אני לדודי ודודי לי I am to my Beloved [Hashem] and my beloved [Hashem]
is to me.
(Shir Hashirim 6:3).
דרשו ד’ בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו
קרוב Seek out Hashem when he is nearby, call out to him when he is
near
.(YeShaya 55:6)
Halachos
for Erev Shabbos
1) As we discussed yesterday, if a Ba’al Tefilah (one who
leads prayers in the congregation) for Yomim Noraim cannot be found with
all (or most) of the positive attributes we listed, any adult
Jew is acceptable to be the Ba’al Tefilah as all Jews have a Chezkas
Kashrus (Status of a [Jewish]law abiding citizen).
However, if someone does something to forfeit his Chezkas
Kashrus, he is indeed disqualified from serving as the Ba’al Tefilah during the
Yomim Noraim [and possibly even the whole year round]
The Rambam (Chapter 4 Halacha 4 of
Hilchos Taanis) and the Shulchan Aruch (Siman 579) seem to take a very stringent view and
disqualify anyone that has done any Aveiros (sins).
Rashi (Taanis 16b) disqualifies
anyone that has the Aveiros of Gezel and Chamas (various levels of
being unscrupulous in money matters and theft).
According to these Rishonim, it would be almost impossible to find
Baalei Tefilah.
2) The Achronim and contemporary Poskim (Rav Shlomo Zalmen
Auerbach and others) work very hard to find a more lenient and
manageable approach to this, and have ruled as follows: Only a transgressing
an Aveira that is an embarrassment to transgress and is considered harsh by most
other Frum Jews is grounds for disqualification,even if it is not known to the
public that he has transgressed,
Some of these Aveiros are desecrating the
Shabbos and Yom Tov, not being scrupulous in matters of Arayos (The Leket Hakemach brings Poskim who include shaking a man who shakes
women’s hands in this), someone who uses foul language regularly,
one who sells non Kosher food unknowingly to other Jews, one who reports another
Jew to the government, one who goes to civil court when Halacha demands of him
to go to Bais Din, etc.
Halachos For Shabbos Kodesh
1) Some Poskim maintain that if the one who transgressed any
of the aforementioned Aveiros did a complete Teshuva than he is once again
acceptable for a Baal Tefilah for the Yomim Noraim. However, many
Poskim (Mishna Berura, Shu"t Yachin U’Boaz, Yeshuas Moshe
and others) maintain that even if Teshuva was done, he still is
not qualified to be a Baal Tefilah for the Yomim Noraim. He may however be a
Baal Tefilah the rest of the year according to all Poskim.
If one was raised as a non frum Jew and became a full fledged Baal
Teshuva, he may be a Baal Tefilah for the Yomim Noraim according to everyone, as
when he accepts the kingdom of heaven upon himself and becomes a new person,
none of his past life is relevant to his status as a frum Jew today
(Rav Moshe Sternbuch in Teshuvos V’Hanhagos Vol. 1 Siman 99 and others)
2) It goes without saying that an Apikores (one who
doesn’t believe in Hashem or that the Torah comes from Heaven, or even if he
denies one item in the Torah like Techiyas HaMeisim, the coming of Mashiach
(may it be soon), reward and punishment etc.),non orthodox Jews, Jews
who walk the streets without a head covering and the like are disqualified from
being Baalei Tefilah during the Yomim Noraim, as these Jews, though we must try
and bring them closer to Hashem, are disqualified the entire year from ever
leading the congregation in prayer.
Thus if one of these individuals asks to
lead the prayers (e.g. for a Yahrtzeit) it is best to politely
figure out a way to turn them away, and just have them say kaddish. Rav Ephraim
Greenblatt shlita (in Shu"t Rivevos Ephraim Vol 4 Siman 44)
says that he heard from Rav Moshe Feinstein Zt"l that in cases of great
necessity, to prevent animosity etc., it is permitted to allow them to lead the
prayers from Ashrei, Uva L’Tzion etc., but never for Shemona
Esrei.
To spread the word of Hashem even more, print out a
few extra copies to take with you to Shul!
Our holy sages, the Chazal tell us
תנא דבי
אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, שנאמר הליכות עולם
לו, אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות - one who
studies [at least two] Halachos daily is assured a portion in Olam Haba - the
world to come. (:מגילה כ"ח )
Please visit my website http://www.HalachaForToday.com for archives, links, Questions
and Answers,and other features. Halachos are for study purposes only, and
should not be relied upon for final Psak. I welcome all questions on any topic,
anytime! Help spread the word of Hashem!
Important Numbers
