The minhogim of Motzaei Shabbos
[א] (Halacha 964)
The Orchos Chaim1 and the Kol Bo2 wrote: 'And the women had the minhag to draw water on Motzaei Shabbos immediately upon hearing "Borchu," for we find in the Aggadah3 that the well of Miriam is in the Sea of Tiberias, and every Motzaei Shabbos it circulates among all the springs and all the wells, and anyone who is ill and chances upon its water and drinks it, even if his entire body is stricken with boils, is immediately healed. And there was an incident with a certain man who was stricken with boils, and his wife went on Motzaei Shabbos to draw water and was delayed longer than necessary, and the well of Miriam chanced upon her, and she filled her jug with that water. When she came to her husband, he became angry at her, and out of his great anger her jug fell from her shoulder and the jug broke, and some drops of the water fell on his flesh, and in every place where the water splashed the boils were healed. Concerning this the Sages said4: a hot-tempered man gains nothing but his hot temper5, and therefore they had the minhag to draw water every Motzaei Shabbos. Thus I found it.'
And the Rema wrote6: 'And some say to draw water every Motzaei Shabbos, because the well of Miriam circulates among all the wells every Motzaei Shabbos, and whoever encounters it and drinks from it will be healed of all his ailments, but I have not seen this minhag.'
And the Levush wrote7: 'And from here some women had the minhag to draw water from the well or from the spring every Motzaei Shabbos, perhaps the well of Miriam will chance upon them.'
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe8: 'Some have the minhag to draw water every Motzaei Shabbos from the wells or from the springs, because the Sages said that the well of Miriam, which is in the Sea of Tiberias, circulates every Motzaei Shabbos among all the wells and the springs, and anyone who encounters it and drinks from its waters is immediately healed of all his ailments; therefore they have the minhag to draw water every Motzaei Shabbos, for perhaps they will chance upon some of the well of Miriam.'
The Rebbe, at the farbrengen of Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh Chukas-Balak, the festival of redemption, the 12th of Tammuz 57399, discussed this minhag at length, and said [the content of his words]:
a) The well of Miriam has a special connection to Motzaei Shabbos, as the Midrash brought in the Kol Bo and in the Beis Yosef states, and the Rema brings this in the Hilchos Shabbos at their end. That there is a minhag to draw water on Motzaei Shabbos from wells and springs, and to do this as early as possible, immediately after the recitation of "Borchu," since the well of Miriam, every Motzaei Shabbos, circulates among all the wells and the springs, and perhaps the woman who goes to draw water will encounter this well, and especially since she hastens to do this immediately after "Borchu," at the first possible moment, and it is possible that she will draw water from the well of Miriam, which may have circulated to that very well and spring from which she drew the water.
b) It is well known and famous that the Rema, in general, was particular about, and preserved, and cautioned regarding, minhogim. [This is the overall main distinction between the glosses of the Rema and the Shulchan Aruch of the Beis Yosef, that the Beis Yosef, for the most part, wrote only laws and not minhogim, and in the vast majority of cases, where there is a minhag the Rema brings it.] And with respect to this minhag, the Rema wrote that "some say" that one should draw from wells and springs, and brought the reason and noted that the source is the Kol Bo, and after this he adds "but I have not seen this minhag," which is "a matter and its refutation alongside it," and seemingly a thing and its opposite, that on the one hand he brings the minhag, and on the other hand he says "I have not seen," meaning that they should not conduct themselves this way! [And the fact that the Beis Yosef in his work brings the minhag from the Kol Bo and does not add "but I have not seen them conduct themselves this way" is not a proof that he does not hold this way even though he does not bring it in his Shulchan Aruch, because, as stated above, in the Shulchan Aruch he brings laws, not minhogim.]
Seemingly the reason the Rema wrote "I have not seen this minhag," simply, is so that the women should not run about in the city of Krakow of the Rema immediately after "Borchu" to draw water from springs and wells; and if so, it requires study and clarification as to why in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, who saw the aforementioned words of the Rema, despite this he brings the language of the Rema in his Shulchan Aruch, in that same siman, 299 at its end, and does not add "but I have not seen this minhag"! And seemingly it emerges that according to the Alter Rebbe the omission of the words of the Rema teaches, seemingly, that this minhag has a place even today, and therefore he writes it without reservation in his Shulchan Aruch!
c) However, I have not seen this minhag practiced, not by my mistress of the house [=the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka], nor by my mother-in-law [=the Rebbetzin Nechama Dina], nor by the mother-in-law of the mother-in-law [=the Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah], but nevertheless the Alter Rebbe brought it in the Shulchan Aruch, and the Shulchan Aruch is printed for the masses — something "equal for every soul," unless it is written otherwise in the Siddur, and he explicitly does not add "I have not seen this minhag"!
d) The conclusion regarding practice, that each one should understand as he wishes, but the main thing is that there should be the result, that comes from the well of Miriam, in physicality as the Kol Bo brings, that this brings healing10, and all the more so how it acts in spirituality, and it is understood that in spirituality the minhag certainly exists11, and "I have not seen this minhag" can be said only with respect to the physicality of the matters, to the physicality of the minhag. And when one studies the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, and studies this paragraph, it acts as a continuous effect upon every Motzaei Shabbos, when one draws from wells and springs and encounters the matter that is found there in the well of Miriam, and this acts on that Motzaei Shabbos and afterward continues throughout the entire week, that it should be a healthy week in physicality, a healthy week in spirituality, and in physicality and spirituality together, health also in the study of Torah and the fulfillment of the mitzvos in general and in particular with respect to all the matters connected with the 12th and 13th of Tammuz, and out of joy and gladness of heart!
> If so, we have seen that there exists a special minhag among the Jewish people to draw water immediately at the departure of Shabbos in order to merit to draw from the waters of the well of Miriam, which brings healing in physicality and in spirituality, [though in the home of the Rebbe they did not have the minhag to draw in practice].
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Notes:
1 ח"א הל' הבדלה אות לב ↩
2 סי' מא ↩
3 ויק"ר כב, ד. וראה ג"כ שו"ת מהר"ם מרוטנבורג (דפוס ברלין) סי' רלד ↩
4 קדושין מא, א ↩
5 ראה כף החיים (פלאג'י) סי' לא אות נג ↩
6 שו"ע או"ח סי' רצט ס"י בהג"ה ↩
7 או"ח שם ס"י ↩
8 שו"ע שם ס"כ ↩
9 שיחו"ק מהדו"ח חנ"ג ע' 351 ↩
10 הרבי הוסיף שזה גם מבאר מדוע הגמרא במסכת שבת כותבת סימנים היכן אפשר לראות את בארה של מרים - בשעה שיעלה 'להר הכרמל', ואז רואה את 'ימה של טבריה', ואז יראה 'כמין כברה בים', וזהו בארה של מרים! אמנם לפי הנ"ל מובן שזה נוגע לסיפור הנ"ל שמובא מהכל בו, גם ר' חיים ויטאל סיפר שהוא שט עם האריז"ל ב'ימה של טבריה', והאריז"ל שאב מים כאשר הם הגיעו למקום קבוע, וציווה עליו לשתות, ואמר אתה שותה מבארה של מרים] ↩
11 ראה הלכה מספר 957 ↩
[2] (Halacha 976)
Question: When is the time for changing from Shabbos clothes to weekday clothes by our Rebbeim the Nesi'im¹?
Answer: We will preface that we have not found explicitly by all of our Rebbeim the Nesi'im how they conducted themselves, but apparently they had the minhag to change the Shabbos clothes for weekday clothes at the beginning of Motzaei Shabbos, and they did not remain with them throughout the entire duration of Motzaei Shabbos; however, the Rebbe Rayatz, by the directive of his father the Rebbe Rashab, changed the practice and had the minhag to leave the Shabbos clothes on throughout the entire Motzaei Shabbos.
Below we will see the practices related to changing the clothes, although it is not explicit by all of them exactly when was the time of changing:
The Alter Rebbe
In Shmuos VeSippurim1 it is told that once they saw the Alter Rebbe on Motzaei Shabbos lying on the floor and saying in a niggun: "פָּשַׁטְתִּי אֶת כֻּתָּנְתִּי אֵיכָכָה אֶלְבָּשֶׁנָּה" ("I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on") - I have taken off the weekday clothes and put on Shabbos clothes, how can I take them off.'
The Rebbe Maharash
The Rebbe Rayatz, on the night of the 20th of Kislev 56942, described the practice by the Rebbe the Maharash: 'By the grandfather there were certain niggunim that he would sing to himself during tefillah .. and likewise at the time he would put on Shabbos clothes, or on Motzaei Shabbos at the time he would take off the Shabbos clothes.'
And in the sicha of the night of Shevii shel Pesach 57043: 'My holy grandfather, the holy Rav Moharash, had special niggunim for every matter — when he would change the weekday clothes for Shabbos clothes, or the Shabbos clothes for the weekday clothes, for every matter he had a special niggun, and the niggun was of two movements. When he would enter on Erev Shabbos Kodesh to watch how the Rebbetzin made the bracha on the Shabbos candles, this too was with a special niggun.'
The Rebbe Rashab
In continuation of the aforementioned practice of the Rebbe the Maharash, the Rebbe Rayatz said4: 'So too my father, when he would take off the silk hat [the silk cap] and put on the round one [the round cap], I saw that he would sing some melody. And at the time he took off the Shabbos clothes, he too had melodies that he would sing then.'
And on another occasion5: 'So too my holy father would conduct himself, when he would take off, before Shabbos or before Yom Tov, his silk hat and put on the round hat, this too was with a niggun.'
And with respect to the time of changing, it is brought in Otzar Minhagei Chabad6: 'The chassid Reb Refael HaKohen related: Every Motzaei Shabbos the Rebbe Moharashab would hasten to change his garments to weekday clothes [and from Reb Chaim Yaakov Landa, of blessed memory, I heard that not only this, but that the Moharashab did not want the Shabbos Kodesh clothes to be on him during the week], and thus he would go out to Selichos in a weekday hat.'
The Rebbe Rayatz
The Rebbe Rayatz too, in his youth, had the minhag like his father to change immediately, and as is told in Likutei Sippurim Perlov7: 'Once the 19th of Kislev fell on a Sunday .. his holy father, of blessed memory, was not in Lubavitch, and they gathered in the room where they were waiting to enter for yechidus. He too entered and said: It was my intention not to take off the silk clothes of Shabbos Kodesh, but after the bracha of Havdalah I did not… He did not finish the word, and it was evident that he wanted to say "I could not," and he also made some movement with this, and as they say, "es geit zich nit" [=it does not go].'
However, afterward his father the Rebbe Rashab told him that he should not change, as is brought in Kitzur Hilchos Shabbos (Ohalei Shem)8: 'And to note from the well-known incident of the Rebbe Moharayatz, may his memory be a blessing, that once he wanted to change from Shabbos clothes to weekday on Motzaei Shabbos, and his father the Rebbe Moharashab prevented this from him, and said to him: You are after all a descendant of the lineage of Chernobyl9, and in Chernobyl they did not change the Shabbos clothes on Motzaei Shabbos (from Reb Yehuda Leib, may he live, Groner, who heard from Reb Shmuel, of blessed memory, HaLevi Levitin).'
The Rebbe
The practice of the Rebbe was like the Rebbe Rayatz, to remain with Shabbos clothes on Motzaei Shabbos10, and thus he entered Selichos on Motzaei Shabbos11. And so too he entered the recitation of Kinnos on the night of Tisha B'Av when it was on Motzaei Shabbos12.
Once the Rebbe said to someone who entered on Motzaei Yom Tov or Shabbos with weekday clothes, that the Rebbe Rayatz had the minhag to wear Shabbos clothes on Motzaei Shabbos13.
> If so, we have seen by the Rebbe Rashab that he was particular to change the Shabbos clothes immediately at the departure of Shabbos, however the practice of the Rebbe Rayatz, and the Rebbe, was to remain with Shabbos clothes throughout the entire Motzaei Shabbos.
Notes:
1 בהבא לקמן ראה חקרי מנהגים ח"ב ע' רמז ואילך ↩
2 ח"א ע' 37 ↩
3 לקו"ד ח"א קג, א (במהדורת לה"ק ע' 135) ↩
4 סה"ש התש"ד ע' 95 (במהדורת לה"ק ע' פח) וראה ג"כ סה"ש תרצ"ז ע' 242 ↩
5 סה"ש תרצ"ז שם ↩
6 סה"ש התש"ד שם ↩
7 אלול תשרי ע' כב ↩
8 מדור אדמו"ר הריי"צ אות יד (מהדורת תשס"ב ע' שסז). וראה גם ס' ליקוטי סיפורי התוועדויות (הרמ"ז גרינגלאס) ע' 332 סל"ב ↩
9 מילואים (ב) לסי' רסב ע' נז הערה 3* ↩
10 ראה אג"ק אדמו"ר הריי"צ ח"ב ע' כה - כו ↩
11 קיצור מילואים שם ↩
12 אוצר מנהגי חב"ד שם ↩
13 ראה מעשה מלך ע' 236 ↩
14 הליכות ומנהגי שב"ק ע' קפג ↩
From the 'Shoneh Halacha' project — a daily halacha with reasons and sources
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[1] (halacha 971)
Additional minhogim for Motzaei Shabbos
Answer: The Agudah1 wrote: 'May my portion be among those who bring in the Shabbos in Teveria and among those who escort the Shabbos out in Tzippori' — explained that Teveria lies low and they accept the Shabbos early and add from the weekday onto the holy [day]; and some explain that in Teveria they honor the Shabbos with clothing at its entrance, and in Tzippori they honor it at its departure. Therefore one should wear Shabbos garments at the entrance of the day until Motzaei Shabbos'2.
And in this vein it is written in the sefer Mahar"z Bing"a (by a student of the Mahari"l)3 on the words of Maseches Soferim4 'One does not bless the moon except on Motzaei Shabbos when one is perfumed and his garments are pleasing': 'From here it is implied that one should not change to wear weekday garments until one leaves the beis haknesses on Motzaei Shabbos'.
However, in the Sefer HaMinhagim of R' A. of Tirna5 it is brought from a manuscript: 'From here the Avi HaEzri ruled that one should not remove Shabbos garments on Motzaei Shabbos, I copied [this] from the tefillah of R' Gutzlak the chazan z"l HaKohen'.
And so too it is written in the Leket Yosher6 regarding the minhag of the Mahar"i Isserlin: 'And I recall that he would not remove all his Shabbos garments on Motzaei Shabbos until he went to sleep'.
> If so, we have seen that according to the Agudah it is possible to change the Shabbos garments after leaving the beis haknesses, but in the name of the Avi Ezri, and so too did the Mahar"i Isserlin practice, to keep the Shabbos garments on until sleep.
Rav Chaim Vital wrote7: 'And know that my teacher z"l warned me regarding this matter as stated, and it appears to my humble opinion that every person too needs to do so, namely that he should be careful that no type of garment or the like, of all that a person wore on weekdays, is fitting to wear on the Shabbos day, and even the Shabbos shirt (chaluk) is not fitting to wear on weekdays at all'.
And the Magen Avraham wrote8: 'And in the writings it is found [that it is] good that one should not wear on weekdays from all that he wore on Shabbos, even the undergarment; and in the Agudah siman 143 it is written that he should go in Shabbos garments until Motzaei Shabbos after Havdalah'.
However, the Admur HaZaken9 wrote the opposite: 'And there are men of deed who are meticulous not to wear on Shabbos from all that he wore on weekdays, even a belt, trousers, and shirt (chaluk); and it is good to go in some Shabbos garments the whole day until after Havdalah on Motzaei Shabbos'.
The Tehillah LeDavid10 remarked: 'The M"A wrote in s"k 2, "and in the writings it is found that one should not wear on weekdays from all that he wore on Shabbos," end quote, and it is not understood. And the Rav z"l wrote that one should not wear on Shabbos from all that he wore on weekdays, and that is correct'.
And the Minchas Shabbos11 brought their words and wrote: 'And it is correct to be careful if possible, so that on the coming Shabbos there should not be a garment that he already wore on a weekday. And see the Tehil"d siman 262 s"k 2'.
And ostensibly his intention is to reconcile the two matters — that when one is careful in accordance with the words of the Mag"a not to wear the Shabbos garments on a weekday, through this one fulfills the words of the Admur HaZaken not to wear on Shabbos what one wore on a weekday12.
> If so, we have seen that there is a matter according to Kabbalah not to wear the Shabbos garments on a weekday, so that there should not be a situation in which on the following Shabbos one wears a garment that is also a weekday [garment], and accordingly it is ostensibly understood why the Mag"a and the Admur HaZaken brought the words of the Agudah, to teach us that the time for changing the garments is after Havdalah.
However, it is brought in several of the Acharonim in the name of the writings of the Ariza"l that one must keep the Shabbos garments on until after the Melaveh Malkah seudah, as is written in the Toras Chaim (Sofer)13: 'And the Mag"a added that in the Agudah it is written that he should go in Shabbos garments until after Havdalah — meaning that immediately after Havdalah he would remove them, for otherwise he wears Shabbos garments on a weekday, and the seudah of Melaveh d'Malkah belongs to Shabbos, for one must do it immediately after Havdalah, as I wrote in siman 300'.
And so too wrote the Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah14: 'And the Ariza"l wrote .. and also not to remove the Shabbos garments until the eating of the fourth seudah, end quote; and praiseworthy is the man who does this and the person who holds fast to it'.
And so too it is written in the sefer Tomer Devorah15 regarding the minhag of the Chasam Sofer: 'Melaveh Malkah he would do in Shabbos garments'. And in the sefer Zikaron Yehudah16 regarding the minhag of the Mahar"m A"sh: 'After the seudah he would immediately remove all the Shabbos garments and wear weekday garments'.
And so too wrote the Ben Ish Chai17: 'And the Acharonim z"l wrote that one should not remove the Shabbos garments from upon himself until after the fourth seudah'.
Except that several of the Acharonim wrote that in practice the minhag is to keep the Shabbos garments on during Motzaei Shabbos, as is written in the Toras Chaim (Sofer)18: 'For the vast majority are not careful like the Ar"i and the Agudah, and thus you find [the case] that on Motzaei Shabbos one comes to place a muktzeh item in the Shabbos garments'.
And so too it is written in the Shu"t Nechamas Yosef19: 'In Europe the chassidim and men of deed would go in Shabbos garments even on Motzaei Shabbos until they went to sleep, and if he did not go to sleep he would go in Shabbos garments until Sunday morning .. and that which the chassidim and men of deed did so is nothing but a practice of chassidus, and it is possible that they do well, for through this they wish to fulfill [the concept of] those who delay departing from the Shabbos; and therefore one should not cast aspersions upon the simple householders who do not do so'.
And regarding the reason for the matter, it is written in the Birkas HaPesach, Pischa Zuta20: 'And according to the opinion of the Eshel Avraham that the night is sanctified because it follows after the day, there is reason to give for the minhag of Israel who are meticulous not to remove the garments of honor designated for Shabbos and Yom Tov on Motzaei Yom Tov, since the nights follow after the sanctified day, and they do not wear weekday garments until the morrow; for since the nights follow in holiness after the day, it is indeed correct, the minhag of Israel to go in the garments designated and sanctified for the holiness of the day also in the night that follows them'.
> If so, we have seen various minhogim regarding the time of changing the Shabbos garments, and in the next halacha we will see the minhag of our Rebbeim, our Nesi'im, in this matter
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Notes:
1 שבת פט"ז סי' קמג ↩
2 בשו"ת גור אריה יהודא או"ח סי' יג כתב: 'ונראה לפענ"ד דמוכח *דא"צ ביציאת היום לכבד בבגדי שבת .. הרי להדיא דסמוך לחשיכה רגילים להפשיט תכשיטי שבת ואינו מצוה ללובשם'.* וכתב הערך שי או"ח סי' רסב: 'ואפשר משום דנסתלקו אז יוסף משה רבינו ע"ה ודוד המלך ע"ה', אמנם בארחות חיים (כהנא) או"ח סי' ש שדחה דבריו ↩
3 הל' ר"ח אות מ בהגהה אות נז ↩
4 פ"א הל' א-ב ↩
5 מהדורת מכון י-ם ע' קיג הערה 6 ↩
6 או"ח עמוד נח ענין ב ↩
7 שער הכוונות ענין רחיצת פניו ידיו ורגליו. ובפע"ח שער השבת שער ד ↩
8 או"ח סי' רסב ס"ק ב ↩
9 שו"ע שם ס"ג ↩
10 ס"ק ב ↩
11 סי' עב ס"ק עא ↩
12 וראה בקיצור הלכות משו"ע אדמו"ר הזקן (אהלי שם) מילואים (ב) לסי' רסב ע' נז, וראה שם ע' נח שכתבו לבאר שיש מקור להקפדה הנ"ל של האריז"ל מדברי הרמב"ם (פ"ל הל' שבת ה"נ), ועפי"ז כתבו 'וכנראה הוא ענין עמוק בכבוד השבת, שלא רק שצריך לייחד מלבושים לשבת כדי שלא יהא מלבוש השבת כמלבוש החול, והוא בדרך החיוב. אלא יתירה מזו, הזהירות ש'לא יהי' מלבוש החול כמלבוש השבת' גם בדרך השלילה' ↩
13 או"ח סי' רסב ס"ק ו ↩
14 שער השמיני שער העליון פי"ג ↩
15 קו"א למנהגי החת"ס פ"ו אות ב ↩
16 מנהגי מהר"ם א"ש אות קג ↩
17 ש"ב ויצא סכ"ז. וכ"כ כף החיים או"ח שם ס"ק כח ↩
18 סי' רנב ס"ק לב ↩
19 סי' נג ↩
20 סי' יז ס"ק ב ↩