Rav
Sternbuch shlita was not able to review this week's
sheet.
We have
dealt with many of the Halochos of Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed
and have now decided to revert back to Hilchos Shabbos.
We intend be"H to discuss some of the halachic concepts
regarding Meleches Machsheves , such as p'sik
reisha, davar she'eni miskavein but will start
with the mitzvah of zachor es yom hashabbos lekadsho.
Please explain the mitzvah of
zachor es yom hashabbos lekadsho.
The
Rambam writes (Shabbos 29:1) that the Torah
commanded us to verbally sanctify (lekadesh) the
Shabbos - meaning that one should praise and sanctify the
Shabbos – æëøäå æëéøú ùáç
å÷éãåù.
The
Rambam uses the word shevach but several versions
read æëøäå æëéøú ùáú å÷éãåù,
which probably means that one must verbally pronounce the
words Shabbos and kiddush.
When is one supposed to pronounce
these words?
The
Rambam writes that one is to proclaim the sanctity of
Shabbos at its onset and havdalah when Shabbos goes
out. Chazal instituted these holy words as part of
the Shabbos prayers, where the central b’rocho of
Sh’moneh Esrei on Friday night concludes with the words
áøåê àúä ä’ î÷ãù äùáú,
Hashem sanctifies the Shabbos. These very words are
proclaimed once again during kiddush, over a full cup
of wine.
Is one supposed to have in mind
something specific when saying these words?
Optimally
one should have intention when pronouncing these words that
one is fulfilling a positive mitzvah – a mitzvas aseh.
There is a
major machlokes as to whether
îöååú öøéëåú ëååðä (must
one be aware that one is performing a mitzvah for it to
count as a mitzvah or whether the actual performance of the
mitzvah is sufficient without the specific intention to
fulfill the mitzvah). According to the opinion that one must
have intention to fulfill the mitzvah, it would seem that
when one pronounces the words î÷ãù
äùáú, one must intend to fulfill the mitzvah.
Why do you say “it would seem”, is
it not simply so?
One could
say that when praying the Shabbos prayers one intends on
fulfilling everything Chazal wanted us to do and they
knew that we are required to fulfill the mitzvah of
zachor and instituted it into the tefilla,
thereby relieving us of the need to have specific intent to
fulfill this mitzvah.
L’chatchila though, one should have intention when
reciting the words î÷ãù äùáú
to fulfill this holy mitzvah of zachor.
Why do we repeat these words during
kiddush?
The
gemora in Pesochim is cited by the Rambam
(Shabbos 29:6) saying that even though one recited
kiddush in davening it must be recited again over a cup
of wine.
Wine is
used many times in conjunction with simchas such as
kiddush, havdalah, at a wedding, b’ris
milah and a pidyon haben (redeeming the first
born).
The idea is
to exalt the b’rocho by saying it over a cup of wine,
due to the importance and significance of wine. The
poskim discuss the issue of drinking the wine after the
b’rocho and several hold that drinking is of
secondary importance, being that the main point is the
recital over the wine.
Are women obligated with the mitzvah
of zachor?
Yes, women
are obligated as much as men. Even though women are not
obligated to fulfill mitzvos that are z’man g’rama,
i.e. mitzvos dependent on time such as lulav, which
occurs only on Sukkos; eating in a sukkah, for the same
reason; hearing the shofar on Rosh Hashana, because it only
falls on Rosh Hashana and many others, nevertheless, women
are obligated to recite kiddush and fulfill the
mitzvah of zachor.
Why the discrepancy between Shabbos
and other mitzvos?
The reason
is because zachor is linked to shamor es yom
hashabbos written in Parshas VoEschanan - shamor
means to abstain from violating any of the melachos
of Shabbos, which women must adhere to as it is not a
positive commandment that they are exempt from (when time
related) rather it is a negative mitzvah. Since women are
obligated to fulfill the mitzvah of shamor, so too
they must adhere to the mitzvah of zachor.
This
includes other mitzvos d’rabanan that are Shabbos
related, such as lechem mishneh (two loaves of challa
at each meal), Shabbos meals and lighting Shabbos candles.
Where in the torah is it written
which melachos are prohibited?
The Torah
does not specifically mention particular melachos,
save for hav’arah – burning fire, rather they are
learned from the Mishkan. Chazal tell us that
39 melachos were used in the construction of the
Mishkan
and the words melacha and melachos are written
39 times, indicating that there are 39 prohibited
melachos.
But surely there more than 39
prohibited activities on Shabbos?
Indeed
there are. There are 39 Avos melachos, which are
activities used in the actual construction of the Mishkan,
such as sewing, trapping, skinning etc. There are many
tolados, which are offspring of the avos.
Tolados
were not used to construct the Mishkan
but are similar in concept. For example:- planting seeds is
an av melacha but watering them is a toladah
of planting. The toladah here differs in action from
the av, because the av deals with the seeds
whereas the toladah deals with water, but it shares
similar characteristics in that both activities cause the
seeds to grow.
A
toladah can also be the same action but having a
different purpose to the Av. For example:- grinding
wheat is an av but grinding metal is a toladah
- the difference being that the wheat is eaten and the metal
dust is not.
