ציצית ב:ב) relates that the blood of a חלזון [the sea creature from which תכלת is derived] has blood that is black like ink. It is unclear where the רמבם obtained this information. [Some say the רמבם found a חלזון from which he made תכלת, and that this חלזון's blood was black. However, in the opinion of this writer, this is not מוכרח from the context in which the רמבם lists the criteria for determining what a חלזון is.] The classic נושאי כלים are silent on this point. To that end, I turned to ר חיים Kanievsky's קרית מלך, which offers sources for the רמבם in all the places where the classic נושאי כלים did not do so themselves for whatever reason.

Here, ר חיים references פתיל תכלת which brings 'somewhat of a ראיה' from the ירושלמי (נדה ב:ז) where sea creatures are described as having blood which is black like ink; and where the ברייתא (מנחות מד.) described a חלזון - it does so by saying 'ברייתו דומה לדג' [the structure of its body is like that of a fish]. The רמבם, according to ר חיים's interpretation, seems to be applying the principle of a חלזון's body structure being like that of a fish to the blood of the חלזון as well.

[5] בח או"ח שם בשם הרי, וכתב הראבד על הרמבם שם שקושיתו אינה קשא עיי"ש.

[6] ז:ט

[7] ע"פ תשובת הרשבא ג:רפ לבוש או"ח שם; תרומת הדשן סימן מו

[8] רמא או"ח שם

[9] טז שם ס"ק ח

אכילת מאכלים חלביים בשבועות

1

We are נוהג in every place to eat dairy on the first day of [1] שבועות. 

There are many reasons for this מנהג of eating dairy on שבועות [2]. In this article, we will attempt to deal with each one individually and their ramifications.

The רמא [1] suggested a reason to the effect that the dairy and meat that we eat in the same סעודה on שבועות is like the two cooked foods that we use on ליל פסח, one in memory of the קרבן פסח and another in memory of the קרבן חגיגה. Similarly, we eat dairy followed by meat in the same סעודה; as such, we need to use two separate חלות for each קרבן on the table which is in place of the מזבח. By doing so, we thereby remember the שתי הלחם that was brought on יום הביכורים. (In other words, just like on פסח we memorialize the קרבנות that were brought on פסח – so too on שבועות we memorialize the קרבנות that were brought on שבועות [3].)

According to the above reasons, one should specifically eat dairy followed by meat in one סעודת יו"ט.

2

The כל בו [4] relates that there is a מנהג to eat honey and dairy on שבועות on account of the תורה having been likened to the same in the פסוק which says דבש וחלב תחת לשונך [5].

According to this מנהג, there is no specific requirement to eat dairy in the context of סעודת יו"ט per se; rather, in general at some point on שבועות a person should eat dairy.

3

The חפץ חיים [6] heard further from a certain גדול who said a correct reason for this מנהג:

Where בני ישראל received the תורה at הר סיני following which they went home – they then discovered nothing to eat right away, because, after all, kosher meat requires much preparation (to shecht with a checked knife as Hashem commanded, to be מנקר the strands of חלב and blood and to rinse and salt and then finally cook the meat in new כלים since whatever כלים they had used in the last 24 hours then became אסור to them). To that end, for the moment, they chose to instead eat dairy; and we make a remembrance of this fact.

According to the above calculation, one should eat dairy corresponding to the time that would have immediately followed קבלת התורה. Perhaps one could argue that this means whatever one eats immediately following their all-night learning (which I hope to write about at a future opportunity) should be dairy. On the other hand, this חשבון does not account for the amount of time that קבלת התורה itself took up, which is not specifically specified anywhere (to my knowledge). In large part one can only speculate how long the עשרת הדברות and their accompanying events took and schedule their dairy for then. (As an aside, this reason for eating dairy on שבועות does not specify one way or the other whether said dairy should be eaten in the context of סעודת יו"ט or not. The point here is the timing more than the context.)

Additionally, שנות חיים [7] points out that according to this reason there is no specific הכרח to eat dairy and then meat in the same סעודה; in fact, perhaps אדרבה one should eat a completely dairy meal, as following מתן תורה this is exactly what בני ישראל did, considering the aforementioned factors.

[1] רמא או"ח תצה:ד

ועיין באגרות משה (או"ח חלק א סימן קס) שהעדיף שלא לקיים את מנהג זה אליבא דרמא שהרי יש מקום להחמיר דוקא לברך ברכת המזון בין חלב לבשר

כל בו (which we will cite shortly) brings another מנהג to remember שתי הלחם, namely that of baking long four-headed bread. The connection between one and the other is not clear to this author.

[2] באר היטב שם ס"ק ח

[3] כף החיים שם אות סג

[4] סימן נב

[5] שיר השירים ד:יא

In this פסוק the lover (Hashem) compliments his beloved (כלל ישראל) that honey and milk (תורה and מצוות) are under her tongue. (In other words, that כלל ישראל is constantly busy with מעשים טובים as an expression of love for הקב"ה.) – ע"פ נחל אשכול שם

[6] מ"ב שם ס"ק יב

 שבועות סימן כד הע' ט[7]