The brochos recited by one called up to the Torah
[ב] (Halacha 749)
Question: Must the brochos of the one called up to the Torah be recited while the sefer Torah is open or covered? (1)
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Megillah1 states: 'The Rabbanan taught: he opens and looks, rolls closed and recites the bracha, and opens again and reads — these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: he opens and looks and recites the bracha and reads. What is the reason of Rabbi Meir? — In accordance with Ulla, for Ulla said: Why did they say that one who reads from the Torah may not assist the meturgeman? — So that people should not say the Targum is written in the Torah; here too — so that people should not say the brochos are written in the Torah. And Rabbi Yehuda: with the translation there is room to err, but with the brochos there is no room to err. Rabbi Zeira said in the name of Rav Masna: The halacha is, he opens and looks and recites the bracha and reads. — But let it say the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda! — Because they reverse them.'
And in the Talmud Yerushalmi Megillah2, cited in the Rosh3: 'One tanna taught: he opens and looks, rolls closed and recites the bracha; another tanna taught: he opens and looks and recites the bracha. Rabbi Zeira, Abba bar Yirmiya, Rav Masna in the name of Shmuel: the halacha is like the one who says he opens and looks and recites the bracha. And what is the reason? [Nechemiah 8:5] "ובפתחו עמדו כל העם" ("And when he opened it all the people stood"), and what is written after it: "ויברך עזרא את ה' האלהים הגדול" ("And Ezra blessed Hashem, the great God")'.
If so, the halacha is decided in the Gemara like Rav Yehuda, who does not cover the sefer Torah at the time of the brochos.
However, the Rishonim disagreed regarding the words of Rabbi Yehuda in the Gemara in the Bavli whether his intent is that the scroll must specifically be open [as implied by the Yerushalmi4], or whether he means that there is no need to be concerned and one may likewise leave the scroll open. As follows:
It is written in the Siddur of Rabbeinu Saadia Gaon5: 'And he should not recite the first bracha except when the scroll is open in his hand'.
The Rambam6 wrote in the language of the Gemara: 'He opens the sefer Torah and looks at the place where he is reading, and afterward says Borchu..'.
And Rabbeinu Manoach explained: 'And afterward, once he has looked at the place of his reading, he need not roll the sefer Torah closed but recites the bracha with the sefer Torah open before him, and we are not concerned that people will say the brochos are written in the Torah, and furthermore, for anything over which one recites a bracha must be present before him at the time of the bracha'7.
And so wrote the Gilyonei HaShas8 in the name of Sefer HaPardes: 'Nota bene, in Sefer HaPardes of Rashi siman 39, that this is derived from the fact that we hold in Megillah 32a like Rabbi Yehuda that he opens and looks, recites the bracha and reads — evidently one may not interrupt between the bracha and the reading, neither by opening nor by looking; and from the bircas haTorah we learned the bracha for all the mitzvos, therefore we require that all mitzvah-brochos be recited prior to their performance. And so it emerges from that which Rabbi Chiya taught [Yerushalmi, chapter Keitzad Mevarchin, brought in Tosafos Berachos 39b s.v. v'hilchesa] that one recites the bracha over bread only at the time that he breaks it, and the reason is that the bracha is over the eating, and therefore we require that the breaking not interrupt between the bracha and the eating, and therefore he should not recite the bracha before breaking but only at the time of breaking — these are his words in brief, and see there that it emerges from his words that since Rabbi Chiya said "only", his intent is to be indispensable, and if one recited the bracha before breaking he must recite it a second time; and accordingly, with every bracha, if one performed some other act between the bracha and the act over which he recites the bracha, he must recite it a second time, see there.'
However, Tosafos9 wrote: 'And lechatchilah he rolls it closed and shuts it before he recites the bracha, so that the masses should not say that the brochos are written in it; but bedieved there is no concern, since amei ha'aretz are not so common nowadays; but after he has read in it, he certainly must roll it closed before he recites the bracha, like Rabbi Yehuda'.
And the Acharonim had difficulty reconciling the words of Tosafos10 with the fact that the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda; and in the Hagahos HaBach11 he wrote: 'Even though the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda that he is not obligated to roll it closed before the bracha, that means that he does not transgress a prohibition by leaving the scroll open and reciting the bracha; but if he shuts it and recites the bracha it is better, therefore lechatchilah etc.'
And it is written in the Kolbo12: 'And the reader stands and opens the scroll to see what he will read in it, and rolls it closed and recites the bracha; some say that he should not roll it closed but opens and looks and recites the bracha, and such is the opinion of the Rambam z"l; and some say that he should turn his face aside so that it should not appear as though the brochos are written within it'. And on this the Bach13 wrote: 'The first view is according to the words of Tosafos, that even according to Rabbi Yehuda, lechatchilah he rolls it closed before he recites the first bracha; and the second view is according to the plain meaning of the sugya, that according to Rabbi Yehuda he recites the bracha specifically when it is open, and since the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda, then one who comes to roll it closed and recite the bracha transgresses the words of Rabbi Yehuda and acts like Rabbi Meir, and therefore he must recite the first bracha with the sefer Torah open and not shut; and so wrote the Avudraham in the name of Rabbeinu Saadia. And the third view, that he should turn his face aside, I do not know its basis, and perhaps their reasoning is that since there is a doubt in the words of Rabbi Yehuda whether he holds that lechatchilah he rolls it closed and recites the bracha etc. as Tosafos wrote, or whether he recites the bracha specifically when it is open, therefore, in order to escape the doubt, he turns his face etc. and so wrote the Rav in the gloss to the Shulchan Aruch (seif 4). And in my humble opinion it seems proper that it should be fully open at the time of the bracha and that he should not turn his face at all, for such is the opinion of the well-known Poskim and Geonim, and so I conduct myself'.
If so, we have seen the reasons for the dispute between Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda, and that the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda, and that the Rishonim disagreed regarding his view whether at the time of the bracha the sefer Torah must specifically be open or whether it may also be closed; and in the next halacha we will see how the halacha is decided in practice.
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Notes:
1 32a ↩
2 3:7 ↩
3 Megillah 4:11 ↩
4 And see also what is written in Kovetz Bikkurim - Mishkan Moshe (5758) p. 629 to explain that this is the practical difference between the reasons ↩
5 p. 360, brought in the Avudraham, and in the Beis Yosef OC siman 139 ↩
6 Hilchos Tefillah 12:5 ↩
7 And so wrote the Pri Megadim OC, Mishbetzos Zahav, siman 690 s.k. 10: 'And it appears that he spreads it open before the brochos, so that the rolling should not constitute an interruption between the bracha and the reading. And with a sefer Torah too he spreads it open and looks and recites the bracha'. And see what Rav M.S. Ashkenazi wrote in his sefer Shaarei Tefillah U'Minhag vol. 1 siman 84 to explain the reasoning of those who disagree ↩
8 Pesachim 7b ↩
9 Megillah ibid. ↩
10 See what the Maharsha wrote in Chidushei Halachos, and see also the Taz OC 139 s.k. 4 who wrote: 'And it appears to me that Tosafos hold that since the reason for Rabbi Yehuda that there is no room to err with the brochos was in their times, when the generation were masters of Torah, but afterward, when the generations deteriorated and there are amei ha'aretz who know nothing, it is applicable that we are concerned for this, as Rabbi Meir was concerned, and therefore there is reason to be concerned lechatchilah', and see also the Kesef Mishneh Hilchos Tefillah 12:5, and the Levush and the Biur HaGra siman 139, that the intent is not that Rabbi Yehuda is not concerned at all for this, but rather that because of the exertion (of the tzibur) he said that one need not roll it closed. Therefore some wrote to turn the face, and see also the Aruch HaShulchan seif 13 ↩
11 on Tosafos ibid. (os 2) ↩
12 siman 20 ↩
13 OC siman 139 ↩
[ג] (Halacha 750)
In the previous halacha we saw that the Rishonim disagreed regarding the view of Rabbi Yehuda who said 'he opens and looks and recites the bracha', and the halacha was decided like him, whether his intent is to say that one must specifically leave it open, or whether his intent is that one need not specifically roll it closed and may leave it open.
And in practice the Mechaber1 wrote like the words of the Rambam: 'All who read recite a bracha before it and after it, and he opens the scroll before he recites the bracha and sees the pasuk with which he must begin, and afterward recites the bracha, and after he has read, he rolls it closed and recites the bracha'.
And the Rama in a gloss brought the words of the Kolbo: 'And at the time he recites the first bracha he should turn his face to the side, so that it should not appear as one who recites a bracha from the Torah, and it appears to me that he should turn his face to his left side2'.
But in the writings of the Arizal3 it is written to conduct oneself like the view of Tosafos: 'And now we will explain the matter of the person himself when he goes up to read from the Torah. He must be careful to see the place of the reading and gaze at the pasuk which he is about to begin. Afterward the writing should be covered by means of the cloth of the sefer Torah, and then he recites the Torah bracha before it, and afterward he opens it and reads. And afterward he again shuts the writing, and then he recites the Torah bracha after it (and even though there are Poskim who wrote that all this is unnecessary, as the Beis Yosef wrote, see there)'.
And the Magen Avraham4 wrote: 'And in Tosafos it is written that he should shut it before he recites the bracha, for even Rabbi Yehuda concedes in this that it is better to roll it closed so that people should not say the brochos are written in the Torah, and so it is written in the Kisvei [Arizal] that so one should conduct oneself, and the Bach wrote that he conducted himself that the sefer Torah should be open, as the great Poskim wrote, and also that one should not turn his face'.
The Taz5 commented on the words of the Rama (regarding turning the face), and wrote: 'For the Beis Yosef in the name of the Kolbo wrote: he rolls it closed and recites the bracha, and some say not to roll it but he opens and looks and recites the bracha, and such is the opinion of the Rambam z"l, and some say that he should turn his face so that it should not appear as though the brochos are written in the Torah — these are his words that the Rama brought; and if so, this means that he holds like the Tosafos that I mentioned6, and this matter is not reasonable at all, for if so it is difficult: why does Rabbi Meir require rolling it closed before the bracha, which is an exertion, as the Beis Yosef wrote, when he could have left it open and merely turned his face7; rather turning the face here is not correct, for he shows himself as though he is not reciting the bracha over what he will read but over some other matter, since he shows himself as though he removes his face from it, and so wrote my father-in-law and teacher z"l: it is proper that it be fully open at the time of the bracha and that he not turn his face at all, for such is the opinion of the well-known Poskim and Geonim, and so I conduct myself, end of his words'.
And the Mekor Chaim (Bacharach) wrote on the words of the Rama: 'And that which the Rama wrote, that it appears to him that he should turn his face to the left side — according to what we conduct ourselves, that the oleh stands to the right of the shaliach tzibur, it is more fitting that he turn his face to the right .. if he turns his face to his left, which is toward the sefer Torah, it is impossible to turn the face unless it is an actual turning of the nape and not the face, and this is a disgrace .. whereas if he turns to his right side he needs only a slight turning, and this is easily understood. [.. he does not mean an actual turning but only a slight inclination so that his face is toward the roller of the sefer Torah, not toward the writing in front; but he does not mean toward the south]'.
If so, we have seen that the Mechaber did not mention rolling the scroll closed8, and the Rama added that he should turn his face9 [to the left, and some wrote that it is preferable that he incline his face to the right], but in the writings of the Arizal it is written (and brought in the Magen Avraham) that one should cover (or roll closed10) the scroll.
And in practice, the minhag of bnei Ashkenaz — some Poskim wrote that each may conduct himself according to his minhag11, and as the Mishnah Berurah12 wrote: 'And know that there are Poskim who hold that if one wishes to roll it closed and afterward recite the bracha it is better, except that the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda that he is not obligated to do so; and accordingly some places conduct themselves that they look and roll it closed and afterward recite the bracha, and each river follows its own course [Acharonim]'.
And the minhag of bnei Sephard — the Ben Ish Chai13 wrote: 'The one who goes up to the sefer Torah should first see the place of the reading, and gaze at the first pasuk that he is about to read, and afterward he covers the writing by means of a cloth, and recites the Torah bracha, and removes the cloth and reads'.
And the Kaf HaChaim14 wrote that such is the minhag: 'And so is the practice of the people'. And so wrote the Halacha Berurah, that such is the minhag of the Sephardim15.
In the next halacha we will see the Chabad minhag.
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Notes:
1 Shulchan Aruch OC 139:4 ↩
2 And see the Magen Avraham s.k. 8: 'His left. For it is the right of the Holy One, blessed be He, as is written in siman 123'. But see the Aruch HaShulchan seif 13: 'And I do not know what comparison there is to there, for there it is in tefillah and is like one standing before the King, but everywhere else the right is more esteemed; and in my humble opinion the reason appears to be because the reader stands to his left, as is known, and therefore he turns toward him; and I have seen those who conduct themselves that at the last bracha he turns his face to his right side, and it is correct', and see below what the Mekor Chaim wrote ↩
3 In Shaar HaKavanos, Krias HaTorah, Drush 3. And in the Pri Eitz Chaim, Shaar Krias Sefer Torah, perek 2 ↩
4 ibid. s.k. 6 ↩
5 s.k. 4 ↩
6 The Taz there at its beginning explains the words of Tosafos and writes 'And it appears to me that Tosafos hold that since the reason for Rabbi Yehuda that there is no room to err with the brochos was in their times, when the generation were masters of Torah, but afterward, when the generations deteriorated and there are amei ha'aretz who know nothing, it is applicable that we are concerned for this, as Rabbi Meir was concerned, and therefore there is reason to be concerned lechatchilah' ↩
7 And see the Aruch HaShulchan OC 139 seif 13: *'And in my humble opinion it appears that this is not a contradiction, and it may be said that Rabbi Meir holds that this recognition is not sufficient and Rabbi Yehuda holds that it is sufficient, and the reason he did not mention this is because he can make some other recognition* and there are some of the great ones who would gaze outside the sefer Torah and not gaze at the writing [Eliyah Rabbah in the name of the Knesses HaGedolah]' ↩
8 And see also the Halacha Berurah in the Biur Halacha os 2 who wrote: 'And it is not clarified in his words whether he is permitted to roll it closed before the bracha or not permitted' ↩
9 And see the Sheyarei Knesses HaGedolah, Hagahos Beis Yosef, OC siman 139 os 10: 'And I conduct myself not to look at the writing but to look outside'. And in the Chayei Adam klal 31 seif 12 he wrote: 'He should close his eyes, but not turn his face to another side' ↩
10 And perhaps it may be said that with the sefer Torah of the Ashkenazim, which lie flat, they preferred rolling it closed over covering, out of concern that the covering upon the letters could cause erasure. And see in halacha no. 747, unlike the sefer Torah of the Sephardim where the covering does not rest upon the writing ↩
11 But see the Aruch HaShulchan OC 139 seif 12: '.. and there is one who conducts himself so, and I do not know whether it is correct to do so, since from all the Poskim it does not appear so, and they hold that according to Rabbi Yehuda he specifically recites the bracha when it is open, for since he must read it, how would he shut it ..' ↩
12 In the Biur Halacha ibid. s.v. "v'ro'eh hapasuk" ↩
13 Second year, Toldos, seif 18 ↩
14 OC 139 s.k. 23 ↩
15 vol. 7 OC 139:4 os 7, and to note from the Yalkut Yosef OC 139:5 ↩
[ד] (Halacha 751)
Sefer Torah open or covered at the time of the bracha (3)
In halacha number 749 we saw that according to Rabbi Yehuda, whom the halacha follows, the sefer Torah the scroll may remain open during the bracha of the one called up to the Torah, and we saw that there are two reasons for this: the reason brought in the Talmud Bavli, that Rabbi Yehuda is not concerned that people will err that the brochos are written in the Torah, and the reason brought in the Talmud Yerushalmi, that his words are derived from a pasuk in Nechemiah.
Question: What is the law regarding the bracha of "asher nasan" at the conclusion of the aliyah?
Answer: It is stated in Maseches Sofrim1: 'And he rolls it closed and says, Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has given us the Torah of truth and planted eternal life within us, Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah'.
And so wrote the Rasag2: 'And he should not recite the last bracha until he covers the scroll'.
And so wrote the Rambam3: 'And afterward he reads until he completes the reading and rolls the scroll closed and recites the bracha, Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has given us His Torah, the Torah of truth, and planted eternal life within us, Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah'.
And so wrote the Ritva4: 'And some say that it is regarding the first bracha that he is not obligated to open to look and to roll closed and to open, but as for the last bracha, since he will ultimately roll it closed, it is better that he roll it closed before the bracha and be concerned like Rabbi Meir, and their words appear correct'
.
And in explanation of why to distinguish between the first bracha and the last bracha, the Kesef Mishneh on the Rambam there explained, according to the reason of the Bavli that Rabbi Yehuda held there is no concern that the brochos are written in the Torah: 'And even so Rabbeinu wrote that at the end he rolls it closed and afterward recites the bracha, because he holds that Rabbi Yehuda disagrees only at the beginning, where one must exert himself to roll closed and then to open and read, but at the end, where there is no further exertion, he rolls it closed and afterward recites the bracha, for "since one can do good, one should not turn to bad", so it appears to me. Afterward I found that in Maseches Sofrim, chapter 13, it is written like the words of Rabbeinu, and it is for the reason that I wrote'.
And in this manner it is explained in the Sefer HaLevush5 who wrote: 'But after he has read the parsha he should first roll the sefer Torah closed and afterward recite the last bracha, and he leaves the sefer Torah rolled closed between one man and the next, for it is not honorable to the Torah that it be open and wait until another comes'. And in the gloss there it is explained: 'For all this we do not trouble him because of such a remote concern, but to turn his face to the side there is no exertion in this. But after the reading one should not leave it open and turn his face to the side at the time of the last bracha, since in any case he must roll it closed so that it should be rolled closed between one man and the next, as explained in the main text'.
And in the Korban HaEidah6 he explained the view of the Rambam according to the Yerushalmi, and this is his language: 'And what is the reason — "ובפתחו" etc. From here it is implied like the words of the Rambam that after the reading he rolls it closed and afterward recites the bracha, for Rabbi Yehuda said his ruling only at the beginning, since it is written "ובפתחו" etc., but at the end, from where would it occur to leave the Torah open'.
If so, we have seen that several of the Rishonim wrote that since at the last bracha there is no reason to leave it open, and in any case he is about to roll the scroll closed, it is preferable to roll it closed and recite the bracha [and in this way one also gains [avoidance of] the concern (about which Rabbi Meir is concerned) that people will say the brochos are written in the Torah].
But the Ran7 disagreed with the Rambam and wrote: 'The Rav Rabbeinu Moshe z"l wrote that specifically regarding the first bracha the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda [that he] need not roll it closed when he recites the bracha, but regarding the last bracha he must roll it closed, for the dispute of Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda is only regarding the first bracha, as it is taught "and he opens again and reads", and it does not speak of the latter one; evidently Rabbi Yehuda disagrees only regarding the first. But this is not illuminating, for the reason of Rabbi Yehuda applies to both, for he explains the reason: with a bracha there is no room to err. And since this is so, one does not say the brochos are written in the Torah'.
This dispute is likewise brought in the Meiri8: 'And after he has read, whether he must roll it before he recites the bracha is not mentioned in the Gemara, except that the great authors wrote that he must roll it before he recites the bracha, since he does not need to read in it; whereas at the first, since he must open before he recites the bracha to see where he must begin, they did not trouble him to roll and recite the bracha and then open again; but at the last one he certainly must roll and afterward recite the bracha, and some say that even in this one he need not roll but recites the bracha even though it is open, since in any case there is mentioned in it a reason that we are not concerned to say the brochos are written in the Torah'.
And in practice the Mechaber9 ruled like the words of the Rambam that he rolls it closed before the bracha: 'And after he has read, he rolls it closed and recites the bracha10.
If so, in practice, even according to the Poskim who hold one must leave it open at the time of the first bracha, nevertheless at the last bracha one must cover it.
In the next halacha we will see the Chabad minhag in all this.
Notes:
1 13:6 ↩
2 p. 360 ↩
3 Hilchos Tefillah U'Nesias Kapayim 12:5 ↩
4 Megillah 32a ↩
5 OC 139:5 ↩
6 Sheyarei Korban HaEidah 3:7 ↩
7 Chidushei HaRan Megillah ibid. ↩
8 Megillah ibid. ↩
9 Shulchan Aruch OC 139:4. And see also the Mishnah Berurah ibid. s.k. 17 ↩
10 And so it is in the writings of the Arizal, Shaar HaKavanos, Krias HaTorah, Drush 3: 'And afterward you again shut the writing and then recite the Torah bracha that follows it'. Except that, as above in the previous halacha, in the writings of the Arizal it is decided like the view of Tosafos that even at the first bracha one covers ↩
[ה] (Halacha 752)
Sefer Torah open or covered at the time of the bracha (4)
Question: What is the Chabad minhag regarding rolling the sefer Torah closed and inclining the head at the time of the bracha?
Answer: We saw in the previous halacha that the Rama wrote that one should turn his face to the left side, and that the Mekor Chaim wrote on this that, according to the minhag that the oleh stands to the right of the reader, it is preferable that he incline his face to the right side1, except that their words are according to their minhag that they do not roll the scroll closed, at the first bracha. And it is likewise brought from the writings of the Arizal (also brought in the Magen Avraham) that one should cover (or roll closed) the sefer Torah, but it is not mentioned there that one should turn his face.
The Rebbe addressed this matter for the first time in the sefer HaYom Yom, which was published in the year 5703, and wrote on the date of 4 Elul: 'The order of the Torah brochos: he looks, and rolls the sefer Torah closed. He turns his face to the right and afterward recites the bracha, and after the bracha he opens it and reads'.
That is, according to this, one both rolls the scroll closed at the time of the bracha and must also turn the face to the right.
Afterward, in the year 5708 in the kuntres of 2 Nissan2 the Rebbe again wrote the minhogim of the Rebbe Rayatz, and there are in this several changes and additions [and so too it was later printed in the HaYom Yom third edition, and in Sefer HaMinhagim3]: 'He opens the sefer Torah, touches with his tallis at the beginning of the place of the reading and at its end, kisses the tallis at the place where he touched the sefer Torah. He rolls the sefer Torah closed, turns his face slightly4 to the right and recites the bracha. He opens the sefer Torah .. at the conclusion of the reading he touches with his tallis at the end of the place of the reading and afterward at its beginning. He kisses the tallis at the place where he touched the sefer Torah. He rolls it closed, turns to the right5 and recites the bracha'.
If so, the novelty in our minhag is in two matters: (a) that in addition to closing the scroll one also performs the turning of the face6. (b) that the inclining of the face is only a slight inclination, and to the right side [like the words of the Mekor Chaim above] and not to the left.
And in practice, the conduct of the Rebbe7 when he went up to the small sefer he would shift the scroll slightly to his left, and shift his head slightly in a manner that was not very noticeable, but when he went up to the sefer Torah of Moshiach, he would not move it, but rather stood to its right.
★ ★ ★
Question: We have seen that most communities in Klal Yisrael conduct themselves like the view of Tosafos and the writings of the Arizal, that they close the scroll even before the first bracha; how does one reconcile the minhag with what the disputing Poskim wrote, who argued that it must be open in order to juxtapose the bracha as closely as possible to the actual fulfillment of the mitzvah as required by law8, that a bracha be recited immediately prior to performing the mitzvah?
Answer: The Rashba9 wrote: 'The brochos of Krias Shema are not brochos of Krias Shema itself, like the bircas haTorah and like the birkas hamitzvos. For if so, we would have to recite a bracha "to read the Shema" as we recite over the reading of the Torah and over the reading of the Megillah. Rather their brochos were instituted on their own, except that they instituted to say them before Krias Shema and after it, and so the Geonim z"l agreed'.
And accordingly the Alter Rebbe10 wrote: 'The brochos do not prevent [the fulfillment of] Krias Shema, for if one recited it without its brochos he has fulfilled his obligation of Krias Shema, and he returns and recites the brochos without Krias Shema, for the brochos of Krias Shema are not like the brochos of other mitzvos, which are recited only prior to their performance, for he does not recite "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos and commanded us to read the Shema", as is explained in siman 59; and even so it is good to return and read Krias Shema with the brochos, and if he did not return and read, neither the Krias Shema nor the brochos, he has fulfilled his obligation of Krias Shema, whether an individual who did so or a congregation'.
And in this manner the Alter Rebbe11 wrote regarding the birchos hashachar: 'Nowadays, because the hands are not clean, and also because of the amei ha'aratzos who do not know them, they were accustomed to arrange them in the beis haknesses, and they answer amen after them and fulfill their obligation, for these brochos are not similar to the birkas hamitzvos, which one must recite prior to their performance, since he recites "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos and commanded us to do" but these brochos, which are praise and thanksgiving, he may recite even afterward'.
And accordingly some have written to explain12 that since the law of "prior to their performance" applies specifically to brochos in which one says "v'tzivanu to do", but with other brochos there is no law of "prior to their performance", and if so the bracha over the Torah reading, since 'it was instituted because of the honor of the Torah when one reads in public'13, and therefore its wording does not contain "v'tzivanu", hence there is no obligation to actually juxtapose [it], and therefore one may recite the bracha over a scroll that has been rolled closed.
Notes:
1 And see Halichos Shlomo, Tefillah, perek 12, p. 150 note 66 ↩
2 Sefer HaMaamarim 5708 p. 146 ↩
3 p. 13 ↩
4 And see Chikrei Minhagim vol. 2 siman 62 p. 192 note 78 ↩
5 At the last bracha it does not say 'turns slightly', and see what is explained in this in Chikrei Minhagim ibid. note 79 ↩
6 See Hearos U'Biurim issue 1189 which attempts to explain this. And it still requires further study ↩
7 See Hiskashrus issue 449 p. 15 note 17. Maaseh Melech perek 5 p. 32 os 21 ↩
8 As explained in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe siman 25 seif 17, siman 8 seif 2, and so it is in the Siddur, and likewise in siman 167 seif 6, and more ↩
9 Responsa vol. 1 siman 47, and so it is there in siman 319 ↩
10 Shulchan Aruch OC 60:2 ↩
11 ibid. siman 46:3 ↩
12 See what Rav M.S. Ashkenazi wrote at length in Shaarei Tefillah U'Minhag vol. 1 siman 84 ↩
13 As the Tur and the Mechaber wrote, OC 139:8 ↩
[ו] (Halacha 753)
The laws of the haftarah (1)
Question: We learned in the previous halachos about the conduct with the sefer Torah at the time of the brochos, what is the law regarding the haftarah?
Answer: It is written in the Shibolei HaLeket1, and so it is in the Tanya Rabbasi2: 'And I found from the Geonim z"l, when one recites the bracha after the haftarah he is not permitted to remove the sefer of the Neviim from before him, so that he should see and recite the bracha over what he read as haftarah'.
And it is likewise brought in Sefer HaMinhagim (Tirna) in the Hagahos HaMinhagim3: 'I found in the name of the Geonim z"l, when one recites the bracha after the haftarah he is not permitted to remove the sefer of the Neviim or the sefer of the haftarah from before him, so that he should see and recite the bracha over what he read as haftarah'.
And the Beis Yosef4 wrote: 'It is further written in the Shibolei HaLeket (ibid.) in the name of the Geonim, when one recites the bracha after the haftarah he is not permitted to remove the sefer of the Neviim, so that he should see and recite the bracha over what he read as haftarah, end quote, and for this too I do not find a reason'.
But the Magen Avraham5 wrote on the Beis Yosef: 'But in the sefer Tanya too it is written so, and so wrote the Mateh Moshe6 and the Hagahos Minhagim, for with a sefer Torah too it is forbidden to take the sefer Torah until after the bracha'.
And the Eliyah Rabbah7 wrote: 'And it is implied in the Magen Avraham that he closes or rolls the sefer, only that he should not remove it, as with a sefer Torah'.
If so, we have seen that the Rishonim wrote in the name of the Geonim that at the time of the brochos after the haftarah, the sefer of Neviim from which one reads the haftarah must be before him at the time of the brochos, and the Eliyah Rabbah explained in the view of the Magen Avraham that it need not remain open, but the main point is that it be before him.
But the Shaarei Efraim8 wrote that it is fitting not to close the sefer at all, and this is his language regarding the brochos after the haftarah: 'When the maftir concludes the haftarah he should not remove from before him the sefer from which he said the haftarah until after he completes the brochos that follow it, so that it should appear that he is reciting the bracha over the haftarah that he said from the sefer, and it is good that it remain open, and in any case one should not remove the sefer from there entirely'.
And the Pischei Shearim there explained: 'See the Eliyah Rabbah who learned from the implication of the Magen Avraham who wrote "similar to a sefer Torah", but in truth there is no proof, for there the sefer Torah is recognizable and visible to all even though it is closed, whereas with the sefer of the haftarah, if it is not open what recognition is there in this; and it is possible that if it is written on parchment and rolled it is likewise recognizable, and this requires study'.
And regarding the first bracha before the haftarah too, the Shaarei Efraim9 wrote: 'One should not begin the bracha until the Chumash is open before him at the place where the haftarah from the Neviim is, and he says the bracha, and the Chumash should be open before him'.
And the Pischei Shearim wrote: 'Even though with a sefer Torah he rolls it closed and recites the bracha, in any case with a sefer Torah everyone knows that he recites the bracha over what he will read in this Torah that lies before him, unlike with a closed Chumash; and if the haftarah is written in a booklet of parchment it is possible that it is similar to a sefer Torah and one need not be exacting in this, and it requires study'.
The Alter Rebbe10 wrote: 'One should not remove the sefer of the Neviim from before the maftir until after he completes reciting the bracha after it, so that he should see and recite the bracha over what he read as haftarah'.
[From the plain language of the Alter Rebbe it appears that (in a sefer that is only Neviim) he did not require, at the time of the bracha after the haftarah, that the sefer be open, but it is sufficient that the sefer not be removed from before him, like the words of the Magen Avraham, and like our minhag with a sefer Torah].
The Rebbe's minhag — when11 the Rebbe read the haftarah from the Chumash (Torah Temimah) he would conduct himself to open the Chumash at the place of the haftarah before the brochos, and to close it only at the conclusion of saying the brochos after the haftarah12.
.
If so, when one says the haftarah from a Chumash it is fitting that the haftarah be open before the bracha, and to close the Chumash only after the brochos following the haftarah13.
With Hashem's help, in a separate halacha we will write regarding leaving the Megillah open during the brochos after the reading of the Megillah.
Notes:
1 the topic of Shabbos, siman 80 ↩
2 siman 16 ↩
3 the minhag of Shabbos, end of os 41 ↩
4 OC siman 284 ↩
5 siman 284 s.k. 6 ↩
6 Amud HaAvodah, Shabbos, siman 455 ↩
7 siman 284 s.k. 10 ↩
8 Shaar 9 siman 34 ↩
9 ibid. siman 14 ↩
10 Shulchan Aruch siman 284 seif 12 ↩
11 See Leket Halichos U'Minhogei Shabbos Kodesh perek 7 p. 95. Maaseh Melech, Shabbos U'Moed, perek 3 os 22 ↩
12 In Shaarei Tefillah U'Minhag (by Rav M.S. Ashkenazi) vol. 1 siman 84 p. 387 he wrote to explain that this minhag accords even with the view of Tosafos and our minhag, that the brochos over the Torah reading are said when the sefer is closed, since we read from a Chumash which contains also Torah and not only the haftarah, and it is not recognizable over what he recites the bracha. And see above from the Pischei Shearim ↩
13 But it may be said that when one reads from a printed sefer of haftaros he may close the sefer of the haftarah even before saying the brochos, like the words of the Magen Avraham and the Alter Rebbe regarding the sefer of Neviim ↩
[ז] (Halacha 754)
Question: Must one hold the atzei chaim while reciting the bracha and the reading?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Sukkah1 brings a braisa: 'It was taught, Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok says: such was the minhag of the people of Yerushalayim — a person leaves his house with his lulav in his hand, goes to the beis haknesses with his lulav in his hand, recites Krias Shema and davens with his lulav in his hand, reads from the Torah and raises his hands — he places it on the ground. He goes to visit the sick and to console mourners — with his lulav in his hand; when he enters the beis hamedrash — he sends his lulav with his son, with his servant, or with his messenger. What does this come to teach us? To inform you how zealous they were in mitzvos'.
And the Raavyah2 wrote on this: 'We learn from here that one who reads from the Torah holds the rollers of the Torah during the bracha and the reading, [since it says] he places it on the ground. And so I have a tradition that at the time of the bracha he holds the rollers of the Torah'.
And so wrote the Manhig3: 'The minhag of Sefarad is that the one who recites the bracha and reads from the Torah takes it in his hands and in his bosom. And I have support, as it is stated in Sukkah: such was the minhag of the people of Yerushalayim — a person leaves his house with his lulav in his hand, recites Krias Shema and davens with his lulav in his hand, was reading from the Torah and raising his hands, he places it on the ground. We learn that one must take the sefer in his hand at the time of the reading as though he received it today from Har Sinai, as it says "ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני" ("On this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai"); and it is said in the Yerushalmi "ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני", let the words of Torah not be in your eyes like an old edict that all trample upon, but like a new edict that they run to see. Even HaYarchi'.
The Mordechai4 brought the Raavyah and wrote: 'And a further proof, at the end of perek Bnei Ha'ir: the Rabbanan taught, he opens and looks, rolls closed [and recites the bracha] etc., and it is implied that each one opens at the beginning and rolls closed at the end'.
The Orchos Chaim5 also brought from the Yerushalmi and a Midrash: 'Yerushalmi, Rabbi Yosi bar Bun said: when they went up to the duchan to recite the bracha, the one who recites the bracha takes the roller of the Torah in his hand, as it says "לקוח את ספר התורה הזה" ("Take this sefer Torah"), end quote. And in Bereishis Rabbah: "לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך" ("This sefer Torah shall not depart from your mouth"), this teaches that a sefer Torah was in the hand of Yehoshua, for one says "this" only to one who holds the object in his hand'.
And the Tur6 wrote: 'The Baal HaManhig wrote that one who reads from the Torah and recites the bracha over it takes it in his hand, and he supported the minhag from that [statement] of Sukkah: such was the minhag of the people of Yerushalayim — a person leaves the doorway of his house with his lulav in his hand etc., until: was reading from the Torah and raising his hands, he places it on the ground; evidently one must take the sefer in his hand at the time of reading'.
And the Bach7 wrote: 'Perforce it is a mitzvah to hold the rollers of the Torah from the time he opened it until he finishes the reading and rolls it closed again, and therefore he must place it on the ground, for there is no logic to distinguish and say that for opening it and looking in it and rolling it closed after he has read in it he himself must hold the rollers of the Torah, but at the time of the reading, which is the essence of the mitzvah, he need not hold them — on the contrary, all the more so must he hold them at the time of the reading; and if so, since he must place the lulav on the ground in order to open it etc., evidently even at the time of the reading it is a mitzvah to hold the rollers of the Torah'.
And in practice the Mechaber8 wrote: 'One who reads from the Torah must hold the sefer Torah at the time of the bracha'. And the Rama wrote in a gloss: 'And they based this minhag on that which is said regarding Yehoshua, "לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך חזק ואמץ" ("This sefer Torah shall not depart from your mouth, be strong and courageous"), and from this they were accustomed to say to one who finishes reading from the Torah each time, "chazak"'.
And the Nachalas Tzvi9 wrote: 'And see in the Beis Yosef their words, and you will find that it appears from their words that at the time of the bracha alone one must hold the sefer Torah in his hand, as the Rav [author of the] Shulchan Aruch wrote. But from the words of the Tur it is explained that one must take [it] also at the time of the reading. And in my humble opinion it appears that since there is no decisive proof for either of the interpretations, for it may be said that he would place the lulav down only at the time of the bracha, and it may be said that he would place it down the entire time of the reading, therefore the correct thing is that one should be careful that also at the time of the reading he hold the sefer Torah'.
And the Taz10 wrote: 'And if so, why did he write "at the time of the bracha"; and one must say that he means even at the time of the bracha, and all the more so at the time of the reading, and one cannot say from where do we know [it applies] at the time of the bracha, for there we say "was reading from the Torah etc.", it may be said that he derives it from that which is stated above, "he opens and looks and recites the bracha", implying that one must hold it in his hand when he recites the bracha, as the Mordechai wrote this inference'.
In the writings of the Arizal, Shaar HaKavanos11, it is written: 'One must also be careful when he goes up to read from the sefer Torah to hold the sefer Torah with his two hands, and not by the case, but by the parchment itself, one hand on this side and one hand on that side. But you should hold it by means of the cloth of the sefer Torah, not with your actual hand, as they said z"l: whoever holds a sefer Torah bare will be buried bare of that mitzvah. And behold, this is the intention that one should have at the time he holds the sefer Torah in his hand .. and after you have held it with your two hands and had the intention with it, then intend to include the left hand in the right, as is known, and then remove your left hand from there and your right hand alone remains holding the sefer Torah the entire time of your reading in it, as mentioned'.
The Magen Avraham12 brought two contradictory practices, one from the Sefer HaKavanos13, and afterward brought a practice from the Kisvei [Arizal], which is what is written in Shaar HaKavanos and Pri Eitz Chaim, and this is his language: 'In the Kavanos it is written that before the bracha he holds the two rollers, and at the time of the bracha he removes his left hand to strengthen the right; and in the Kisvei it is written that at the time of the bracha he holds with his two hands the parchment sheets of the Torah by means of the cloth, and after the bracha he removes the left'.
And the Kaf HaChaim14 wrote: 'And we have only what is written in Shaar HaKavanos, which Maharash Vital z"l arranged, and not like what they bring from the other writings of the mekubalim, upon which the Rav did not rely, as is known; and from what he said "and your right hand alone remains holding the sefer Torah the entire time of your reading in it", it is implied that before the reading, which is at the time of the bracha, both hands are still holding the parchment until the end of the bracha, and so wrote the Magen Avraham s.k. 13 ..'.
The Shaarei Efraim15 wrote to mediate between the views: 'The one who goes up to the Torah must hold the sefer Torah at the time of the bracha, and he should hold the two parchment sheets of the Torah, from this side and from that side, and he should not hold the sefer Torah bare but by means of the tallis or a cloth at the time of the bracha, and after the bracha he removes the left from there, and there is one who conducts himself to hold in his hands the rollers called atzei hachaim and not the parchment itself, and one should fulfill both — to hold the parchment sheets of the Torah at the time of the bracha, and at the time of the reading his right hand should hold the eitz hachaim; and an allusion to the matter: "עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה" ("It is a tree of life to those who hold fast to it").'
The Chabad minhag is to hold the two atzei chaim at the time of the bracha, and afterward at the time of the reading to hold the right eitz chaim, as the Rebbe wrote in the kuntres of 2 Nissan 570816 [regarding] the conduct of the Rebbe Rayatz at the aliyah to the Torah: holding the 'eitz chaim' by means of the tallis'.
And the conduct of the Rebbe17 at the time of the bracha was to hold the two atzei chaim, and afterward at the time of the reading to hold the right eitz chaim with both hands, without removing the left hand after the bracha.
If so, we have seen that at the time of the reading and likewise at the time of saying the Torah brochos one should hold the eitz chaim.
Whether the holding must be with the tallis we will see in the next halacha
Notes:
1 41b ↩
2 Hilchos Lulav siman 689 ↩
3 Hilchos Shabbos p. 155 ↩
4 Sukkah remez 760 ↩
5 the law of what is added on Monday and Thursday after Shemoneh Esrei, os 19 ↩
6 OC siman 139 ↩
7 OC siman 139 ↩
8 Shulchan Aruch OC 139:11 ↩
9 Shulchan Aruch ibid. s.k. 11 ↩
10 Shulchan Aruch ibid. s.k. 9 ↩
11 the topic of Krias Sefer Torah, Drush 3 ↩
12 Shulchan Aruch ibid. s.k. 13 ↩
13 The Sefer Kavanos that Rav Moshe Trinki printed from the writings of the Arizal in the year 5385. And see below what the Kaf HaChaim wrote ↩
14 OC 139 s.k. 24 ↩
15 Shaar 4 seif 4. And see the Shulchan HaTahor seif 8 who ruled that at the bracha one holds the atzei chaim, and at the reading itself he holds the parchment (by means of a cloth) with the right hand ↩
16 Sefer HaMaamarim 5708 p. 146. And Sefer HaMinhagim p. 13 ↩
17 Hiskashrus issue 761 p. 16. Maaseh Melech perek 5, Krias HaTorah, os 26 ↩
[ח] (Halacha 755)
Question: Is it permitted to touch the sefer Torah directly with the hands, without a tallis?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Megillah1: 'Rabbi Parnach said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: whoever holds a sefer Torah bare will be buried bare. — Bare, can you really think so? Rather say: he will be buried bare of mitzvos. Bare of mitzvos, can you think so? — Rather Abaye said: he will be buried bare of that [particular] mitzvah'.
And on the other hand, in the previous halacha we saw that the Orchos Chaim2 brought in the name of the Yerushalmi: 'Yerushalmi, Rabbi Yosi bar Bun said: when they went up to the duchan to recite the bracha, the one who recites the bracha takes the roller of the Torah in his hand, as it says "לקוח את ספר התורה הזה" ("Take this sefer Torah"), end quote'. And seemingly from the plain language it appears that he takes the roller of the Torah in his hands literally, and see below:
The Agudah3 wrote: 'Whoever holds a sefer Torah bare — they explained in Tosafos that the same applies to all kisvei hakodesh, it is forbidden to touch [them] without a cloth, and in Tosafos [it is written] even close to netilah'.
But the Mordechai4 wrote: 'Whoever holds a sefer Torah bare will be buried bare of that mitzvah — Rabbeinu Aviyah wrote: it appears to me that this is specifically with bare hands, but if he washed [netilah] and did not divert his mind we are not particular'.
And the Beis Yosef5 wrote: 'And it is possible that on this the Ashkenazim rely, who hold a sefer Torah bare at the time they lift it to show the writing to the people; however, I found it written in the name of the Sefer Agudah that even close to netilah it is said, and it is further written there that not specifically a sefer Torah but the same applies to the rest of kisvei hakodesh, that it is forbidden to touch them without a cloth'.
But the Rama in the Darchei Moshe6 wrote: 'And I am of their descendants, and I have not seen this minhag among them; on the contrary, they are careful about it not to touch a sefer Torah bare, but regarding the rest of kisvei hakodesh they are not careful at all, and I have never seen anyone who was concerned for this with other sefarim'.
And in practice the Mechaber7 wrote: 'It is forbidden to hold a sefer Torah bare, without a cloth'.
And the Rama wrote in a gloss: 'And some say that the same applies to the rest of kisvei hakodesh, but they did not conduct themselves so, and it is good to be stringent if one has not washed his hands; but with a sefer Torah, even in such a case it is forbidden'.
If so, we have seen that regarding a sefer Torah the Poskim wrote that even after netilah it is forbidden to hold the sefer Torah without a mantle or a cloth.
★ ★ ★
Question: Does the prohibition of touching apply also to the atzei chaim or only to the sefer itself?
Answer: The Maharit8 wrote: Question. That which the master asked regarding what they said z"l, "whoever holds a sefer Torah bare will be buried bare", whether it suffices for him with a cloth so that he should not stand under rabbinic ban — because the shaliach tzibur raised the sefer Torah from the bimah wrapped in its parchment in order to swaddle it, and one of the knowledgeable ones raised his voice mightily [saying] that regarding this it was said "whoever holds a sefer Torah bare", and the shaliach tzibur answered: this is not correct — and what will you answer when they lift the sefer Torah to show its writing to the people? Answer. The law is with the shaliach tzibur, for they said in perek Bnei Ha'ir regarding one who holds a sefer Torah bare only [when it is] without a cloth, but by means of a cloth it is fine, as the Tur wrote siman 147, and so Rashi explained. And accordingly it is possible to say that by means of the rollers it is likewise permitted.
If so, the Maharit inclines to say that there is no problem with touching the rollers.
[But afterward he brings that it may be said that according to the view of the Rambam the matter depends on whether the sefer is covered or uncovered, and this is his language: 'And the Rambam z"l wrote in Hilchos Sefer Torah: a person should not hold a sefer Torah in his arm and enter a beis haknesses or a bathhouse etc., and one should not hold a sefer Torah when it is bare .. rather it appears to me that the Rambam explains that one should not hold a sefer Torah even by means of the rollers when the sefer Torah is bare, lest he touch it'].
And the Bach9 wrote that although there is a side to permit touching the rollers after netilah as above, nevertheless it is fitting to be stringent, and this is his language: 'It is forbidden to hold a sefer Torah without a cloth. Explanation: one who reads from the Torah must hold the rollers of the Torah at the time of the bracha and reading, as above at the end of siman 139; it is forbidden for him to hold the rollers of the sefer without a cloth. And our minhag that we are not careful in this relies on what the Mordechai wrote in the name of the Raavyah at the end of Megillah: it appears to me that this is specifically with bare hands, but if he washed and did not divert his mind we are not particular, end quote. And so wrote the Beis Yosef, that on this the Ashkenazim rely, who hold a sefer Torah bare at the time they lift it to show the writing to the people, end quote. And it is astonishing why he wrote "at the time they lift it" — for even at the time they read they hold the rollers of the sefer Torah without a cloth; and it may be said that at the time they lift it everyone sees that they hold the rollers of the sefer Torah bare, unlike at the time they read, which is not so public. And the Beis Yosef wrote in the name of the Agudah that even close to netilah it is forbidden, and therefore every G-d-fearing person should not hold the rollers of a sefer Torah bare without a cloth; and so I have seen from the meticulous ones that both at the time they read and at the time they lift it they hold the rollers of the sefer Torah by means of the corner of the tallis, and I have heard that so they conduct themselves in the land of Ashkenaz, and it is correct'.
If so, we have seen that the Rishonim disagreed regarding the law of touching with the hands after netilah, and likewise that the Poskim disagreed regarding touching the atzei chaim. And some wrote that when the hands are washed [with netilah] touching the atzei chaim is permitted.
In the next halacha we will see the words of the Poskim in practice, and what the minhag is
Notes:
1 32a ↩
2 the law of what is added on Monday and Thursday after Shemoneh Esrei, os 19 ↩
3 Shabbos perek 1 siman 20 ↩
4 Megillah remez 834 ↩
5 OC siman 147 ↩
6 OC siman 147 os 2 ↩
7 Shulchan Aruch OC 147:1 ↩
8 Responsa vol. 1 siman 136 ↩
9 OC siman 147 ↩
[ט] (Halacha 756)
In the previous halacha we saw that the Poskim disagreed whether it is permitted permitted to touch the atzei chaim with the hands
Question: What was decided in practice?
Answer: In the previous halacha we saw that the Bach was stringent regarding touching the eitz chaim without a cloth, and the Magen Avraham1 agreed with him, and this is his language: 'And the Bach explains that even with the rollers it is forbidden to hold [it] unless by means of a cloth or something else, and so wrote the Rit siman 136 [Knesses HaGedolah], and in this the Ashkenazim are lenient, but one should be stringent, end quote; and so it is [derived] from the Rambam who wrote in perek 9 of Hilchos Avos HaTumah, and this is his language: the cords and straps that one sewed to a sefer, even though he is not permitted to keep them, as long as they are attached to the sefer they defile the hands; the case of a sefer and the box of a sefer and the wrappers of sefarim, when they are sewn, defile the hands; the brochos, even though there are in them [letters] of the [Divine] Name, do not defile the hands, end quote; and so wrote the Rosh in the name of a Tosefta; if so, all the more so with the rollers; and in Shabbos daf 19 it is stated that the essential reason that they defile the hands is so that one should not hold them bare2 and if so it is proven that it is forbidden to hold them bare even by the rollers'.
But the Taz3 disagreed with the Bach and wrote: 'And it appears that in holding the rollers of a sefer Torah as is customary, this is not included in "whoever holds a sefer Torah bare", for the rollers are only accessories of the sefer Torah and furthermore, Rashi explained at the end of perek Bnei Ha'ir "a sefer Torah bare" [means] without a cloth around the sefer Torah — evidently he is particular only about that which is customarily upon the sefer Torah, namely the parchment sheets; and we explicitly say above that one must hold the rollers at the time of the bracha and the Torah reading, and they did not warn that one should take some cloth upon his hand so as not to touch the rollers; and furthermore, why did the Beis Yosef write "at the time they lift it" and not say "at the time of the reading", which is also [practiced] among all Yisrael and not among the Ashkenazim alone; rather it is about the sefer Torah itself that they warned that one should not hold it bare, and it frequently happens that at the time they lift the sefer Torah the parchment sheets of the sefer Torah are drawn downward and one holds the top of the sheet to pull it upward so that he can roll it well, and this is common among us, and about this the Beis Yosef said that he saw from the Ashkenazim who do so and rely on the Mordechai that netilah avails, and the Rama concludes that it is forbidden, and that is in this manner that I mentioned, to touch the sheets themselves, and netilah does not avail but [only] the interposition of a tallis between his hand and the sefer Torah; and in the Levush and [by] my father-in-law and teacher z"l they explained the words of the Gemara as referring to the rollers, and in explaining the words of the Beis Yosef too they understood so, and entered into forced explanations, and there does not appear to be any prohibition at all with the rollers of a sefer Torah, and as I wrote, so it is clear in my humble opinion, and we have not seen even from the meticulous ones to be careful about touching the rollers of a sefer Torah without an interposition4'.
And in the Responsa Noda BiYehuda5 he wrote: 'And behold, the widespread minhag is to be lenient .. and now in any case with the rollers there is certainly [reason] to rely to permit after netilah, and bnei Ashkenaz conducted themselves well ..'. And in the responsum following it he wrote: 'And regarding the case of whether one may interpose with a tallis when he holds the rollers of a sefer Torah, I say the permission is his; only [as it says] "את צנועים חכמה" ("with the modest ones is wisdom"), that not many people should notice this, and it would be considered arrogance to be stringent in that which most of the world is lenient and it is permitted according to the law, as I elaborated in my first responsum. And even so it appears to me that there is no [violation of] "lo sisgodedu" in this, for the observer will say perhaps he touched a soiled place and does not rely on something that cleans [his hands] to hold the rollers of a sefer Torah, whereas the rest of the people who hold [them] did not touch a soiled place and rely on the morning netilah'.
And in the Shaarei Efraim6 he wrote: 'When one lifts the sefer Torah he may hold the rollers of the sefer Torah without a cloth, and in any case it is good that he clean his hands with water or with something else before his holding of the rollers; and some are stringent and wrap the rollers of the sefer Torah in the corners of the tallis at the time of hagbahah, and in a place where not everyone is accustomed to do so, even one who is meticulous in this should do so with discretion and modestly, so that it should not appear as arrogance..'.
And the Aruch HaShulchan7 wrote: 'And the essential [halacha] is like those who permit, and so is the minhag, and there is no hesitation in this at all'.
And so wrote Rav Chaim Naeh8: 'And he is permitted to hold them with his actual hands without a tallis, and some are stringent to hold them by means of the tallis, see the Taz siman 147'.
The Chabad minhag: The Rebbe, in the kuntres of 2 Nissan 57089, wrote a list of various minhogim (from the minhogim of the Rebbe Rayatz): 'At the aliyah to the Torah: holding the "eitz chaim" by means of the tallis'10. And so it is written in Sefer HaMinhagim11, and so the Rebbe said at the seudah of the last day of Pesach 572912 that when we go up to the Torah our minhag is that we hold the atzei chaim with a tallis, and that so one should conduct oneself.
[And in a note in Sefer HaMinhagim the Rebbe writes: 'Only [by] my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe, did I see [one] careful in this'13].
The conduct of the Rebbe: He held with his holy hands the eitz chaim without a tallis14, except on Simchas Torah15 when they called him to go up to the Torah together with the Rebbe Rayatz.
If so, we have seen that in practice the Poskim disagreed whether it is permitted to hold the atzei chaim by hand or whether one must hold them with a tallis, and many were lenient and wrote that such is the minhag, and such is the Rebbe's minhag16, and in Sefer HaMinhagim the minhag of the Rebbe Rayatz to hold [it] with the tallis is brought.
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Notes:
1 in the introduction to siman 147 ↩
2 The Eliyah Rabbah OC 147 s.k. 1 commented on the Magen Avraham: 'And in my humble opinion [it may be said] because the Rabbis did not distinguish. Also it is similar to tefillin, which defile the hands and yet one touches them bare, and likewise even kisvei hakodesh according to the Rav Rama. Also Tosafos in Megillah daf 7 are only in doubt whether it is also forbidden with kisvei hakodesh'. And in this manner the Aruch HaShulchan OC 147:6 raised a difficulty: '.. and the essence of their reasoning is that since it is taught in [maseches] Yadayim there that they defile the hands, if so it is forbidden to touch them bare, and I wonder, for there is no relation one to the other, for if so it would be forbidden to touch tefillin and straps ..' ↩
3 siman 147 s.k. 1 ↩
4 To note that the Nahar Shalom OC 147:1 commented on the words of the Taz, and wrote that 'to forbid holding the rollers whenever there is a cloth around the sefer Torah, no person ever said', and his opinion is that the Bach was stringent regarding touching the atzei chaim only when the sefer Torah is bare, as the Maharit wrote (brought in the previous halacha) in [explaining] the words of the Rambam ↩
5 Mahadura Kama OC siman 7 ↩
6 Shaar 10 seif 15, and so wrote the Mishnah Berurah OC 147 s.k. 2 ↩
7 OC 147:6 ↩
8 Badei HaShulchan siman 25 s.k. 26 ↩
9 Sefer HaMaamarim 5708 p. 146 ↩
10 And in a note the Rebbe wrote: 'See the views in the nosei keilim of the Shulchan Aruch, OC beginning of siman 147' ↩
11 p. 13 ↩
12 HaMelech BiMesibo vol. 1 p. 309. Toras Menachem vol. 56 p. 93 ↩
13 Some have written (see Hiskashrus issue 569) that the Rebbe's intent in this note is to teach us that this is a minhag of the Rebbe Rayatz, and not a directive for the public. But it requires study whether that is indeed the intent, especially since, as stated, the Rebbe mentioned afterward in the year 5729 that this is our minhag. However, it should be noted that in the Luach Minhogei Chabad that was prepared by one of Anash (brought in 'Hiskashrus' issue 212 p. 17), it was written regarding the conduct of the one who goes up to the Torah: 'the entire time he holds the eitz chaim by means of the tallis', and the Rebbe edited this luach and deleted the words 'by means of the tallis' ↩
14 See in Hiskashrus issue 1369, from the notes of the chassid Rav Menachem Zev HaLevi Greenglass, of blessed memory, who heard from the chassid Rav Mendel Tenenbaum, of blessed memory, who asked the Rebbe about the fact that he does not hold the eitz chaim of the sefer Torah with the tallis, and the Rebbe answered that since he cannot do so at his aliyah at Mincha — on Shabbos Kodesh or on fast days — therefore he is not careful about this in the morning either ↩
15 But in the years 5751 and 5752 even on Simchas Torah he held [it] without a tallis ↩
16 In practice it appears that most of Anash conduct themselves like the Rebbe's minhag in this, and do not hold the atzei chaim with a tallis ↩
From the project 'Shoneh Halacha' - a daily halacha with reasons and sources
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Join the WhatsApp groupTouching and kissing at the place of the reading
[א] (Halacha 747)
> Touching and kissing at the beginning of the place of the reading and its end at the aliyah to the Torah
The Gemara in Maseches Megillah1 states: 'The Rabbanan taught: he opens and looks, rolls closed and recites the bracha, and opens again and reads — these are the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: he opens and looks and recites the bracha and reads. Rabbi Zeira said in the name of Rav Masna: the halacha is, he opens and looks and recites the bracha and reads. — But let it say the halacha is like Rabbi Yehuda! — Because they reverse them'.
And the Rambam2 wrote: 'Each and every one of the readers opens the sefer Torah and looks at the place where he is reading, and afterward says "Bless Hashem, the blessed One", and all the people answer "Blessed is Hashem, the blessed One, forever and ever", and he repeats and recites the bracha, "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us His Torah, Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah", and all the people answer amen; and afterward he reads until he completes the reading and rolls the sefer closed and recites the bracha, "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, Who has given us His Torah, the Torah of truth, and planted eternal life within us, Blessed are You, Hashem, Giver of the Torah"'.
And in practice the Mechaber3 wrote: 'And he opens the scroll before he recites the bracha and sees the pasuk with which he must begin, and afterward recites the bracha, and after he has read, he rolls it closed and recites the bracha'.
ב. Touching and kissing at the place of the reading:
Indeed, we find poskim who mentioned, besides looking at the place, also touching with the tallis and kissing the place of the reading, as the Shaarei Ephraim wrote4: '.. and they show him the place from which he should begin to read, so that he will know over what he is reciting the bracha, and the custom is that the one called up takes the tallis or the mantle of the Sefer Torah and passes it over part of the column at the place where there is to be read, and kisses the tallis or the mantle; and this is a minhag of the vatikin, as I shall write below'.
And further on in his words5 he brings that, because of the concern that they might mistakenly show the one called up a different place and not the place at which they are to read: 'And from this arose the custom of passing the tallis along the length of part of the parchment at that place which they show him to read, to kiss it with a kiss of affection, as above, since through this he reveals his mind that it is dear to him to read from all that is written here ..'.
Thus we have seen that there were those who had the custom of passing the tallis over the part of the column where the daily reading is found, and kissing it.
But there are those who rejected this minhag and were concerned about the erasure of letters through passing the tallis over the writing, as the Nimukei Orach Chaim wrote6 on the words of the Shulchan Aruch, 'and he looks at the verse with which he must begin': 'That is, he only looks at the verse with which he must begin, and does not rub (that is, soil) that place in the Sefer Torah with his tallis and kiss it, for this is not at all required by law nor is it a measure of piety; on the contrary, it causes much damage to the Sefer Torah7, as my father and teacher wrote in his responsa (siman 5), which was printed in Tiferes Banim on the Torah and the Festivals, at its end; see there. And the humility of the outstanding gaon, our master, our teacher R' Ephraim Zalman Margolios, of blessed memory (who cited this minhag of rubbing and kissing as mentioned above) [and likewise, on several occasions in his precious works he brings customs that are only the custom of the amei ha'aretz of his city or region — with the pardon of the honor of his exalted Torah, in his great humility] caused the ruin of many a Sefer Torah, having them erased until it brought them to the point of being pasul; may Hashem save us'.
And therefore there are those who wrote8 that he should touch with his tallis only on the margin of the Sefer Torah and not at the place where the letters are written.
C. Kissing at the conclusion of the reading:
The Sefer Chassidim wrote9: 'After he has read in the Torah he kisses the Sefer Torah10, based on the verse ישקני מנשיקות פיהו ("Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth") (שה"ש א, ב)'.
And so too wrote the Shaarei Ephraim11: 'And after concluding the bracha, before he departs from it, he should kiss the Sefer Torah'.
D. Our minhag
Our minhag is that before the reading we touch at the place of the beginning of the reading and likewise at the place of its conclusion, but we do not pass the tallis along the length of the column12, and likewise our minhag is to touch and kiss also at the conclusion of the reading, as follows.
And as the Rebbe wrote concerning the practice of the Rebbe Rayatz13: 'At his aliyah to the Torah he indicates and touches with his tallis not only at the beginning of the portion that they will read, but also at the place of the end of the reading. And he does so also on Shabbos Kodesh'.
And in the Sefer HaMinhogim14, from the customs of the Rebbe Rayatz: 'He touches with his tallis15 at the beginning of the place of the reading and at its end, and kisses the tallis at the place where it touched the Sefer Torah .. At the conclusion of the reading he touches with his tallis at the end of the place of the reading and afterward at its beginning. He kisses the tallis at the place where it touched the Sefer Torah..'16.
The Rebbe's practice: Before the reading, to touch with the tallis at the beginning of the reading, at its end, and again at its beginning17. And likewise at the conclusion of the reading, to touch at its end, afterward at its beginning, and once again at its end.
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Notes:
1 32a ↩
2 Hilchos Tefillah u'Nesias Kapayim, ch. 12, halacha 5 ↩
3 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 139, se'if 4. However, in practice our minhag follows the Rema, and we will discuss this in a separate halacha, be'ezras Hashem ↩
4 Shaar 4, se'if 3 ↩
5 Se'if 17 ↩
6 Siman 139, se'if katan 1 ↩
7 And see also the Shulchan HaTahor (Komarna) siman 139, se'if 8: 'And he should not rub the writing with his tallis, as is the custom of ignoramuses'. And see further what is referenced in the Nimukei Orach Chaim below, and in the Sefer HaMinhogim below, note 15 ↩
8 See Shaarei Chaim on the Shaarei Ephraim, se'if katan 20 ↩
9 The Margolios edition, siman 255, cited in the Magen Avraham siman 139, se'if katan 14. And likewise in the Yosef Ometz siman 520; but in siman 518 he wrote: '.. only close to the arrival at the bimah of the reader who follows him should he open it, so that he may honor the Sefer Torah with a kiss at the time of his parting from it'. This implies that the kiss is not at the conclusion of the reading ↩
10 And with regard to seforim in general, the Ohr Tzaddikim wrote, ch. 22, os 17: 'It is a proper minhag to kiss the sefer upon opening and closing it, and especially a sefer of Kabbalah, and it is also a segulah for memory' ↩
11 Ibid., se'if 22 ↩
12 However, our minhag does not accord with the reason brought by the Shaarei Ephraim there, for according to his words the main reason, on the contrary, is to indicate that it is dear to him to read from all of it and not to limit himself to the place they showed him ↩
13 Sefer HaSichos 5691, p. 144, from Reshimas HaYoman p. 164 ↩
14 P. 13. From the kuntres of 2 Nissan 5708. And see Igros Kodesh vol. 13, p. 153-4: 'Regarding what you wrote about when the change in the customs of the tefillah occurred. — Now, the customs of the tefillah that were printed in the kuntreisim that were published, I received them from my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [apart from those specifically noted as being my own view, and in the vast majority I also explained the reason for it]. And among the customs that he mentions — with regard to the conclusion of the bracha of HaBocher B'Amo Yisrael Be'ahavah being said in an undertone, I heard this directive explicitly from my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe. And likewise with regard to bowing the head during the recitation of Kaddish, *and the same applies to touching at the beginning of the place of the reading and its end during the aliyah to the Torah* ..' ↩
15 And in a note in the kuntres there, and in the Sefer HaMinhagim, the Rebbe wrote: 'And not like those who are careful (their words are cited in the sefer Shaarei Tamim and Shaarei Chaim on the Shaarei Ephraim, Shaar 4, se'if katan 3 and se'if katan 17) to touch only on the margin of the parchment' ↩
16 The first passage, concerning touching the tallis before the reading, is also cited in the Hayom Yom, 4 Elul. But see the Hayom Yom HaMevo'ar that this was added in the editions from 5717 onward, and in the first edition of the Hayom Yom, which came out in the year 5703, it is written: 'The order of the Torah brochos: he looks, and rolls the Sefer Torah .. and afterward recites the bracha..' ↩
17 See what R' Vohabe wrote in Asif Minhagei Chabad, Krias haTorah (printed in the Tikun Korim, Chazak edition), that this is how the Rebbe conducted himself in the later years. But prior to that the Rebbe's practice, before the reading, was to touch only at the beginning and the end (as brought in the sources above), and at the conclusion of the reading only at its end and again at its beginning ↩