Monday, July 12, 2021

reciting a bracha in advance of a chiyuv

I was thinking about the custom of making havdalah on beer during the 9 days to avoid drinking wine and was wondering if there might be another solution to avoid that problem (assuming you think it is a problem and don't just drink wine, which is permitted l'tzorech mitzvah).  I don't have a copy of the Michtivei Torah of the Gerrer at home, but I saw in Yabi'a Omer (vol 6 33:6) that R' Ovadya quotes that the Imrei Emes writes that when his uncle, the Sifsei Tzadik, the Rebbe of Peltz, was an onein on Shabbos, he davened the motzei Shabbos maariv early and recited havdalah on a kos while it was still day outside.  Since an onein is patur from mitzvos except on Shabbos, had the Rebbe waited until motzei shabbos, he would have not been allowed to daven or drink wine.  By pushing up his maariv, he gained being able to daven and say havdalah. 

This is a chiddush gadol because I would have thought (and there are Achronim who indeed argue this point) you can't have your cake and eat it too -- you can't simultaneously ignore aninus because it's shabbos, but at the time daven a weekday maariv and say havdalah as if it's not shabbos.  

The Imrei Emes has another argument against this chiddush, and this is the point that R' Ovadya devotes his discussion to.  The Imrei Emes draws the following analogy: According to R"T (see Tos in Brachos 11), once you say bichas haTorah in the morning, you no longer have to recite a new bracha for 24 hours until the next morning of the next day.  If you said birchas haTorah Monday morning, for example, you don't need to recite a new bracha until daybreak on Tues.  What happens if you woke up before daybreak on Tues?  Even though according to R"T your learning at that point is still covered by yesterday's bichas haTorah, R"T will still allow you (so argues the I.E.) to recite a new birchas haTorah that will cover Tues going forward.  Says the Imrei Emes, when you recite that bracha, it's not because you have a new chiyuv at that moment, but rather it's because you can fulfill the new chiyuv of Tues in advance and in anticipation of at arriving.  So too, when Chazal allow a person to daven maariv early on Shabbos day and recite havdalah, it's not because those chiyuvim apply before nightfall, but rather it's because a person can fulfill those chiyvim in advance and anticipation of their being chal.  That's well and good if a person will indeed have those chiyuvim later on, but in the case of an onein who will be exempt, the trick doesn't work.

Ad kan that issue b'kitzur.

Nafka minah between these views should be whether you can say havdalah on wine before shabbos ends during the 9 days.  On the one hand, you could say that since it is shabbos you are still permitted to have wine, but on the other hand, you are using wine in anticipation of chol when it would not be allowed and so maybe it should not work.  

What about saying havdalah next shabbos before nightfall in advance of Tisha b'Av?  Would that work?  The Rishonim in fact debate this very point; BaHaG argues that this cannot be done (my son told me he plans to do a post on this BH"G, so see his blog later this week).  Is that machlokes parallel to the issue raised by the Sifsei Tzadik?  Or perhaps there is no comparison between a case where a person has a chiyuv havdalah, just cannot drink the wine, and an onein who has no chiyuv?  

6 comments:

  1. Yasher koach, as usual.
    Reminds me of the Gem in Pes 115, as brought in OC 475, that always puzzled me.
    אם אין לו ירקות לטיבול ראשון אלא מרור יברך עליו בטיבול ראשון בורא פרי האדמה ועל אכילת מרור ובטיבול השני יטבלנו בחרוסת ויאכלנו בלא ברכה:
    and MB there
    (כו) ועל אכילת מרור - דא"א בזה לנהוג כמו בשאר פעמים לאכול בלי ברכה ולברך על אכילת מרור אחר כזית מצה דאחר שכבר מילא כריסו ממנו קודם לכן בלי ברכה אינו הגון לברך אח"כ ע"כ יברך בתחלה על אכילת מרור ואוכל ממנו מעט לשם כרפס (ואינו יכול לאכול לשם מצות מרור דלכתחלה בעינן מצה והדר מרור כדכתיב על מצות ומרורים וכו') ומ"מ הברכה אינה לבטלה שמברך אותה כדי לאכול המרור שאחר המצה והגדה לא חשיב הפסק ובלבד שלא יפסיק בדבורים אחרים:
    Now I see it as an example of making birkas hamitzvos before a maaseh mitzvah even though you really not doing the mitzva at the time, because you're having kavana for the actual maaseh and kiyum later. I still don't get it, but it seems to shtim with the way the IE is learning Rabbeinu Tam.
    It's also reminiscent of the Mordcheh that says that you are yotzeh the deoraysa of kiddush Friday afternoon even though tosfos Shabbos is derabanan, and not because of the Rambam's kodem kein me'aht.

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    1. I thought of the latter example as well, but not the former, so y'yasher koacha for bringing it up. Maybe you want to add tekiyas shofar to the list based on Tos in that sugya in Pesachim that the ikar kiyum is tekiyos in musaf but the bracha is recited earlier.

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    3. Wow, it's so counterintuitive and it appears in so many places. Let's say I going into a place that I can not make a bracha, so I would make a birkas daled minim before alos, and pick up the lulav and esrog, and then pick them up again after alos without a bracha, you would laugh at me. I actually was meyayaish on ever understanding that Mordchai, and punkt two weeks ago I was at a great nephew's bar mitzva where he claimed the the M really does hold like the Rambam and is only using tosfos shabbos derabanan to give the meal a sheim seudas shabbos.

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  2. So the mar makom needs a review
    ... I think it's YO 6 YD 33 3.

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