Outlines Of Halachos From The DafDaf Series

Outlines Of Halachos From The Daf

Shabbos 55

Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld

Halachah Outlines

1)WE DO NOT PROTEST AGAINST WOMEN WHO WEAR ORNAMENTS [Shabbos: Tachshitim: Tochachah]

(a)Gemara

1.(Rav Acha b'Rebbi Chanina): Hash-m told Gavri'el to write the letter 'Tav' in ink on the foreheads of Tzadikim and a 'Tav' in blood on the Resha'im, so that angels of destruction will kill only the Resha'im.

i.Midas ha'Din: The Tzadikim could have protested! You know that it would not have helped, but they did not know that!

2.59b (Rav): A woman may not go out with Kalila (a band across the forehead);

3.(Shmuel): She may go out with it.

4.Levi expounded in Neharda'a that Kalila is permitted. Twenty-four women went out with Kalilos in the city.

5.Rabah bar Avuha expounded in Mechuza that Kalila is permitted. Eighteen women went out with Kalilos in one alleyway.

6.64a (Rav Anani bar Sason citing R. Yishmael [b'Rebbi Yosi]): Everything is [permitted in a Chatzer,] like Kavul and a wig.

7.Question (Mishnah): She may go out with Kavul or with a wig in a Chatzer.

i.This is like Rav. However, according to Rav Anani, why are these specified?

8.Answer: Rav Anani cites the opinion of R. Yishmael b'Rebbi Yosi, a Tana. He argues with our Mishnah.

9.Rav holds that only these are permitted in a Chatzer, lest a man be repulsed by his wife;

i.(Beraisa): Early Chachamim expounded "veha'Davah b'Nidasah" to forbid a Nidah to paint her eyes, apply rouge or adorn herself with colored clothing;

ii.R. Akiva permitted these, lest a man be repulsed by his wife. "Veha'Davah b'Nidasah" teaches that she is Nidah until she immerses.

10.148b (Mishnah): On Yom Tov we may not clap hands on each other or over the heart or dance [lest one fix a musical instrument.]

11.(Abaye): People do this, and we do not protest, for it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid!

12.This is even for Torah laws. Mid'Oraisa, one must add to Inuy, yet women eat until Yom Kipur night, and we do not protest!

13.Avodah Zarah 4a (R. Aba bar Kahana): "Chalilah Lecha... Lehamis Tzadik Im Rasha" - it would be Chulin (profane) for Hash-m to kill Tzadikim along with Resha'im.

14.Question: Rav Yosef expounded "umi'Mikdashi Tachelu" (You will start killing in My Mikdash)" like 'mi'Mekudoshai (my holy ones)', i.e. people who kept the entire Torah!

15.Answer: They were not total Tzadikim, for they should have protested against the sinners.

16.Bava Basra 60b (Beraisa - R. Yishmael ben Elisha): Romi makes evil decrees against Torah and Mitzvos... We should have decreed not to marry or have children, but then the seed of Avraham would die out! It is better that Yisraelim not realize that it is improper to marry and have children, than that they should know and transgress b'Mezid.

17.Yevamos 65b (R. Ilai): Just like it is a Mitzvah to say something that will be heeded, it is a Mitzvah not to say something that will not be heeded.

18.(R. Aba): This is an obligation - "don't rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a Chacham, and he will love you".

(b)Rishonim

1.Rif and Rosh (Yevamos 21b and 6:21): Just like it is a Mitzvah to say something that will be heeded, it is a Mitzvah not to say something that will not be heeded. "Don't rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you."

2.Rosh (6:13): Rav Anani permits everything in a Chatzer, like Kavul and a wig. The Halachah follows Rav, who forbids everything in a Chatzer except for Kavul and a wig, because the Stam Tana holds like him. R. Tam rules like Rav Anani, for we follow the lenient opinion for mid'Rabanan laws. Therefore, she may wear Tachshitim (ornaments) in the Chatzer, or in Reshus ha'Rabim that is not 16 Amos wide and is not open from one gate [of the city] to the other. R. Tam says that we do not forbid women because they would not listen. It is better that Benos Yisrael be Shogeg and not Mezid.

i.Ran (26a DH Aval): Nowadays, what do women rely on to go out to Reshus ha'Rabim with a ring without a stamp? Sefer ha'Terumah says that it is because nowadays we do not have Reshus ha'Rabim, for 600,000 people do not pass through each day. This is wrong. Rather, women would not listen to one who would protest, so it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid.

ii.Tosfos (4a DH she'Hayah): In Bava Basra, we say that it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid. That is when one knows that they will not heed protest.

iii.Yad Ramah (60b DH Tanya): Even for mid'Rabanan laws, we say that it is better that Yisrael transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid only for something too hard for most of the Tzibur to fulfill, such as not marrying.

(c)Poskim

1.Shulchan Aruch (OC 303:18): Nowadays the custom is that women go out wearing all kinds of ornaments. Some say that letter of the law it is forbidden. We do not protest, for they would not listen, so it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid. Some say that they rely on the lenient opinion; that nowadays we do not have Reshus ha'Rabim mid'Oraisa, so everything is permitted.

i.Beis Yosef (DH v'Yotz'ah): Early Chachamim said that women may go out with Tachshitim. It is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid.

ii.Kaf ha'Chayim (86): The one who holds that Reshus ha'Rabim does not depend on 600,000 people forbids them to go out to Reshus ha'Rabim.

iii.Kaf ha'Chayim (88): The Mechaber holds that nowadays we have Reshus ha'Rabim. Therefore, the Stam opinion in the Shulchan Aruch permits only in a Chatzer without an Eruv, but not in Karmelis. We hold like this, just where the custom is to be lenient, we cannot protest. One who fears Shamayim should be stringent for himself even in such a place.

iv.Bi'ur Halachah (DH Ki): The Shulchan Aruch connotes that we do not rely so much on the reasons to be lenient. Rather, it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid.

2.Rema: Some say that they are lenient because nowadays ornaments are common and people wear them even on weekdays, so the concern lest they take them off to show others does not apply.

i.Gra (DH v'Yesh Omrim): A proof for this is Kalila.

3.Shulchan Aruch: Some say that nowadays that men go out with a ring without a stamp, it is a Tachshit for them, and it is permitted. Based on this, perhaps nowadays that women go out with a ring with a stamp, it is a Tachshit for them, and it is permitted. In any case we must warn women not to go out with more needles than needed to support the hair net. Regarding what they have no need for, they will heed us.

i.Gra (DH umi'Kol): All agree that a needle that does not support her headdress is not a Tachshit, and she is liable for it.

ii.Mishnah Berurah (65): R. Akiva Eiger says that even though we do not protest against a man [who goes out with a ring with a stamp], for he has whom to rely on, a Ba'al Nefesh should be stringent not to go out with a ring at all, i.e. outside the Eruv.

iii.Mishnah Berurah (67): Even the lenient opinions permit only a Tachshit.

iv.Kaf ha'Chayim (92): The Mechaber did not simply write that now that women go out with it, it is a Tachshit for them, so it is permitted. This is because we can distinguish. Men do not show off their Tachshitim. For women, this is a concern. Perhaps we do not say that it is a Tachshit for them, but rely on the opinion that we do not have Reshus ha'Rabim. Since the Mechaber was unsure, he wrote 'perhaps'. The Levush says that surely, nowadays there is no difference between men and women, and whether or not it has a stamp. Tosefes Shabbos says that the Mechaber connotes unlike this.

v.Maharit (1:83, b'Sof): R. Chanina proved to Reish Lakish that we are not concerned if a Yisrael and Nochri have pots near each other on top of an oven, for they do so in Tzur, and Chachamim do not protest (Avodah Zarah 11b). However, in Mo'ed Katan (18b), Bar Hedya wanted to prove that one may launder linen garments on Chol ha'Mo'ed, for they do so in lake Teverya. Abaye rejected this, for perhaps Chachamim disapproved. I answer that there, it is a mid'Rabanan matter. Since they did not hear about it at first, they did not protest afterwards, like it says about people of Yericho, who made piles [of Chadash before the Omer] against Chachamim's will (Pesachim 56a). For a Torah Isur, they must protest. Alternatively, we need not protest against women. Stam laundering is done by women. They would not heed Chachamim, so even for a Torah Isur, it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid, like we say about Tosefes Inuy. We must protest if men transgress a Torah Isur.

vi.Birkei Yosef (OC 608:1): Divrei Emes brought from Tumas Yesharim, Vayikra Rabah (7:1) and Tosfos (4a), that also for men it is better that they transgress b'Shogeg than b'Mezid. I say that the Maharit merely discussed the typical case that women will not accept Divrei Chachamim, but men will. Surely it does not depend on male or female! If perhaps women will listen, we protest.