More interesting observations from HaRav Nosson
Einfeld.
Negligence of Talmidim in Fulfilling Mitzvos
In Bircas Hamozone, Krias Shema, tefillah, bircas HaTorah,
bircas HaShachar, krias HaMegillah, krias HaTorah,
kiddush, and shnayim Mikra ve'echad Targum there
is general neglect and disregard by a great percentage of
talmidim, and surprisingly even by those after their
bar mitzvah.
I saw a prominent cheder where most of the
talmidim did not say birchos HaShachar at all.
They come to the tefillah, speak all sorts of
devorim beteilim, and begin from hodu or
mizmor shir together with the shaliach tzibbur.
I asked several students and they admitted they had become
"used" to not saying brochos. Naturally, I spoke to
those who head the cheder about this.
A seventeen-year-old boy said that from the fifth grade on he
had never said brochos before the tefillah. He
did not take his tefillah seriously. Until the fifth
grade they would daven word by word with the teacher
but in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade all the
classes davened together. Most talmidim would
forget about saying the brochos and in general would
not daven properly. This is what that talmid
told me.
These are not isolated occurrences. What happens there is
widespread. I checked this over the years and have found it
true about numerous talmidim.
Many talmidim do not know what kiddush really
is. When I asked them, they answered that we make
kiddush since we are obligated to drink wine on
Shabbos. They did not even know that the Torah obligates us
to say kiddush (and that using wine is only
derabbonon) nor where the Torah commands us to make
kiddush. Saying shnayim Mikra ve'echad Targum
is very much neglected. I have written what I know without
any shadow of doubt. Educators will benefit by examining
these shortcomings of talmidim.
Seforim tell us that saying birchos HaTorah
with kavonoh is a segulah to succeed in Torah
studies. Some do not even know what veha'areiv no
(sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouth) means, and
others study the whole day without saying birchos
HaTorah, which is a grave sin, something that Chazal
evaluate as causing the churban of the Beis
Hamikdash. A number of students admitted they had
difficulty listening to krias HaTorah and the
Megilloh without missing out one word, although the
poskim rule that one is not yotzei if one
missed hearing even a single word in the Megilloh.
I once met a godol beTorah shlita at twelve o'clock
and I could see he was in a great rush. He asked me whether I
know of any shul where he could hear krias
HaTorah since it seemed to him that he had not heard
clearly some words.
One more important point. Many talmidim are confused
which brochoh rishonoh or achronoh to say on
foods. Many talmidim answered that after apples and
pears we say a brochoh mei'ein sholosh of al
ho'etz for a brochoh achronoh. This is not only
because they are not proficient in hilchos brochos but
because they do not make the brochoh at all. Boruch
Hashem, at home we eat all different types of fruits and
if we were careful to say a brochoh after each food we
would surely know what brochoh achronoh to say. Try to
make a "surprise test" on a dozen types of food and ask which
brochoh rishonoh and achronoh should be said.
You will then realize that widespread neglect exists in this
area. And how do the talmidim say Bircas
Hamozone? Please check this too.
We must take this matter seriously and decide to do something
about it. We should talk extensively with talmidim
about it, and not tire from discussing its importance, and
not despair.
These are the foundations of chinuch and religion for
the whole life. Someone who degrades these matters in his
youth will remain so his whole life. It becomes a
heter for him. The parents, who are responsible for
their offspring, should be active partners in supervising the
children's carefulness in the above. We must search for ways
to rectify this problem.
I saw in some yeshiva that they have a special seder
for putting on tefillin and saying birchos
HaShachar until Hodu or mizmor shir. Their
schedule reads that at 7:00 they put on tefillin and
say brochos, and at 7:15 they start Hodu. It is
commendable that they have delegated time for saying the
brochos. Naturally there is a mashgiach to
supervise this, since without such supervision the schedule
is not worth much. Actually in many chadorim the
talmidim complain that they do not have enough time to
say brochos until the minyan starts Hodu
and this is especially true for someone who comes a bit late.
Setting fifteen minutes for brochos and putting on
tefillin is a great help. If the tefillah of
the talmidim will be strengthened we will merit
siyata deShmaya, success, and nachas from our
talmidim and children.
Rules About Hitting Children and Talmidim
1) One is forbidden to hit children when angry (which usually
happens). "An angry person is compared to one who worships
avodoh zorah."
2) We are also forbidden to hit children if done with
cruelty, even if we are not angry.
3) The above is true also if a person hits a child or
talmid who has done something wrong. Hitting children
unjustifiably causes immense harm to their Torah
education.
4) When a child is acting wildly and disrupts the class we
must look for ways to restrain him. When no other way helps
we should hit him with love and not with hatred. We should
surely not hit him cruelly. Only on condition that the father
or educator can control himself and is not at all angry is he
allowed to punish in such a way.
5) We must hit the child in a place on his body where he will
definitely not be harmed and it should be done with
rachamim. I heard from an educator that he would wait
five minutes before hitting a child so that he would be
convinced he was not angry. The smallest mixture of anger
forbids hitting a child.
In conclusion, a father and teacher must give the child the
feeling that he loves him and is concerned only with his good
(and not concerned with cooling down his personal anger,
etc.). The child must be convinced that he has truly acted
out of line so that even if severely punished he will accept
it with understanding and justify it. He will only love his
father and teacher more because of it.
This is what the posuk means "Someone who spares his
rod hates his son, but he who loves him . . . (Mishlei
13:24)." Hitting a child while feeling real love for him is
called proper disciplining through corporal punishment.
Bircas Hamozone is Like Shemoneh Esrei
"The Sefer Hachinuch writes that a person careful in
saying Bircas Hamozone will have a respectful and
abundant livelihood his whole life. Someone who wants to be
especially meticulous in saying Bircas Hamozone should
read it from a siddur or bentcher and not by
heart" (Mishnah Berurah 183:8).
I would like to point out a certain halochoh
concerning Bircas Hamozone that is not generally
known. In Shulchan Oruch Orach Chaim (chapter 183:8)
Maran the Beis Yosef rules that Bircas Hamozone is
like Shemoneh Esrei as far as hafsokoh (talking
and hinting in the middle) is concerned: "Some say that
speaking in the middle of Bircas Hamozone because one
fears another person or must show him honor has the same
halocho as Shemoneh Esrei (and you are not
allowed to speak in those instances, unlike Krias
Shema where you are allowed)." When the Mishnah
Berurah writes "some say" he does not mean others
disagree—see Kaf HaChaim 183:43 what he writes
concerning this.
The simple halocho is that Bircas Hamozone is
really like Shemoneh Esrei and one is prohibited to
stop and talk during it even to answer Kedushoh, Borechu,
Omen yehei Shmeih rabbah. This is how the Kaf
HaChaim rules (184:45) in the name of several
poskim. The Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim 28:3)
writes that "perhaps" one can answer Kedushoh, Borechu,
Omen at the intervals of bein haperokim. The
Beirur Halocho of HaRav Yechiel Zilber zt"l
cites Maran the Chazon Ish who ruled halocho lema'aseh
for a certain shul where people used to daven
and that those who ate at the same time benched Bircas
Hamozone should answer the above divrei kedushoh
at bein haperokim. [In Shoneh Halochos of HaRav
Chaim Kanievsky this halocho of the Chazon Ish is
cited without adding "perhaps" and he surely is familiar with
the above anecdote.] See the discussion of this
halocho at length in the Birur Halocho.
At any event, no one disagrees that in general one must say
Bircas Hamozone like Shemoneh Esrei. The whole
disagreement is whether one can stop and answer Kedushoh,
Borechu, Omen yehei Shmeih rabbah. As far as anything
else is concerned, Bircas Hamozone equals Shemoneh
Esrei and one must do nothing else while saying it, not
even hinting with his hands or eyes or stopping to make any
other movement. The Aruch HaShulchan (at the end of
chapter 183) rules explicitly this way. [The Daas
Torah in the name of Sha'arei Rachamim is doubtful
whether one can answer omen when he is up to
zochreinu in the ya'aleh veyovo of Bircas
Hamozone.] This is so according to all opinions. The
Mishnah Berurah writes this halocho without
specifying the ruling on answering Borechu and
Kedushoh, and it needs to be clarified what is his
opinion.
A rosh yeshiva shlita thanked me warmly and said:
"Yeyasher koach to you, HaRav Einfeld, for your
pointing out that Bircas Hamozone has a halocho like
tefillas Shemoneh Esrei. It never occurred to me
(nisht derhert di halocho). I began to bentch
better after understanding that." He initially argued with me
that perhaps when the Mechabeir mentions Bircas
Hamozone is equal to tefillah he means pesukei
Dezimroh, but after he reexamined the halocho he
admitted I am certainly correct. He concluded that one must
undoubtedly be careful to say Bircas Hamozone as one
says Shemoneh Esrei and thanked me. I heard that in a
certain kollel a student in the name of the rosh
kollel announced this halocho publicly and
encouraged people to be careful about it.
We must induce people to bentch without interruptions
since I have seen that many are not careful about this.
People make all sorts of movements and hints during Bircas
Hamozone and are not acquainted with this halocho.
An eminent talmid chochom thanked me for telling him
this halocho and said he did not notice it beforehand
and never knew or heard of it before. Many have not heard of
it. Many times it happens that talmidim come to me and
ask what the halocho is when they do not remember
whether they have bentched or not. I answer that I do
not understand how one can forget if bentching is
equal to Shemoneh Esrei. The answer is that they do
not bench properly. They bench quickly and
light- headedly. I have seen people in the middle of
Bircas Hamozone go over and say nu, nu ... .... when
they hear the phone ring. They also open the door when people
knock or ring. This is surely not according to the
halocho. It is as forbidden to do anything in the
middle of Bircas Hamozone as it is in the middle of
Shemoneh Esrei. It is a mitzvah to make this
known to all.
My dear friend HaRav Chanina Shif shlita told me that
at the home of the Beis Yisroel zt'l, the Gerrer
Rebbe, during a Shabbos meal some people cleared the table in
the middle of Bircas Hamozone. Afterward the Beis
Yisroel shouted at them: "You are amei ha'oretz who do
not know halocho. It says in the Shulchan Oruch that
it is as forbidden to do anything in the middle of Bircas
Hamozone as in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei." He
warned them not do it again.
May we in the zchus of saying Bircas Hamozone
according to the halocho merit the brochoh of
kol tuv from the Sefer Hachinuch.
Combing Hair on Shabbos
In some homes people are lenient and allow girls and boys to
comb their hair on Shabbos with hard brushes that tear out
hairs. Someone told me: "We are accustomed to doing this and
I do not know what to do to stop it."
Let us look into the halocho. The source is
Shulchan Oruch Orach Chaim (450:1) and the Mishnah
Berurah (3) with the Bei'ur Halocho (s.v. al
shtei sa'aros). In these sources we see explicitly that
tearing two hairs is real chillul Shabbos. Tearing one
hair is also forbidden by the Torah like any chatzi
shiur. See also Shulchan Oruch Orach Chaim 303:27
and the Mishnah Berurah 86 that write if one intends
to tear out hairs, doing so is forbidden even with a soft
brush. If one does not intend to tear hairs, it is permitted
only with a soft brush that smooths the hair.
Due to our enormous sin we do not differentiate between the
two and think only a comb is osur and use all sorts of
hard brushes with iron teeth that tear out many hairs. This
is real public chillul Shabbos. People are unaware of
the grave issur they are doing. Chazal
(Kiddushin 20a) write if a person has done an
aveiroh twice it seems to him to be permissible. This
is only if he has done it ten times, but if he has already
done it many times it seems to him to be a mitzvah
done lichovod Shabbos, Rachmono litzlan. The
Mishnah Berurah (303:86) writes: "The Yeshuos
Yaakov writes `I have seen people who are lenient to comb
their hair on Shabbos and it has almost become a heter
for them. How painful it is to see people scornfully
profaning Shabbos. It is proper for every chochom in
his city to warn against this and perhaps people will hear
and take mussar.'"
In short, halocho lema'aseh, it is forbidden to use
any brush that tears out hairs on Shabbos and therefore is
muktzeh and forbidden to be moved on Shabbos.
The Mishnah Berurah writes in his introduction to
Hilchos Shabbos that "it is known that observing
Shabbos properly brings the Redemption nearer, as we see in
the statement of Chazal that if Yisroel would observe two
Shabbosim they would immediately be redeemed."
Shnayim Mikra Ve'echod Targum
I want to impress upon the talmidim the obligation to
read shnayim Mikra ve'echod Targum of the parshas
hashavu'a each week. It seems to me that not everyone is
careful always to fulfill this. It is an explicit
halocho in the gemora and the poskim and
they write that its reward is long life. I will tell you an
astonishing story that happened in Bnei Brak but we will use
fictitious names. I learned from this story how meticulous we
must be in fulfilling this halocho:
I have a friend, R' Reuven, who was not sufficiently careful
in fulfilling this halocho. He was a busy and
successful businessman who had little time all week to study
Torah. On Shabbos he studied with hasmodoh and in
depth, and therefore permitted himself not to read Shnayim
Mikra ve'echod Targum on Shabbos. He asked me about this
and I told him I had not found any poseik at all who
permits not reading this. We have never heard that in order
to study Torah diligently and in depth one can overlook this
halocho that is similar to any other obligation in the
Shulchan Oruch. He never told anyone else about his
not fulfilling this halocho.
One day, my friend R' Shimon, a real yorei Shomayim,
went over to R' Reuven and asked him, with no previous
knowledge, whether he reads the parsha shnayim Mikra
ve'echod Targum every week. R' Reuven was astounded by
his question, was totally embarrassed and also a bit
frightened. Because of his immense turmoil he answered in the
affirmative.
Reuven then asked him, "Why do you suddenly ask me this?"
Shimon answered: "This last Shabbos night I had a dream and
understood that Shomayim are asking me why you are not
saying shnayim Mikra. I therefore came to ask you if
this is true. If you say you do fulfill it, it seems my dream
was just plain nonsense. Please forgive me for the
question."
R' Shimon walked away.
R' Reuven, however, remained stunned by the dream since he
knew the truth. He realized this was a real shelichus
from Heaven to warn him to be careful about this and there is
no heter not to do it even when one studies Torah
diligently. He did not have the courage to tell R' Shimon the
truth, but the dream totally moved him.
He was so excited about what had happened that he came to me
and told me about the dream, and that he sees in it a sign
that he must stop using his "heter." He decided to be
careful in this halocho. We both were stirred by this
dream and discussed it at length. After we calmed down we
decided to go to R' Shimon and tell him the whole truth.
R' Reuven gave R' Shimon a yeyasher koach for telling
him the dream. R' Shimon said he never knew anything about R'
Reuven's not saying shnayim Mikra and thought it was
just a meaningless dream.
This is the whole story without any exaggerations or changes.
This happened more than twenty years ago. R' Reuven and R'
Shimon are still alive and live in Bnei Brak. I tell this
story to talmidim so that they should realize the
importance of saying shnayim Mikra ve'echod Targum.
The truth is that we do not need a dream to prompt us to
fulfill a halocho in Shulchan Oruch, but this
did happen and it made a tremendous impression on me since I
am well acquainted with both people involved in this story,
and am sure that R' Shimon did not know that R' Reuven was
not careful in this halocho.
Talmidim fail to take these three matters seriously.
They should certainly be encouraged to strengthen themselves
in these halochos.
