Translation by Rabbi Avi Schwartz, introduction by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Rabbi Yitzhak Weiss hy”d was a highly-regard Hungarian rabbi before the Second World War. He served as the Rav of Odleburg and then of Verbo. In his time, he was well known for the breadth of his knowledge; his teacher, the Shevet Sofer, is said to have referred to him as “my very own bookcase.” He was also well versed in kabbalah, and was distinctive in forging relationships with hassidic rebbes in this period. He was murdered in the Holocaust and the vast majority of his writings were lost. This book of responsa and other halakhic writings were gathered by his family from what survived; a book of his comments on Tanakh by the same name has also been printed in recent years.
This teshuva – written in 1935 – discusses two distinct halakhic issues – the custom to have two men flank the shaliah tzibbur on the night of Kol Nidrei, and in some communities on Rosh HaShannah, and another custom to eat many different fruits on Rosh Hashanah, somewhat similar to our custom of eating a new fruit, which for some people means eating many new fruits.
Rabbi Weiss develops a thesis that, at some level, we should be having two men flank the shaliach tzibbur at all times, to give greater weight to our prayers, and that we should be trying to eat a wide range of fruits on a daily basis, so as to be able to give thanks and praise to God for the diverse and multifarious blessings that we receive each day. In practice, however, it is not realistic that we will do this, so we do it once at the beginning of the year and in this way it frames everything that we will do in the year to come.
In some ways this perfectly captures the tension of the Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur period –one in which we aspire to live our life closer to an ideal throughout the whole year, but one in which, if we are being honest with ourselves, we know we will not be able to fully achieve. Holding this tension – of aspiration and a groundedness in reality – is critical for a healthy approach to the Yamim Noraim. We should always be striving, and yet, let’s not go too hard on ourselves. Let’s let our striving frame what we do, as we, day by day, do the best that we are able to do at that moment.
Shanah Tovah and Ketiva va’Chatima Tovah!
| שו”ת שיח יצחק סימן שו
ע”ד המנהג להעמיד בר”ה ויוכ”פ שני אנשים ליד הש”ץ (ובאכילת הרבה מיני פירות בר”ה). בעזהי”ת עש”ק תצוה תרצ”ה. בב”ח (סי’ תרי”ט) באות י’, על דברי הטור, איתא בפדר”א, שצריך להעמיד א’ לימין ש”ץ וא’ לשמאלו, כדכתיב [שמות י”ז י”ב], ואהרן וחור תמכו בידיו מזה א’ ומזה א’ ומזה, נהגו להעמיד סגן אצל ש”ץ ביוהכ”פ, כותב הב”ח זי”ע, וז”ל, בהגמי”י כתב וכן מנהגינו בר”ה וביוכ”פ, אבל עכשיו אין נוהגין כן בר”ה כי אם ביו”כ בלבד, וה”ט משום שאנו תופסים עיקר משום שגזרו תענית ציבור במלחמת עמלק כדאיתא במדרש… הילכך דווקא ביוה”כ ותענית ציבור לבד מעמידין ג’ ולא בר”ה, כיון דאין נוהגין להתענות בראש השנה… ויש תימה על מנהגינו שהשנים שעומדין אצל ש”ץ הולכין למקומן מיד אחר ברכו, ואינן עומדין אצלו כל היום, כשאומר סליחות ותחנונים, וכמדומה שכך נוהגין בקצת מקומות וכו’, עייש”ה דברי קדשו ז”ל. ולענ”ד לולא דמסתפינא, הייתי אומר טעם אחר לאותן שנהגו גם בראש השנה להעמיד ג’ לפני העמוד, דהנה במס’ סופרים (פרק י”ד הלכה י”ג) איתא, כיוצא בו אינה מן המובחר שיעמוד החזן לפני התיבה, אלא שיעמדו עמו א’ לימינו וא’ לשמאלו כנגד אבות, ובמקרא סופרים (אות ו’) שם כותב וז”ל, אפשר דמשום הכי אנו נוהגין בליל יוה”כ להעמיד שני אנשים אצל הש”ץ, והא דאין נוהגין כן בכל השנה יתכן לפי שטרודין העם במלאכתן, עכ”ל. ו באשר חז”ל בחגיגה (ה’ ע”ב) אמרו, יום א’ בשנה אם עוסק בתורה מעלין עליו כאילו עסק בתורה כל השנה, וב”ב (קמ”ז סוע”א), כתחילת שתא כך כל השתא, ריש שתא קרירא כולי שתא קרירא, עיין שם. וכיון דראש השנה תחילת השנה, ואם מעמידים ביום זה ג’ לפני העמוד הוה אח”כ כאילו עמדו שם בכל תפלות דכולי שתא, ע”ד זבחים (ב’ ע”ב), כל העושה על דעת הראשונ”ה הוא עושה, ע”ש, ולזאת י”ל שזה טעם מקומות שהביא בהגמי”י שבר”ה עושין ג”כ כן. ואנחנו י”ל כמו שאנו מתירים הנדרים ביו”כ, כבטאו”ח (סי’ תרי”ט), משום דיוה”כ נקרא ראש השנה בס’ יחזקאל, כמובא דברי הרא”ש בב”י שם, גם לענין זה אנו אומרים שמעמידים ביו”כ ג’ לפני העמוד, והרי נקרא ר”ה והוה ג”כ כאילו כל השנה עומדים אצל החזן הש”ץ, ובאשר ביום כיפורים ג”כ התענית, ואז ישבו ישראל בתענית במלחמת עמלק, ובאשר שייכי בו טעמים השנים לזאת אנחנו ביוה”כ עושים כן ולא בראש השנה… ומדי דברי זכור אזכרנו בירושלמי קידושין (פ”ד סוף הי”ב), ככה הוא, רבי חזקי’ ר’ כהן בשם ר’ עתיד אדם ליתן דין וחשבון על כל שראתה עינו ולא אכל, ר’ לעזר חשש להדא שמועתא ומצמיח ליה פריטין ואכיל בהון מכל מילה חדא בשתא, ועיי”ש היטב בפני משה וראוי להעתיקו, שהוא כדי לברך על כל מין ומין, וליתן שבח והודאה לאל יתעלה… ולענ”ד היה נראה דחז”ל אמרו ע”פ ברוך ה’ יום יום בכל יום ויום תן לו מעין ברכותיו, עיי’ ברכות (דף מ’ ע”א), וא”כ היה ראוי בכל יום לעשות כן, וכדרך שאנו מברכים מאה ברכות בכל יום, ע’ טאו”ח (סי’ מ”ו), ובאשר בכל יום אי אפשר זאת, לזאת י”ל עשה ר’ אלעזר כן ביום ר”ה בתחילת השנה והו”ל על ידי זה כאילו בירך כן בכל יום ויום, וזה דקאמר הירושלמי ואכיל בהון מכל מילה חדא בשתא דהיינו ביום ראשון מימי השנה, דהוא יום ראש השנה, וכעין דכותב הטור בסי’ תקפ”ג, ובפרובינצ”א נוהגין להביא על השולחן בליל ר”ה כל מיני חידוש, ודו”ק. | Siah Yitzhak 306
On the custom to stand two men beside the leader on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (and to eat many kinds of fruits on Rosh Hashanah). With God’s help. Erev Shabbat, Tezaveh, 1935. Tur OH 619 writes that there appears in Pirqe deRabbi Eliezer that “it is necessary to have one man stand to the right and one to the left of the shaliach tzibbur, as it is written (Exod. 17:12) ‘Aharon and Hur supported his (Moshe’s) hands from either side,’” and based on this, the custom developed to appoint an assistant to the shaliach tzibbur on Yom Kippur. Commenting on the Tur, Bach (no. 10) adds that “Hagahot Maimoniyyot writes that it is our custom do so on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, although now we no longer do this on Rosh HaShanah and only do so on Yom Kippur. The reason for this is that we understand that they made a public fast day during the war with Amalek, as appears in the midrash… and therefore we only need the additional two men to stand with the shaliach tzibbur on Yom Kippur, not Rosh Hashanah, as we don’t fast on Rosh Hashanah… Our practice is problematic though, insofar as the two additional men return to their own places after Barekhu instead of remaining with the shaliach tzibbur for the whole day while he is praying and reciting the selihot and penitential prayers. And it seems that there are some places where they actually do remain with the shaliach tzbbur for the entire day.” See further, ibid. In my opinion, were I not fearful to say an innovative approach, I would suggest a different reason for having three men stand by the lectern even on Rosh Hashanah. For behold, in tractate Sofrim, it says (14:13) “…Similarly, it is not ideal for the leader to stand alone, rather a man should stand to his right and to his left, corresponding to the three Patriarchs.” On this Miqra Sofrim (no. 6) writes “perhaps this is why we have the practice to have two men stand next to the leader on the night of Yom Kippur. The reason we don’t do so throughout the year is because people are preoccupied with their work.” Now, the Sages in Hagigah (5b) said that “if one involves oneself in Torah for one day of the year, then one is treated as if they did so throughout the whole year.” Similarly, in Bava Batra (147a) it states that “Just as the beginning of the year goes, so goes the entire year. If the beginning of the year is cold, the entire year will be cold,” see there. Thus, since Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the year, if we have three men stand then it is as if they did so for all the prayers for the entire year, as it states in Zevachim (2b) that “anyone who does a future act, does so on the basis of the intention that accompanied the original action.” This is then the basis for Hagahot Maimoniyyot’s statement that some places have three men stand for Rosh Hashanah as well. As for our practice, perhaps since we annul vows on Yom Kippur (Tur OH 619), given that Yom Kippur is called the beginning of the year in Ezekiel (see Rosh cited by Bet Yosef), this is also why we have three men stand then as well. In this respect, we treat Yom Kippur as the beginning of the year and so it is also as if they are there for the whole year. The reason we actually only do this on Yom Kippur is that this day has the additional aspect of the public fast, and so it is modeled after the day of the war with Amalek… In talking about this, I am reminded of the Yerushalmi Kiddushin (4:12) where it states, “Rabbi Hizkiya and Rabbi Kohen said in the name of Rav, ‘In the end, a person will have to give an accounting for everything that his eyes beheld that he did not eat from.’ Rabbi Elazar took heed of this teaching, and would gather up his pennies so that he could eat from each of the different fruits at least one time a year.” See there in the Pnei Moshe who writes that he did this so that he could make a brakhah on every different species of fruit in order to give praise and thanks to God… In my humble opinion it appears that this follows what Hazal have said, based on the verse “Bless God day by day,’ that “Each day we must give God thanks in accordance with the blessings of the day.” (Berakhot 40a). Therefore, it really would be appropriate to eat all different types of fruits each day, to give thanks for all those blessings, just as we recite 100 berakhot each day (see Tur, OH 46). Since this isn’t possible to do on a daily basis, Rabbi Eliezer did this on the day of Rosh HaShanah, which is the beginning of the year, and through this it was as if he made all these blessings each day. When the Yerushalim says “once a year” it means “One day – on the first day – of the year,” that is, Rosh HaShanah. This explains the practice mentioned in Tur (583) that in Provence the practice was to bring to the table all new things on Rosh HaShanah, see there. |
All of the content in The Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies is released with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. It is open for reuse with the following attribution: "Authored by [name of author] from The Lindenbaum Center for Halakhic Studies at YCT.
Rabbi Avram Schwartz learned at Yeshivat Hahesder Yerucham in Israel and received semikha from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in 2017. He and his wife Britany live in Richmond, VA.
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