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Aug 24, 2020
Shofar on Shabbos Rosh Hashana on Har Habayit
I have seen a few articles written about how to blow shofar this year on Rosh Hashana, while taking precautions to not potentially spread the CoronaVirus. The articles dealt with the possibility of covering the opening of the shofar with a mask to prevent droplets from the shofar blower spreading around the shul - would it be considered a chatzitza or not, would it be a distortion of the sound of the shofar or not?
To that end, it must be pointed out that this year with Rosh Hashana on Shabbos and Sunday, the first day we don't blow shofar at all, and the second day blowing will only be "drabanan".
In an attempt to arrange a way to have a shofar blowing, a d'oraisa shofar blowing, on the first day, a group of people who ascend Har Habayit have requested permission to ascend on Shabbos Rosh Hashana, the first day of Rosh Hashana, and to be allowed to blow shofar there. Normally Har Habayit is closed to Jews on Shabbos, and normally blowing shofar is not allowed, as any signs of Jewish worship are not allowed, so this would require special permission being granted.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they made the request and pointed out that Thhe police leadership has always claimed that they are prepared to enforce and carry out any orders issued for Har Habayit by the political leadership with no problems. In other words, don't claim the police are opposed because it might cause riots - if you tell the police to allow it, they claim they can keep control of the situation.
Being that ascending Har Habayit and blowing shofar on Shabbos Rosh Hashana is the only way and place to fulfill the mitzva d'oraisa this year, they requested permission to perform this mitzva.
source: Srugim
While the request is important for the process, I don't think PM Netanyahu cares about the differences between being able to blow d'rabanan or d'oraisa, and I don't think this is an overly persuasive argument. But let's see what happens. It has been a strange enough year that anything could happen..
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Labels:
Har Habayit,
Rosh Hashana,
shofar
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It would mean forcing hundreds or thousands of police to be mechallel Shabbos - which is the reason we don't blow the shofar anywhere else on Shabbos. Seems kind of ridiculous to me.
ReplyDeletegood point. unless they are on duty anyway due to the heightened alert level Israel always sets for holiday season....
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that those who go up to Har HaBayit make sure to stay in areas that were never actually within the Beis Hamikdash, and if so, so wherever they are thinking to blow the shofar, it will be outside of the area where one may blow the shofar on Shabbat.
ReplyDeleteonly sort of. most people who go up avoid the areas that are prohibited to go, such as what used to be the azara, and most avoid going past where the "cheil" was. They do go up to areas that are officially Har Habayit, and the shofar can be blown on Shabbos on Har Habayit.
DeleteI said "most people" because some people do go into those areas for different reasons with different halachic allowances (some consider it kibush, making it allowed, some say the prohibition with kares is only by going in directly the way it would normally be entered but from the side or back it is less problematic, etc.
when it says "ein shvut b'mikdash" it seems that refers to the actual Azara, and not the entire Har haBayit. (See Rashi RH 29b and especially the Meiri Pesachim 65b where he specifically says only allowed within Azara)
Deleteyou very well might be right, Herb. I dont know. I am no expert on this. I said it based on their request as written in the article along with my memory of it being allowed in mikdash and yerushalayim.
Deletea little bit of research I just did now shows there is a lot of discussion and debate as to when it was allowed and where, and especially after the destruction of the mikdash it was stopped due to takanos. It could still be done in front of a beis din, and there is a debate what type of beis din - sanhedrin or any beis din? how large of a beis din, etc?
based on the takana to not blow after the churban, it seems the request is misplaced, unless they are saying the d'oraisa mitzva overrides the takana and maybe also the takana was only for outside of the mikdash area because Jews mostly didnt have access to the mikdash area throughout most of history since the mikdash was destroyed. and maybe whoever would go blow, would be of the opinion that it is ok to go to the azara area. I dont know but you pose a good question and problem.
Not to mention that the whole basis of the heter to blow in the Mikdash is contingent on the shofar being in the mikdash from before Shabbat, since bringing one in from outside would itself be an issur, since the mikdash cannot be part of an eruv. The issur may even possibly be d'oraita, depending on the way one understands the gemara in several places, such as Sukka and P'sahim.
DeleteHow would they intend to keep a shofar on the Har unattended from before Shabbat?
why cant the mikdash be part of an eruv? is it automatically currently excluded from the Jerusalem eruv? if the police would let me go up this shabbos, I would not be allowed to carry anything there?
DeleteI think the main reason is that nobody actually lives there (other than...). I'm not sure whether it can't be part of an eiruv, but it is clear from the mishna and gemara (in sukka and pesahim) that people did not carry anything from the city into the mikdash or vice versa on Shabbat. That's why the shechita knife for the korban pesach had to be carried by the animal itself, it's why after shechita people had to wait on Har Habayit with their korbanot till the end of Shabbat, it's why everyone brought their 4 minim/hoshanot to the mikdash gazebos before Shabbat.
DeleteShlomo, people didn't carry anything from the city into the mikdash or vice versa on Shabbat because Yerushalayim did not have an eruv. Lengthy topic as why it didn't (Rav Moshe discusses it at length), but bottom line is, for one reason or another, Yerushalyim had no eruv and one could not freely carry from the city to the Beit Mikdash.
DeleteDon't understand this at all, 'blowing shofar on Shabbat, let alone on Har Habayit. Really believe the people have gone, literally, mad!
ReplyDeletedont worry. it will never happen. The request itself is what they want to get on record
DeleteThere have been previous attempts and calls to re-institute the ancient minhag of Eretz Yisrael, in which shofar was blown on Shabbat in the Central Beit Din, even after the Hurban. Look up Rav David bar-Haim, for example.
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention Rav Bar Hayyim blowing shofar with his beis din last time this happened, but it really isnt relevant, because on Har Habayit there is no kavua beis din. so even if you say that is enough and dont need a sanhedrin, it isnt relevant on Har Habayit
DeleteBut the Har HaBayit is part of Yerushalayim, which does have a beit din.
DeleteYou can blow shofar on Shabbat in any city.
ReplyDeleteIn Israel, they had to, because for about a thousand years, from about 300 to 1300, they kept one day.
The Ramban (Milchamot Hashem on Beitza, daf gimmel in the Rif) says that custom of keeping one day RH in Israel was based on a mistake and only persisted because the inhabitants in those days "were not bnei Torah" and they confused Rosh HaShana with the Yomim Tovim.
Delete