Rosh Hashonoh
[1] (halacha 86)
Blowing the Shofar [A]
Question: Must one be particular when purchasing a shofar to ensure a mehudar kashrus?
Answer: When purchasing a shofar one must be particular about a mehudar kashrus, since there are several conditions for the kashrus of the shofar, and if one was not careful about them it is possible that one does not fulfill the obligation!
I will write briefly some of the laws of the shofar and the rules of its kashrus as explained in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe siman 586: It must be a shofar and not a horn (se'if 1), from a kosher animal and not a non-kosher one (se'if 3). Lechatchilah it is a mitzvah that it be curved, but this is not me'akev bedi'avad (se'if 1 and 3).
The most preferable mitzvah is that it be from a ram (se'if 2).
The minimum size of the shofar is at least a tefach - 8 cm (se'if 13).
It is forbidden to glue parts of shofaros to one another and create from this one shofar (se'if 10), and therefore it is forbidden to add to the shofar pieces from another shofar, neither on the wide side nor on the narrow side (se'if 11). It is forbidden to coat the mouth of the shofar because of chatzitzah (se'if 16). In general one must be careful not to add things onto the shofar (coatings, decorations, or to draw drawings) out of concern for changing the sound of the shofar (se'if 16 and 18).
It is forbidden to turn the shofar inside out so that the inner part faces outward. And it is forbidden to widen the narrow side and narrow the wide side (se'if 12).
It is forbidden to make a shofar from the part that fills the shofar, which is called the "zachrus" (se'if 15).
Many shofaros are imported from all sorts of places abroad and there is not always proper supervision over this, and therefore it is very important to buy a shofar only with a mehudar kashrus!
Question: Is it permitted to blow a stolen shofar?
Answer: a. A person who stole a shofar and blew it has fulfilled the obligation [since the mitzvah is in hearing the sound of the shofar, and in hearing a sound there is no din of theft, for at the time of hearing he is not touching the shofar], but he should not recite a bracha over such a blowing since this is a mitzvah ha'ba'ah ba'aveirah1.
b. However, another person who blows with it may recite a bracha over this if there was ye'ush be'alim or shinui ma'aseh2.
Question: Is it permitted to use a shofar without the owner's knowledge?
Answer: a. It is permitted to recite a bracha and blow the blowing of the mitzvah [and likewise the other blowings that we blow according to our minhag3] with another person's shofar without his knowledge [for presumably he is content that a mitzvah be performed with his property when there is no monetary loss]4.
b. And on condition that he does not take the shofar out to a different place from where the owner left the shofar5.
Notes:
1 שוע"ר סי' תקפו ס"ד ↩
2 שוע"ר סי' תרמ"ט ס"ו ↩
3 הליכות עולם סי' תקפו אות טו, ובפתחי עולם אות יז וכא ↩
4 שוע"ר שם ס"ה ↩
5 שוע"ר סי' יד ס"י, תרמ"ט ס"ג ↩
[2] (halacha 88)
Question: What are the foods that one refrains from eating on Rosh Hashanah so that it should be a sweet year?
Answer: a. The Alter Rebbe wrote1 not to cook with vinegar on Rosh Hashanah. And he likewise wrote there2 regarding eating an apple with honey, that one is accustomed to eat a sweet apple dipped in honey.
It is understood from his words that one should not eat foods cooked in vinegar or sour foods on Rosh Hashanah. And in Mateh Efraim3 he also mentioned bitter foods.
b. It is brought in the Acharonim4 that the problem is only with something that was cooked in something sour or something sour in itself such as eating a lemon, but to season the food a little with something sour in order to improve the taste is permitted, and therefore it is permitted to add to a salad a little vinegar or lemon.
Question: What about spicy/sharp foods?
Answer: In general the poskim mentioned sour, and some of them added bitter, and therefore some wrote5 that there is no prevention from eating sharp/spicy food [and to note that even among the simanim brought in the Shulchan Aruch that are eaten on the night of Rosh Hashanah there is the leek (karti), and likewise the rubia (which is fenugreek) which have sharpness in them].
But some wrote6 that sharp/spicy is equal to sour and bitter, and that therefore one should refrain from sharp/spicy as well.
Question: Why does one not eat nuts and hazelnuts on Rosh Hashanah?
Answer: a. The Rema wrote7: 'There are those who are meticulous not to eat nuts, for "egoz" (nut) has the gematria of "cheit" (sin), and furthermore because they increase phlegm and mucus and disrupt the tefillah'. However, the Alter Rebbe wrote there in se'if 6 only the second reason: 'There are those who are meticulous not to eat nuts and hazelnuts (meaning small nuts), because they increase phlegm and mucus and disrupt the tefillah'.
b. And the Acharonim wrote8 that according to the concern of phlegm and mucus one should also refrain from other branches of the nut family such as almonds, peanuts and the like.
Question: What is the ruling regarding ground nuts and hazelnuts in cakes and the like?
Answer: a. The Be'er Moshe wrote in his responsa9 that the baking and cooking cause the nut to no longer cause phlegm and mucus, and therefore with a hazelnut one need not be stringent, but with the regular nut which has the gematria of "cheit" one must be stringent.
b. However, we have seen that the Alter Rebbe omitted the reason that the avoidance is because of the gematria of "cheit", and according to this there is room to be lenient also with ground nuts.
c. Moreover, in the Yad Yitzchak responsa10 he wrote that besides the fact that the cooking nullifies so that there will be no phlegm and mucus, the moment the nut is not recognizable to the eye there is also no concern from the angle that it has the gematria of "cheit", because its individual name has been nullified.
Therefore, in practice one may be lenient with nuts ground into a cake.
Notes:
1 סי' תקפג ס"ב מאבודרהם, והחיד"א בספרו עין טוב סי' יח אות צא ציין שכן כתוב בתשובת הגאונים סי' קיד ↩
2 בס"א ↩
3 סי' תקפג ס"ג. קיצור שו"ע סי' קכט ס"ט ועוד אחרונים ↩
4 שו"ת רבבות אפרים ח"ו סי' שח. אור לציון ח"ד בביאורים אות ג. פסקי תשובות סי' תקפג אות ה הערה 30 ↩
5 פסקי תשובות שם ↩
6 בלקט יושר (ע' 124 אות ט) מובא שבעל תורמת הדשן נמנע מלאכול חריף, וכך כתב המאור ושמש פרשת תולדות ד"ה ועתה שא נא שחז"ל מנעו מאיתנו לאכול בראש השנה דברים חמוצים וחריפים, וכ"מ מערוך השלחן סתקפ"ב ס"ג לגבי פלפלין. וכ"כ בברית כהונת עולם השלם או"ח מערכת ר סקי"א (ע' קסג) וכך כתב באור לציון שם ↩
7 סי' תקפג ס"ב ↩
8 נטעי גבריאל פכ"ח דין יד. פסקי תשובות שם אות ז הערה 37 ↩
9 ח"ג סצ"ז ↩
10 ח"א סי' רח ↩
[2] (halacha 370)
The minhag of saying Tashlich (A)
Question: What is the source and what are the reasons for the minhag of saying Tashlich?
Answer: a) The first to mention this minhag is the Maharil (Minhagim), Hilchos Rosh Hashanah: 'Maharei Segal said that the reason they are accustomed to go on Rosh Hashanah after the seudah to seas and rivers to cast into the depths of the sea all our sins, is because it is brought in the Midrash1 as a remembrance of the Akeidah, that Avraham Avinu crossed a river up to his neck, and said "Save me O God for the waters have reached my soul." And it was the Satan who became like a river to prevent him from the Akeidah. And Maharei Segal also was accustomed to go to the rivers'.
b) The Rema in his work Toras HaOlah2 explained the minhag: 'And a minhag of Israel is Torah, in that they go to water and say Tashlich at the depth of the sea, which is the tehom, and it is the deepest place in the sea. Now according to the nature of the elements, the waters should cover the earth, and the earth is the center, and it is the lowest place in all the world. Now the revealing of the earth for the need of human beings and those who dwell upon it is not without the intent of an Intender, and it is He who renewed the world according to His will for the purpose of the settlement of the earth, and therefore we go to the water to see where He set a boundary for the sea, and said "until here you shall come and no further," and when we go there we see the might of the Former of Creation, and therefore we go to the water on Rosh Hashanah, which is the Day of Judgment, to set upon his soul, each one, the matter of the creation of the world, and that Hashem the Exalted is King of the earth, and concerning this it is said "cast into the depths of the sea our sins," for in truth one who contemplates the matter of the depth of the sea and recognizes that the world is renewed through this, stands upon the existence of Hashem the Exalted, and through this regrets all his iniquities, and his sins are forgiven, and in this manner the sins are cast into the depth of the sea, and it is explained to the discerning one'.
c) The Shela3 wrote: 'And likewise that which they are accustomed to go to the river, to say the pasuk4 "ותשליך במצולות ים כל חטאתם" ("And You will cast into the depths of the sea all their sins") etc., it is a minhag of the vasikin, if it is in the manner that I mentioned above, that one is aroused to complete teshuvah in his heart, and casts off from himself his idols, then they fall into the depth of the sea'. (And in the continuation of his words he quotes the Zohar in Parshas Emor5).
And something similar to this we find at length in the Pri Etz Chaim6: 'It is proper to go on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, before sunset, to a spring or well of living water, and it is good if it be outside the city, and to say there (the 13 attributes) the 13 measures of mercy of Michah the Morashtite, "Mi Keil Kamocha" etc., until "mimei kedem," which are the 13 t.d. of Arich Anpin. And it is a good minhag to say after Mincha before sunset, and to have in mind the explanations of how they are counted to the number of 13 t.d., corresponding to the 13 measures, and where the place of each one is in the dikna, that one should have in mind in which place in the dikna they are alluded to .. and then, those sins that the person committed, which are those damaging forces which he created through his sin, they descend into the depth of the sea, and Samael and the serpent who are the shadow of death, do not draw from above, for the root of their nourishment, which are the dinim, has already been sweetened, and they are Adn"i Elokim, and they do not draw from them .. and likewise one should have in mind, also when saying "and You will cast into the depths of the sea all their sins," one should have in mind that one casts every sin and every accuser into the supernal depth of the sea, therefore it is good to say it at the edge of the sea, or a well of living water, or a flowing spring as above'.
d) The Beis Meir7 wrote: 'And they go to the river. It appears that it is on account of the pasuk in Shmuel I 7 "and they drew water and poured it out before Hashem." And the Targum Yonasan renders "and they poured out their hearts in teshuvah like water before Hashem." And Rashi explained a sign of submission, behold we are before You like these waters that are poured out'.
e) In the Siddur Otzar HaTefillos, and in the Elef HaMagen8 they explained based on the Gemara in Maseches Horiyos 12a: 'Our Rabbis taught: One anoints kings only at a spring, so that their kingdom should continue, as it says: "And the king said to them, take with you the servants of your lord [etc.] and bring him down to the Gichon."' And since on this day we coronate the Holy One Blessed Be He, therefore one goes to a spring or river.
This minhag which we have seen began in the lands of Ashkenaz, and as the Rav Chaim Vital also writes in Shaar HaKavanos: 'The matter of the minhag that the Ashkenazim were accustomed to go on the first day of Rosh Hashanah after Mincha a little before sunset to the Great Sea or to a spring or well of living water, and they call it Tashlich, behold it is a fine minhag and it is even better if it be outside the city ..'. And indeed it was not brought in the Shulchan Aruch but only in the Rema who wrote9: 'And they go to the river to say the pasuk: "And You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins" etc.'.
But afterwards the minhag went and spread also to the rest of the communities of Israel.
Thus we have seen various reasons for the reason of the minhag of going to a source of water such as a sea or river: a. A remembrance of the Akeidah (Maharil). b. To remember the creation of the world (the Rema) c. It alludes to submission (Beis Meir) d. That through teshuvah the iniquities fall into the depths. (Pri Etz Chaim, Shela). e. It alludes to the coronation of the Holy One Blessed Be He.
However, some wrote that the essence of the minhag is to go to a place where one sees living fish, and we will learn about this in tomorrow's halacha with the help of Hashem.
Notes:
1 תנחומא וירא פכ"ב ↩
2 ח"ג סי' נו ↩
3 מסכת ר"ה פרק נר מצוה ↩
4 מיכה ז, יט ↩
5 ח"ג קא, ב ↩
6 שער השופר פ"ה ↩
7 או"ח סי' תקפג ↩
8 סי' תקצח אות יב ↩
9 שו"ע או"ח סי' תקפג ס"ב ↩
[3] (halacha 371)
The minhag of saying Tashlich (B)
Question: In the previous halacha we saw that the minhag of Tashlich is to go to a source of water and not necessarily a place with fish; why then do many have the minhag to go specifically to a place where there are fish?
Answer: In the Sefer HaMinhagim (by Rabbeinu Aizik Tirna, a contemporary of the Maharil), in Hilchos Rosh Hashanah, he wrote: 'And they are accustomed to go to the river and say "תשוב תרחמינו" ("You will return and have mercy on us") etc. and they see living fish'1.
And we find several reasons for this minhag:
a) It is written in the Hagahos HaMinhagim2 in explanation of the matter of seeing the fish: 'To remember that we are compared to these living fish that are suddenly caught in a net'. And likewise the Levush wrote3: 'To remember that we are compared to these living fish that are caught in a net, so are we caught in the net of death and judgment, and through this we will contemplate more in teshuvah'.
b) The Rema in Darkei Moshe4 wrote: 'The Maharil wrote that they are accustomed to go to the river and say "תשוב תרחמנו" ("You will return and have mercy on us") etc. because it is brought in the Midrash as a remembrance of the Akeidah, that Avraham crossed water up to his neck and said "Save me O God for the waters have reached my soul"5, until here his words. And so it is in the Minhagim (by Maharei Tirna) except that he added that they see living fish and it is possible that it is for a sign that the evil eye should not have dominion over us and that we should be fruitful and multiply like fish'.
c) The Shela6 wrote: 'I also heard a great and correct allusion, that they go to water where there are fish, since the fish have no eyelids, and their eyes are always open, in order to arouse the supernal open eyes, which alludes to great mercy, and "behold the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps," but His eyes are open. And concerning this it is said7 "Awake, why do You sleep," and it is written8 "why... does Your anger smoke against the flock of Your pasture," for smoke is hard on the eyes, and causes them to be closed, and we pray that they should be open'.
Thus we have seen three reasons why one must do the Tashlich at a place where there are fish and to see them: a. Like fish in a net, so are we in the net of judgment. b. A sign that an evil eye should not have dominion and that we should be fruitful and multiply. c. That the eyes of Hashem should be open like fish that have no eyelids.
------
The position of the Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch and in the Siddur:
The Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch9 wrote the reason of the Rema: 'And one is accustomed to go to the river that has living fish in it, as a sign that the evil eye should not have dominion over us and that we should be fruitful and multiply like fish and they say there the pasuk "ישוב ירחמנו" ("He will return and have mercy on us") etc. and "ותשליך" ("And You will cast") etc. And it is good that it be outside the city, and one should go on the first day of Rosh Hashanah after Mincha before sunset and say the pasuk "מי אל כמוך" ("Who is a God like You") etc'.
But in the Siddur, in the Seder Tashlich, he wrote in accordance with the reason of the Shela: 'After Mincha on the first day of Rosh Hashanah before sunset it is good to go outside the city to a well of water or a spring for water indicates the chassadim' and also fish allude to the open eye and one should say the 13 attributes that are in the pesukim "Mi Keil Kamocha" which correspond to the 13 attributes "Hashem, Hashem, Keil rachum" etc., and one should have in mind for each attribute one attribute that is in the pasuk "Hashem, Hashem, Keil rachum" etc., and not say them. And afterwards "Min hameitzar" etc., and they correspond to the 9 attributes "Hashem erech apayim" etc. And one should say the mizmor "Ranenu tzaddikim" and afterwards say "Lo yarei'u" etc., "Yehi ratzon," "Yihyu leratzon"'.
And the Shaar HaKollel wrote10: 'Although it is not the way of the Alter Rebbe in this Siddur to explain the reasons, nevertheless he explains the reason of Tashlich, because in the Siddur of the Arizal it is written "to go to the well etc. to cast there his iniquities," although this is relevant only to those who are expert and have in mind the secrets according to Kabbalah, as is explained there that this is "to the depths of the sea - the supernal one". But the masses err to say, they cast the sins and iniquities into the river11, and many scoff at this, therefore the Alter Rebbe wrote the accepted reason that is equal for all'.
And in practice our minhag is to endeavor to go to a place where there are fish, and to see them, as the Rebbe said on Shabbos Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei 575112: 'In saying Tashlich near a river that has fish in it, one is precise that one should be able to see the fish that are in the water (as my father-in-law the Rebbe was accustomed)'.
Notes:
1 המגן אברהם סי' תקפג ס"ק ה העיר שבעצם יש כאן מחלוקת האם צריך מקום שיש בו דגים, וז"ל: 'הנהר. שיש בו דגים חיים (מנהגים ומט"מ) עסי' תצ"ז ס"ב, אבל בכתבים כתוב נהר או באר וטוב אם הם מחוץ לעיר ויש לילך ביום ראשון אחר מנחה קודם שקיע' החמה ולו' פסוק מי אל כמוך וגו' עכ"ל' ↩
2 אות קלא, (הגהות אלו נתחברו כנראה קרוב לזמן החיבור עצמו אך לא ברור מי חיברם) ↩
3 או"ח סי' תקצו ס"א וכ"כ במטה משה עמוד העבודה דיני שופר סימן תתכ ↩
4 או"ח סי' תקפג ס"ק ב ↩
5 תהלים סט, ב ↩
6 מסכת ר"ה הגה פרק נר מצוה ↩
7 תהלים מד, כד ↩
8 שם עד, א ↩
9 או"ח סי' תקפג ס"ז ↩
10 פמ"ג סט"ו ↩
11 כמ"ש בקיצור של"ה עמ' פח ביחס לתשליך: 'וסוברין בדעתם שעל ידי זה יוכל האדם לנער כל העבירות שעשה כל השנה, וח"ו לחשוב כן. וכן הוא באמת חילול שם גדול בפני האומות שיודעים מזה ..'. עיי"ש עוד שהאריך ↩
12 תורת מנחם ח"ב ע' 378 בשוה"ג להערה 28. ולהעיר גם מתו"מ ח"ב ע' 4 ↩
[4] (halacha 372)
The minhag of saying Tashlich (C)
Question: What is the source and reason for the minhag to shake out the hems of the garments after saying Tashlich?
Answer: It is written in the Pri Etz Chaim1: 'He should shake out the hems of the garments when they say "ותשליך במצולות ים" ("And You will cast into the depths of the sea") etc'.
And the Kitzur Shela explained2: 'And that which they are accustomed to shake out the corners of their garments is also based on the secret [of Kabbalah], to shake off the kelipos from upon us that cling to us through the filth of our iniquities, just as they are accustomed after Kiddush Levanah for this reason to shake off the kelipos that were aroused through the accusation of the moon, as is known to the men of understanding'.
And in the Mateh Efraim3: 'And they shake out there the hems of the garments, and it is merely as an allusion to set one's heart to cast off the sins, and to search and examine ways from [that day] onward that his garments should be white and clean from all sin'.
In the Torah Lishmah responsa4 he elaborated in explaining the matter: 'One should not question the minhag of Israel .. since every symbolic act performed below is in order to strengthen the matter above, and that is, you will find that the prophets used a symbolic act, as we find with Elisha alav hashalom with Yoash king of Israel, that he said to him "open the window eastward" and he opened it, and Elisha said "shoot" and he shot, and he said "take the arrows" and he took, and he said "strike the ground" and he struck three times and stopped, and the man of God was angry with him and said to strike five or six times, then you would have smitten Aram until it was finished, and now you will smite Aram three times, as mentioned in Melachim II 13. And likewise you will find a symbolic act with Yirmiyah as well, that Yirmiyah alav hashalom commanded Serayah, "and when you have finished reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and you shall say: thus shall Bavel sink and not rise" .. and likewise you will find such a symbolic act of the shaking of the garment in Nechemiah 5, as it is written "also I shook out my lap and said: thus may God shake out every man who does not fulfill this matter from his house and from his labor, and thus may he be shaken out and emptied," and all the congregation said Amen .. and likewise regarding the matter of the order of Tashlich that they were accustomed to shake out the hems of the garment, and although this matter of shaking the garment is not found in the manuscript book of the Kavanos that we have from our Rabbi the Arizal of blessed memory, nevertheless the minhag of Israel is Torah and there is a reason in this in order to perform a symbolic act in the manner of what Nechemiah alav hashalom did in the aforementioned shaking, and our intent is upon the iniquities and sins, that they should be shaken off from the soul and cast off, both they and the supernal accuser, into the supernal depths of the sea, and in truth this matter too that one performs the order of Tashlich at the sea or at a well of water is also a symbolic act for the supernal sea, and as is explained in the words of our master the Arizal zatzal..'.
Question: Which garment must one shake out?
Answer: It is written in the Elef HaMagen5: 'The hems of the garments - it is written in the seforim specifically the garment of tzitzis6'.
And the Rebbe likewise wrote in practice7: 'For Tashlich - one shakes out the hems of the tallis katan'. And in the note it is brought from the glosses of the Rebbe Rashab on the Siddur: It is written in the Pri Etz Chaim Shaar HaShofar chapter 5, "and he shakes out the hems of the garments when they say 'and You will cast into the depths of the sea' etc.," and in the Siddur of the Arizal by Rav Shabsai of blessed memory it is written that specifically the garment of tzitzis, for it is the garment of the Shechinah, and likewise in the Siddur Shaar HaShamayim by the Shela it is written specifically the garment of tzitzis, and so is our minhag, to shake out the tallis katan, but after one finishes the order of Tashlich, and so it appears from the Siddur of the Shela of blessed memory'.
Question: Must women say Tashlich?
Answer: Indeed in the Sefer Zichron Avraham (by Rav Avraham Bing)8 he wrote: 'And it appears to me that for children and women there is no obligation to go to the river, only by force of the minhag do they move mountains over this'. But according to what has been explained in the previous halachos regarding the reasons for saying Tashlich, certainly women too are connected to this minhag of saying Tashlich9.
And indeed we find that several of the great ones of Israel10 instituted that women should not go to say Tashlich together with the men because of the matter of tznius, thus it is brought that the Chacham Tzvi commanded his daughters not to go to Tashlich. And likewise Maharatz Ornstein instituted in the city of Brisk, and Rav Yosef Shaul Natanzon, author of the Shoel U'Meishiv, in Lvov, that women should not go. And likewise the Aruch HaShulchan wrote11.
And there are those who offered a bit of justification, as the Ketzeh HaMateh wrote12: 'And I heard to offer a bit of justification, that perhaps the awe of the Day of Judgment is beneficial also on Rosh Hashanah .. but in our many iniquities, woe to the eyes that see thus on this holy day, that the going to Tashlich has been made for them like an outing to gardens and orchards, and it is from the acts of the Satan, may the Merciful One save us'. And likewise wrote Rav D.Tz. Katzburg in the collection Tel Talpios13: 'For this reason they should be refraining on Rosh Hashanah from going to the river for the tefillah of Tashlich. And perhaps the awe of the Day of Judgment is beneficial a bit also on Rosh Hashanah, see OC siman 278 se'if 8'.
Thus we have seen that the minhag of Tashlich is connected also to women, except that there are poskim who negated it on account of the restrictions of tznius, and thus when there is no problem of tznius it is proper that women too should go and say the tefillah of Tashlich.
Notes:
1 שער השופר פ"ה ↩
2 ר"ה הג"ה ד"ה ראוי ע' פח הובא בא"ר סי' תקצו ס"ק ג ↩
3 סי' תקצח ס"ד ↩
4 סי' לא ↩
5 שם אות ט ↩
6 בספר טעמי המנהגים אות תסד הערה כא הביא מהרה"ק רבי אליעזר מקאמרנא אודות קידוש לבנה, וטעם שמנערין כנפי הציצית דוקא אחר קידוש לבנה ולא בשאר מצות, לרמז בזה שאין אנו מאותן שעובדין לצבא השמים, רק לקיים מצות השם כמו שאנו מקיימים במצות ציצית'. ואולי י"ל שעד"ז גם בתשליך כאשר אומרים תפילה ליד נהר וכו' ↩
7 היום יום א' תשרי, וספר המנהגים ע' 57 ↩
8 סי' תקפג ע' סז ↩
9 וכמבואר בפני המים יב, ב בהערה ↩
10 ראה פני המים שם ע' יג ↩
11 או"ח סי' תקפג ס"ד ↩
12 סי' תקצ"ח ס"ק ז ↩
13 גליון ה שנת תרנז אות נד ↩
[5] (halacha 373)
The minhag of saying Tashlich (D)
Question: What is the ruling when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos?
Answer: It appears that the ancient minhag was to do Tashlich on the first day of Rosh Hashanah even when it falls on Shabbos, as appears from the words of the Maharil (who is the first source for Tashlich) who wrote about the care that one should not throw food to the fish and concluded: 'And all the more so when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos that one should not do so'.
However, in the Kitzur Shela1 he wrote: 'And if the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, one should not do Tashlich until the second day, so that one should not come, chas veshalom, to chillul Shabbos'.
And in the Shevus Yaakov responsa2 he objected to his words at length: 'Regarding what you asked, whether one should go to the river to say Tashlich on Shabbos, behold I do not know any concern of a trace of prohibition in this, and on the contrary the poskim wrote that one should go on the first day, and "the zealous are early for mitzvos," so why should they not go there on Shabbos, what concern of prohibition is there in this, even if the river is in a place where it is forbidden to carry there on Shabbos, what of it, they will not carry anything with them and will not handle anything, and there is no reason to decree lest one carry something, for if so, on all the Shabbosos of the year why do we not decree thus, and we do not find in any posek a concern of a prohibition of a decree in this .. and recently the Kitzur Shela was printed, where he wrote there that one should not go to the river on Shabbos without any reason or proof at all, and he fabricates a prohibition from his heart, and certainly the words of the Maharil and the Hadras Kodesh were hidden from him, and some ignorant people, when they see something already printed in a new book, even though it is not fit to rely upon, grasp it as halacha, and they do not act well, and likewise I have seen many great ones who are accustomed thus and are called "the zealous"'. And likewise the Shaarei Teshuvah wrote3 that one is accustomed to say it on Shabbos.
However, this practice not to do Tashlich on Shabbos was accepted in several communities of Israel, as the Pri Megadim wrote4: 'And in some places I have seen that when the first day falls on Shabbos they go on the second to the river, perhaps because of carrying that they carry with them, and see siman 518 [se'if 1] that carrying with no need at all on Yom Tov is also forbidden5.
Also among the Mekubalim we find that they disagreed on this matter: as the Chida wrote in the Birkei Yosef6, and he elaborated in the Yosef Ometz responsa7 on the words of the Shevus Yaakov: 'He hurled words against the one who said that they should not say Tashlich if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. And what caused the Rav of blessed memory was that he thought the matters were according to their plain meaning. However, the early ones practiced their minhogim according to the secret [of Kabbalah] and concealed the matters greatly in tremendous concealment, as is known that the entire Shas is built according to the secret as the Raya Mehemna wrote, and there was concealment. And according to the secret of "ותשליך" ("And You will cast") which the Arizal of blessed memory revealed its secret, there is room to say that they should not say it on Shabbos, and so wrote in the name of the holy Rav the Ramaz of blessed memory. And although I heard that the pious Rav Maharei Ergaz of blessed memory used to say it on Shabbos, nevertheless to me it appears that "sit and do nothing" is preferable, and all the more so in matters that stand at the heights of the world, whenever it is not found explicitly from our master the Arizal of blessed memory. And furthermore it has not been clarified whether the Rav Maharei Ergaz knew that the Ramaz prevented saying it'. And in the Sefer Moed LeChol Chai8 and the Ben Ish Chai9 they wrote to do it on the first day of Rosh Hashanah even on Shabbos. On the other hand, in the Sdei Chemed10 he wrote to defer it to the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
In the Torah of our Rabbeim the Nesi'im: The Alter Rebbe in the Shulchan Aruch and in the Siddur, when he mentioned Tashlich, did not note that one should not say it when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos.
The Rebbe11 discussed this subject at length, and especially regarding our minhag in practice that one does not say it when it falls on Shabbos12: 'And as we saw with my father-in-law the Rebbe .. and certainly the Rebbe Rashab of blessed memory practiced thus, and certainly they practiced so also before him, that when Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos they did Tashlich on the morrow, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah'.
And he explains that: 'Even though from the Shulchan Aruch there is no proof that according to the opinion of the Alter Rebbe one should do Tashlich on the first day of Rosh Hashanah even when it falls on Shabbos, yet there is proof from the fact that in his Siddur the Alter Rebbe did not mention a distinction whether Rosh Hashanah falls on a weekday or on Shabbos, and certainly if there were such a distinction, he would have specified it in his Siddur .. [And one cannot say like the words of the Acharonim that according to Kabbalah there is no room to do Tashlich on Shabbos - for in addition to what is known that the rulings of the Siddur are founded and consistent also according to Kabbalah..].
And the Rebbe continues to raise a difficulty: 'This is seemingly a wondrous thing: since in the Maharil it is explicit that one does Tashlich also on a Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbos, and also according to Kabbalah, in the Pri Etz Chaim and in the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe, no distinction is mentioned between a Rosh Hashanah that falls on a weekday and a Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbos, what is the reason that in most places one is accustomed not to do Tashlich on a Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbos?
And one can say the explanation of this in the revealed [Torah], by way of introduction: it is known in the words of the Acharonim that there is no room to decree decrees on their own, unless it is an explicit decree, or exactly similar to an explicit decree .. However, when is this said - as long as it is in the category of a decree; but when one sees that it actually happened in practice, namely, that it is not only a supposition "lest one carry it four amos," but it actually happened in practice that they went and carried etc., behold this has left the category of a decree because of a mere concern, and has become in the category of an actual mishap .. and accordingly the question is answered, how is it that our Rabbeim the Nesi'im did not act as emerges from the words of the Alter Rebbe in his Siddur that one should do Tashlich on the first day of Rosh Hashanah even when it falls on Shabbos, since after the generation of the Alter Rebbe they saw that the matter brings to an actual mishap, and not only in the category of a decree because of a concern of a mishap .. and the point of the matter is that as long as the matter is in the category of a decree, then there is room for dispute whether to decree a decree, or whether one has no permission to decree a decree on his own; whereas when it is not in the category of a decree, but for the need of preventing an actual mishap'.
Thus in practice the Chabad minhag when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos is to defer the Tashlich to the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
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Notes:
1 מסכת ר"ה ע' פח ↩
2 ח"ג סי' מב ↩
3 סי' תקפג ס"ק ו ↩
4 או"ח א"א סי' תקפג ס"ק ה ↩
5 וכ"כ המט"א סי' תקצח ס"ו ↩
6 סי' תקפג ס"ק ו ↩
7 סי"ז ג ↩
8 סי' יג ס"ע ↩
9 נצבים אות יב ↩
10 אספ"ד מערכת ר"ה סי' ב אות ב ↩
11 שיחת ו' תשרי התש"ל תו"מ חנ"ח ע' 39 ואילך. וקדם לזה שקו"ט בליל ב' דר"ה, תו"מ שם ע' 4 ואילך ↩
12 ובהמשך השיחה מבואר שגם כשאומרים בחצר וכדו' שאין חשש טילטול אין אומרים כשחל בשבת ↩
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