Lesson # 389 Recessing for Lunch A few days ago I saw that the workmen who were making repairs on the building next door to where I reside stopped work at about 11:30am, sat down in the shade under a tree, and each man took out a box or pail and took out some food to eat. In T. Shabbat (10a) the Talmud records a discussion concerning the minimum amount of time the judges are required to sit in Beit Din. It appears that immediately after the morning prayers, the judges went into the court room to hear cases and they did this without taking out any time for eating. The question therefore arose: Until when must they sit in judgment? The answer given by the Talmud is that they must sit until the time of the midday meal. The Talmud points out that the scholars ate their first meal in the sixth hour. In Jewish law the hours are calculated by taking the amount of daylight and dividing by twelve. Thus assuming a day equally divided between night and day, we would have twelve equal daylight hours from 6:00am to 6:00pm and the scholars would eat between 11:00am and noon. There is a difference of opinion among post-Tal- mudic authorities whether the mandatory meeting time of Beit Din is until 11:00am, until noon, or sometimes in between. Alfasi (1013-1103; on Shabbat 10a) says that they must sit until the sixth hour and Asherei (1250-1327 T. Shabbat 1:20) following him, uses the exact same language. The word ìuntil the sixth hourî would seem to indicate until the beginning of the sixth hour, which is about 11:00am. Rambam (1135-1204, Laws of Sanhedrin 3:1), however, states that the judges must sit until the end of the sixth hour, which would be until noon. Tur (1270-1340, chapter #5) holds that the law is in accordance with Rambam. Rabbi Yosef Karo (author of the Shulchan Aruch (1488-1575) in his Kesef Mishna commentary on Rambam and in his Beit Yosef commentary on Tur, questions the holdings of Rambam and Tur. He concludes that the law should be that judges must sit until the beginning of the sixth hour rather than until the end of the sixth hour. These comments serve as the basis of R. Karo's statement in Shulchan Aruch that Beit Din sits until the end of the fifth hour, that is, until 11:00am. Bach in his commentary on Tur and Falk in his Prisha commentary on Tur write that Rambam and Tur certainly are aware of the Talmudic admonition that a scholar must commence his midday meal no later than before noon. Accordingly, they explain Rambam and Tur do not literally mean until the end of the sixth hour or noon, rather they are referring to a time approximately a few minutes before noon. R. Shabatai Cohen (Schach) cites Falk with approval. R. Yechiel Michal Epstein (Aruch haShulchan, 1829-1908) attempts to reconcile all the previous views as follows. All agree that Beit Din must be in session until 11:00am. In addition, the judges, if they desire, may remain in session from 11:00am until just before noon. However, the judges must adjourn to eat at least a few minutes before noon according to all authorities. Tur, after stating that Beit Din sits until noon, adds that after this time Beit Din is no longer required to sit in session. The language is also used by R. Moshe Isserles in his emendations to Rabbi Karoís Shulchan Aruch. R. Yoel Sirkes, (Bach) comments that judges should not think that they are prohibited from sitting in judgment in the afternoon because they would be neglecting the study of Torah. Therefore judges should be told that their function is so important they the may resume sitting in judgment in the afternoon after they have eaten. Rabbi Epstein in Aruch HaShulchan after analyzing the various authorities concludes that the preceding rules were followed during Talmudic times. At the present time, however, courts always reconvene after the midday meal. In discussing this topic, the Talmud and codes also mention that provision should be made for recessing the afternoon session in order to afford the participants an opportunity to recite the afternoon prayers. This is something that more and more professionals and businessmen do nowadays. They break to daven Mincha. Similarly, more and more people also beak for davening maariv. This is also true on outings. Very often before we board a bus back to Jerusalem I state that we will daven maariv before we board the bus. Invariable someone will say that we will daven as soon as the bus arrives at the bus stop in Jerusalem. From experience, I can say that this rarely if ever happens. As soon as the bus arrives, all the men who would have made up the minyan are running to their cars or to taxis to get home after a long day. We therefore have to go to the shtiblach to get a minyan for a late maariv. Also, all those planning meetings and conferences should include in the schedule of events provision for davening mincha and maariv. Also, davening on the bus while it is on its way to Jerusalem is not a viable option. It is almost impossible to daven while the bus is in motion, especially if the bus driver suddenly steps on the brakes or the accelerator, or makes a turn. It is a wonderful thing in Jerusalem that many organizations that schedule very early in the morning departures for wherever they are going very often provide that we will meet outside a shul and that the meeting time is at the time that the shul concludes its shacharit services. This gives those who might not have had a chance to daven with a minyan to do so before departing on the trip. The organization also often provides a snack. More and more organizations from overseas are using these methods to see that when the tourists go home to their own countries they will have had the experience of davening on a tiyul. More and more organizers of trips that will include eating along the way provide bottles of water so that the participants can wash their hands before eating. This is almost always followed up by benching together. This lesson started off by discussing the lunch of the worker. We are all workers in the House of G-d and should act as such. Hearty appetite. The topic of this lesson is more fully discussed in Volume 2, chapter 5 of Jewish Jurisprudence. Copies of this volume can be purchased at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint Copies of quint@inter.net.il [The Parshat Eikev Homepage]
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