This weekend, we will celebrate another marathon holiday – Shabbat followed by Shavuot. Shavuot, occurring later in spring, presents its own challenges of time: each day of the holiday, as with all yamim tovim, does not begin until dark, but as preparing for one day of the holiday on the previous one (or on Shabbat for Yom Tov) is forbidden, any preparations not done before the holiday may not begin until very late in the evening. What can be done according to halakhah? May one set the table? May one, for example, do something minimal but practically significant as removing loaves of hallah from the freezer to thaw? This teshuvah presents one approach to these questions.
The author of this teshuvah, R. Shammai Kehat Ha’kohen Gross shlit”a, is a leader of the Belzer hasidic community in Israel. He has served as a dayyan in Yerushalayim and Ashdod and as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Belz. He is one of Belz’s most distinguished poskim. This teshuvah appears in his major halakhic work, Shevet Ha’kehati.
| ע’ [בס’ תקי”ח סו”ס א’] ברמ”א ואם הניח עירוב מותר לטלטל ולהוציא כל שיש לו תורת כלי אעפ”י שאינן צורך היום כלל, ע”כ. וצ”ע אמאי אין אסור משום דאסור להכין מיו”ט לחול? ונראה דמכאן ראיה למה דהביא בספר שש”כ פ’ כ”ח סעיף פ”א בשם הגאון ר’ שלמה זלמן אויערבך שליט”א [זצ”ל] דכל דבר שאין בעשייתו טירחה וגם רגילין לעשותו מבלי לחשוב על התועלת בעשייתו מותר לעשותו בשבת כגון הלוקח טלית לבהכנ”ס מותר אף להחזירה וכו’ ע”ש, ה”נ לא שנא. ועוד נראה ע”פ דאי’ בשו”ת מהרש”ג ח”א [סי’ ס”א] דכל איסור הכנה משבת לחול היינו דוקא באם כונת העושה הוא להרויח הזמן שלא יצטרך לעשות זה בחול כמו הדחת כלים או הצעת המטה וכדומה, אבל במקום שאם לא יעשה זה בשבת יופסד הדבר לא גזרו, וראי’ לזה דמותר לטלטל כלי שמלאכתו להיתר מחמה לצל שלא יגנב ושלא ישבר והא כיון דאין צריך לאותו הכלי היום אלא שמכניסה להבית משום שצריך לה למחר לא הוי מכין לחול שכונתו הוא שלא יופסד הכלי ע”כ… וכן י”ל עפי”ז דיש נוהגין בפסח להדיח הכלים תיכף אחר האכלה ונהגו כן אף ביו”ט של פסח ואף שלא יצטרך עוד הכלים היום וקשה דהוי הכנה ליום חול … ולפי”ז לא הוי הכנה במה שמדיח הכלים ביו”ט לצורך חול אלא מדיח כדי שלא יפסדו הכלים…
העולה להלכה: ביו”ט הסמוך לשבת מלאחריו מותר להוציא בשבת החלות מהמפקיא לצורך סעודת הלילה. | Rema writes that if one made an eruv, it is permitted to move and carry any utensil on Yom Tov, even for no useful purpose (OH 518:1, end). Why isn’t this prohibited since it is generally forbidden to make preparations on Yom Tov for a weekday. It seems that this source provides a proof for the ruling in the name of Ha’gaon Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l in Shmirat Shabbat Ki’hilkhatah (28: 81), that any action which is not especially effortful and is normally done without consideration of its particular value, is permitted on Shabbat. For example, one who brings their tallit to the synagogue may bring it home. (See further there). Our case is the same.
|
[1] Lit. from sun to shade.
In this teshuvah, Shevet Ha’kehati rules that it is permissible to take frozen hallot out of the freezer on Shabbat for Yom tov on Sunday, as this is done not just to allow the meal to start without delay but to provide the hallot for the meal itself. Similarly, one may place dry, cooked food on a food warmer (an act which is permissible on Shabbat) for the Yom Tov meal following if there is no other way to get the food warmed up in time for the meal. However, one is not permitted to set the table on Shabbat for Yom Tov since waiting to set it until Yom Tov causes only a delay in time.
I disagree with this ruling of Shevet HaKehati and think that it is overly permissive. According to his logic, it would be permissible to warm up or defrost food on Shabbat for motzei Shabbat if one needed it for a scheduled melaveh malkah. This is clearly not the case. The issue is not whether the cost is only a time delay or something more significant. The issue is whether the act is being done primarily for after Shabbat or being done for right now. Preventing my property from from being damaged is an immediate need. Taking my tallit home from shul is done because I want my tallit at home; I don’t want to leave it in shul. I am not doing these acts primarily to use the object or the tallit after Shabbat. Similarly, it is permissible for me to do the dishes on Shabbat because I don’t want dirty dishes in my sink right now. I may also clear the table and sweep the floor because I don’t want a dirty table and dirty floor on Shabbat right now. On the other hand, any act done primarily to prepare for after Shabbat is forbidden, even if the cost is more than a mere time delay.
As a matter of halakhah, it is my psak that one may not defrost hallot or warm food on Shabbat for Yom Tov following Shabbat, even if this means that one will not have hallot or warm food for the Yom Tov meal. One may do the dishes, clear the table, sweep the floors and take one’s tallit home from shul, as all of these are actions done for the present.
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.
3700 Henry Hudson Parkway, 2nd Floor
Riverdale, NY 10463
Phone: (212) 666-0036
Fax: (212) 666-5633
Email: office@yctorah.org
Click here to sign up to receive updates from YCT straight to your inbox.
