Traveling on Erev Shabbos: The Three-Parsah Rule and Arriving in Time to Prepare

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. We're learning Hilchos Shabbos. The oilam was prepared, they were told in advance we're going to be doing Hilchos Shabbos with the oilam once, also the parsha, so we could discuss maybe to divide the time, a little Hilchos Shabbos, a little parsha. We'll see how it goes. But this week we'll start with the topic in Hilchos Shabbos, and that is traveling on Erev Shabbos. What traveling is mutar, what time are you allowed to leave? So there's a mefurash din in Shulchan Aruch about this. It's in Reish Mem Tes, based on the Gemara in Sukkah Mem Daled, and that is: Ein holchin b'Erev Shabbos yoser mi'shalosh parsaos, k'dei sheyagia l'beiso b'od hayom gadol. You must not travel that distance of gimel parsaos in order you should get home on time for Shabbos, plain and simple. And the reason for this halacha, says the Mechaber, is v'yuchal l'hachin tzorkhei Shabbos, seudas Shabbos, that you're able to prepare for Shabbos. And the Mechaber continues, it makes no difference if he's going to other people for Shabbos or he's going home for Shabbos. So let's discuss halacha l'maaseh. How does this apply today, or does it apply today? So first let's begin with the halacha: Erev Shabbos, of course, we've got to keep in mind Shabbos is coming. Shalosh parsaos. What is techum Shabbos, that you're not allowed to travel three parsaos? Is it a shiur of distance, or is it a shiur of time? When you evaluate the gimel parsaos that you're not supposed to travel on Erev Shabbos, are we talking time? Are we talking distance? So first let's find out what the distance is and what the time is. What's called gimel parsaos, and what's the time frame of gimel parsaos that you're not supposed to travel on Erev Shabbos? So let's break it up. What's a parsa? A parsa is 8,000 amos. That's one parsa. A mil is 2,000 amos. A parsa is four milim, so that equals to 8,000 amos. So we have parsa, 8,000 amos. Now no one's sitting with a ruler and measuring, unless you have the barometer, you're able to measure exactly. So what is it in time? How much time are we talking about? So let's break that up. A mil is 18 minutes. That's the time that it takes to walk a mil is 18 minutes. Four milim would be 72 minutes. Now you have to have three times the four milim. So how much time is that? So it's a machlokes in the halacha, brings two shitos about it. Either it's three hours and 36 minutes. Or it's four hours and 48 minutes. Now, it's all based on different calculations. L'maaseh, the din of traveling on Erev Shabbos is a derabbanan. It's not a de'oraisa-dike din, and therefore we can give you the longest period of time, and that would be four hours and 48 minutes. Okay, this is leaving all the calculations aside of what's mil, because actually there's a machlokes if a mil is 18 minutes, if it's 22 minutes, is it 24 minutes. The Biur Halacha speaks about that. These are mathematical cheshbonos. What's negea l'maaseh? The time of gimel parsaos at best gives you the—let's say we give you the most time—it's four hours and 48 minutes, based on a Magen Avraham. It's a Biur Halacha. Okay, so there's an issur to travel more than four hours and 48 minutes on Erev Shabbos. You know, rabosai, everyone travels on Erev Shabbos. Sometimes it's more than four hours. When does this issur start? From what time is there this issur to not travel on Erev Shabbos? So the Mishnah Berurah right away says from the Rambam. Look at the Shaar HaTziyun; it's quoted from the Rambam, mitchilas hayom. So if—

הנהלכים בערב שבת יותר משלוש פרסאות מתחילת היום. From the beginning of the day. Now, what's called techilas hayom? Mishnah Berurah doesn't go into it, neither do any of the poskim, and the reason is very simple, because it's only derabbanan anyway. We're not talking about a de'oraisa dika issur. It's a derabbanandike thing, so you don't have to be exact. It's not a kriyas Shema de'oraisa issue. And Mishnah Berurah continues with this lashon, v'hu karov, karov, l'shloshah yom. And the reason why he says karov l'shloshah yom and he doesn't exactly tell you is like I explained to you, it's not that relevant, the exact moments. We're not discussing this moment, that moment, if you're a minute earlier or a minute later, but four hours b'erech, karov to four hours and forty-eight minutes. The point that it's definitely before chatzos. And the question is, people travel after chatzos, what's the heter? That is the topic of today's shiur. The hakdamah, if you got all the mathematical calculations, ma toivu manoyim. If you didn't, trust me on them. Whatever it is, the Mishnah Berurah gives you a final, final, it's karov l'shloshah yom. Is the beginning of the day a specific length of time? So that's what I'm trying to say: irrelevant, really. You know, I don't care if it's alos or netz, or—you want to know a little secret, as they say, some say it's after you finish eating breakfast. It's brought down in Torah Shleimah, or earlier Acharonim on Hilchos Shabbos, that maybe it's even from when you finish. But it's, like I said, I'd rather follow— The final dictum, the final words of the Mishnah Berurah, that it's karov l'shlish hayom. That's good enough for what's nogea to the conversation, and the point is it's definitely before chatzos. So, rabosai, why are we traveling after this time? Many people travel after chatzos. What's the heter? So let's begin by explaining what the reason for this issur is. Now, people think it has to do with you might get stuck on the road and not come back on time for Shabbos. It's not. That's the one reason that it's not. It has nothing to do with that. Go over to anybody and ask him why you're not allowed to travel, and he'll answer you, because you'll get stuck on the road and you'll come late to Shabbos. That's not the reason. The most simple reason that the poskim bring, and this is mefurash already in the Shulchan Aruch, like I say to you, V'yuchal l'hachin tzarchei seudah l'Shabbos. It has to do with hachanas Shabbos. It has to do with kavod Shabbos. In order to prepare for the Shabbos, it's not that you're going to come late, mistarayn kumen araynfalen in shtub, you know, two minutes after the zman. That's not the problem. The problem is that you're not giving it enough time to get home to prepare tzarchei Shabbos. L'maaseh, the Mishnah Berurah and the Aruch HaShulchan give a different reason, and they talk about the inyan of the chilul Shabbos. They bring that l'maaseh, last minute, and where's the chilul Shabbos? Again, rabosai, not that you'll come late for Shabbos, but being that you have to prepare for Shabbos and it's last minute. You might prolong the hachanas, and you might do Isurei Shabbos in the hachana of Shabbos. Last-minute fire, lights, and this the Mishnah Berurah already brings, that the reason for this is, I quote, Uvahabei Acharonim re'isi shekasvu, d'mikol makom tzarich lizaher lechatchilah shelo yeilech v'yisa'a samuch la'erev, nei, sheka'ma pa'amim nichshal al yedei zeh bayomdei chilul Shabbos. There's another inyan in this halacha, and again, like I said, not because you will get stuck on the road, but because you might not prepare properly for Shabbos. There's a meyudik chiddush the poskim not brought in the Mishnah Berurah and Aruch HaShulchan, and gad it's meduyak like this in the Rosh, perek aleph of Shabbos, os lamed ches, that you'll get tired. Travel makes tired, and when you're tired, you come in to Shabbos, there's no oneg Shabbos. It's more about the ayefus. It's more about that you'll be tired, and being tired means that you're not going to have an oneg Shabbos. So these are the three ta'amim, and if you look at the Acharonim, they'll discuss.

Discuss heterim based on the taam. Based on, if the reason is because of tzarchei Shabbos. Also, what happens if everything is well prepared before? Your whole Shabbos is prepared, so then the issur falls off. The Mechaber himself mentions a few of these issues, that maybe if the issue of preparing for Shabbos falls off, and the whole reason is because you won't prepare for Shabbos, so then the issur of traveling gimel parsa'os will also fall off. Let's read the lashon of the Mechaber. Says the Mechaber, v'im shalach l'hodiam shehu holech sham l'Shabbos. What happens if he tells the people that he's going to in advance, that he's going to them for Shabbos, so they're anyway preparing for him in advance? Mutar leilech kama parsa'os b'chol gavni. That you're allowed to anyway travel this amount of time, this length of time, this distance of time, because the preparations are already done. And again, like I said, we're not discussing coming late for Shabbos. That's not the issue, because that would be the issue. This has nothing to do with that the food is already prepared. This is about hachana l'tzorech Shabbos, and the Mechaber already brings that if the food is prepared, which means that he in advance tells the people that he's coming there, then it's possible that it's mutar. The Mishnah Berurah discusses an interesting thing: does this halacha bichlal apply today? Why? Today we have cars. In the olden days, to travel gimel parsa'os, you know, it's... It was an avodah. Today we have a car. Possible, then we could say that the whole halacha does not apply. The whole halacha of traveling on Erev Shabbos may not apply because we have a car, and it's not the way it was at the time when the Chachamim were mesaken that you're not allowed to travel on Erev Shabbos. It changes because of the modern day, so to speak, modern day technology. The what? So I'll tell you, the measurements of gimmel parsaos was based on the fact that nachal Ma'aravis, gimmel parsaos, was a tremendous travel. For us to travel three hours in a car, it's quick, it moves, you know, there's less fear of getting stuck. Now I'll just read you the Mishnah Berurah. It's mekor is actually a Bach. The Bach, which the Mishnah Berurah brings, U'mehaBach mashma, l'hakel b'nosei ha'agalah. Today we're not going by foot. In his time, of course, they were going with an agalah, with a carriage, which is, of course, much, much better today that we have the car. And therefore it's mutar even lisa achar chatzos. And this is what it's based on, that we do that today. People travel after chatzos. They're basing it on this Bach. U'vilvad, but of course it has to be with the condition that you take into account that he'll come home b'od hayom gadol, that he has enough time to prepare for Shabbos. I've always had a problem, question. I never understood this whole... Mishnah Berurah based on the Bach, because if you really look at the Bach, the Bach himself doesn't really pasken that way. The Bach is saying that maybe it's a makom l'hatir, and he uses the lashon, mutav sheyihyu shogegin v'al yihyu mezidin. They're anyway going to do it. So it's better not to make an issue, because people are going to do it, and let's say that maybe is the heter, what they have the right to do it for. In halacha it became ungnum the Bach. So this is a hora'ah asked many of the chachamim, many poskim in the past. Why is it that we've taken this Bach, so to speak, literally l'halacha, when the Bach himself wasn't trying to pasken that that's the halacha, but he was trying to say, the velt needs a heter. Here it is, and mutav sheyihyu shogegin v'al yihyu mezidin. Here, I gave you a heter. But al kol panim, this became the final, mizak reason, final cheshbon, the kar, the kar, which is the agalah of the Bach. Now there are many reasons to be matir travel after chatzos besides for the kar, and one, the Mishnah Berurah himself already speaks, and that is that anyway we prepare a lot in advance. It's not like the old days that there was not a lot of food, and depending on every person in the house, that's how much food was prepared. People prepare b'revach. It's a lashon of the Mishnah Berurah.

The Mishnah Berurah says, U'b'medinos eilu, roiv bnei adam mechinin tzarchei Shabbos b'revach. Says the Eglei Mishnah Berurah, v'lachein ein nizharin b'zeh klal. That's the reason why we're not so makpid about travel after chatzos, because the whole thing is based on to make sure you'll have enough food when you come home. Sagt the Mishnah Berurah, today everybody makes a lot of food. There's another cheshbon the Piskei Mishnah Berurah doesn't bring, but it's along the same lines. Let's say you are late. You can always go buy food, last-minute preparations. Now, even if the Yiddish stores are closed, today you have a ShopRite. You can buy. The Kaf HaChaim speaks about this. The Kaf HaChaim says that you never really get stuck for Shabbos. There's always, even if you're mamash two minutes before Shabbos, can sully into the last store that's open, or of course any other stores, and get food for Shabbos. U'meimeila, the halacha of the gimel parsa'os doesn't apply. So now we have three cheshbonos, okay, why it doesn't apply, and that is: A, aleph, either you know in advance how many people are coming so you prepare, is the mechaber, or the Mishnah Berurah that says we anyway prepare a lot, or you have the Kaf HaChaim's svara that what? You can always get food at the last minute anyway, so it's not such a big problem. There's another cheshbon, and that is, today it's easy to make food, a microwave, you know, it's two seconds. The poskim, the modern-day, later-day poskim today, they bring down the inyan. L'maaseh, in two seconds you got your Shabbos ready. In yiddish, shlakn, m'dafesh flikin the chickens, you know what I mean? I'm not looking tight. In those days, the mamat gedafkein, and flicking the chicken, and the preparations could be done one, two, three, and therefore it becomes mutar. I just want to point out, it would be an interesting point of observation. Someone travels to the mountains. You don't really have all these ta'im. If someone travels to the mountains, and you get, so to speak, stuck in your bungalow colony, if there's other Yidden there, fine. But if, let's say, you're going to a place, a remote place in the mountains, you don't have your cheshbones, you can run out and buy food. You don't have all these cheshbones. Where are you going to sleep? It's not... So maybe, like I say, you have to think that the halacha, the ikar halacha, would return that maybe one should not travel before Chatzos, which is a topic that needs to be in each case discussed. But I do want to bring out something interesting, and this, I think, is an interesting hakdamah to all of Hilchos Shabbos. When Chachamim make a takanah, could we come and say today is different? They made the takanah. They said, lo yis... mefurash Gemara. Could we come and say, you know what, today is an entirely different situation? Well, you see the bach is doing that. Well, maybe the bach just did it as a heter. Okay, we're just... Now, you want, I could give you now a list. If you're ready to listen, I can give you a whole list of this. Okay. So let's begin with, in this halacha gufa, this is a discussion, and I'll show you where the halacha is. If the whole problem is that you don't have food for Shabbos, how about if you're taking your food with you? So then the whole thing falls off. The whole cheshbon is that you're not going to have food for Shabbos. You're traveling to the mountains with your Shabbos, so gevaldik. Okay, you might not have a place to sleep if you get stuck. Okay, let's leave that alone for a minute. But it's a bir halacha. The bir halacha brings two de'os in this, and this is a very important yesod in Hilchos Shabbos. Could we come and say today is different? Zogt the Biur Halacha, I'm sorry, that's the second Biur Halacha: V'yachol l'hakel. Ayin boi l'Shabbos shemachmir b'inyan zeh, afilu b'melech mizonosav imoi. Even if he's taking his food with him. So the cheshbon falls off. The chash fell away. It's still asur. Why? D'lo palug chachamim b'zeh. The chachamim said you can't make a difference. The chachamim said it. They said. But, he says, v'chein mukhach b'Beis Yosef shetakti d'var Mishnah Berurah, aval b'elya rabba cholek, u'metzaded l'hakel b'zeh. If you could somehow go around the taam of the issur, if you can get around the taam of the issur, then it becomes mutar.

There's two cases where we find this in Hilchos Shabbos, and let's just begin with one of the most classic of the cases. You're not supposed to make a wash of clothing on Erev Shabbos. This is the first din in the Shulchan Aruch in Hilchos Shabbos. Mitakanas Ezra, you're not allowed to be mechabes begadim on Erev Shabbos. You do it when? On Thursday. Today we have washing machines. So if the whole reason why you don't do it is because you have to be busy with preparing for Shabbos instead of doing a wash, and it takes a long time, and it's a starka eisek, the loshon of the poskim, to make a wash, so mitakanas Ezra, you're not allowed to make a wash on Erev Shabbos. It's a shailah, that's really what the takanas Ezra is. It's not for right now a discussion what exactly was the takanas Ezra. L'maaseh today we have the washing machine. You dump it in, it takes two seconds and you're done. Is it mutar? Does the takanas Ezra fall off? Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zichrono tzaddik livrachah, in Nishmei Shabbos, chelek chas, it's in perek mem-beis, os yud-gimmel, discusses maybe today the whole issue of the takanas Ezra doesn't apply because we have a washing machine. And he's mesupak, mesupak, yes, no. Nisu Karelitz in the sefer Chut Shani says no. If the Rabbanan said it, even if the taam falls off, you still have to keep the takanah. And I want to tell you something very interesting. When the chachamim made a takanah, even if we think the taam fell off, there's so much deeper and there's so much more to the takanos chachamim. That maybe we don't see or know. There's an interesting Gayin, rabosai. The Gayin says, halacha is you're supposed to eat shum on Erev Shabbos. You're supposed to eat garlic on Erev Shabbos. What's the reason for it? Because the mitzvah of peru u'revu, Friday night, so you should eat shum; you're supposed to eat garlic. So the Gayin speaks about, what about for a bachur who's not married? What's... So the Gayin says everyone should eat shum, because when the Chachamim made takanos, there's so much more. There's so much more that you don't see in the takanah. You think it's simply for the reason that was given. There are many deeper and bigger reasons as well. We find many times when the Chachamim, b'chochmasam, said takanos, are we able to say, you know what, it doesn't apply today? ... If it applies, if it doesn't apply. I tell you, the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Nissim Karelitz says you can't change the takanah. That was the takanas Ezra; he was mesaken it. Maaseh, other poskim, if you look at Rav Ovadia Yosef's sefarim, there's many other poskim, later-day poskim, they say, you know what, today we have a washing machine, and since we have a washing machine, the problem falls off. Okay. You know where it could be very nogea? Let's say there's an issur to travel techum parsah. Is it in a winter Shabbos or a summer Shabbos? Should it make a difference? If the whole cheshbon, you have to lay at a clock to travel, so maybe the whole halacha doesn't apply. So if you look at Rav Nissim Karelitz's sefer, Avodas... he's very big into the lo plug, and the Chachamim said, and when the Chachamim gave a dictum, the halacha applies regardless. He says it doesn't make a difference if it's... Early Shabbos, late Shabbos, the gimel parshiyos, and whatever we take from the gimel parshiyos is nogea l'maaseh b'zman hazeh. Like I said, halacha l'maaseh, people do travel after chatzos, and there's soimech on all the heterim that we mentioned: the car, the food, the telephone, the easy shopping, all the cheshbonos. What's l'maaseh? The Chazon Ish was extremely makpid. People should not travel after chatzos, period. There's a very famous story, and I'm going to tell it over to you the way I see the way Reb Nissan Karelitz brings it, because it's brought down. It's a famous story, but the details are more clear in the shiurim of Reb Nissan Karelitz. There's a story he brings from here that Reb Shlomo Shimshon Karelitz traveled before Shabbos in a bus, and there was a tremendous accident, and he got hurt and the people on the bus got hurt. So the Chazon Ish said, and the famous story goes that the Chazon Ish said, because they traveled after chatzos. This story is a little bit—there's more detail to the story. Listen to the way he brings the story. And he said like this, the Chazon Ish, that this, that the zechus haTorah of Reb Shimshon Karelitz—he was a big gaon, a talmid chacham—didn't protect him. That's what happens.

Tzadikim, tzadikim. Even though they learn Torah, there's, Baruch Hashem, things happen. So the lashon, I'd read it to you inside; I don't want to misquote it. שזה שזכות התורה שהוא לומד ויגע בה לא הגינה עליו, זו אינה קושיא, שהרי לפעמים גם לצדיק יש עונש. But what was difficult to the Chazon Ish is why wasn't the Torah of Rav Karelitz, Rav Shimshon Karelitz, megen for the people on the bus? That was the question. That was the issue. Interesting. And he says, we have to say that possibly the traveling was done on Erev Shabbos after chatzos, and therefore לא הגינה עליהם זכות התורה. The Steipler, the Steipler would not travel not so much the time of chatzos, but he was makpid on the four hours. He would not make a trip over four hours on Erev Shabbos. This is brought down in the sefarim of the Steipler, and he was makpid on this halachah, that he wanted to do according to the halachah of not doing. Now, there's an interesting Aruch HaShulchan. The Aruch HaShulchan says that if you look around, you see חסתם מקטרג בענין זה. He says the Satan finds ways on how to make trouble that people shouldn't come on time for Shabbos. And he says, and therefore you have to be very careful to keep a cheshbon to make sure you get there on time. And let's use the lashon of the Sha'ar HaTziyun. The Sha'ar HaTziyun, when he brings this halachah, he says, So how much time? You have to get there, מכל מקום ירא לבוא למקום שביתתו בעוד יום גדול. Okay, so if I take off the gimel parsaos, let's say, okay, the leisa, it's not negea b'zman hazeh. But what is negea b'zman hazeh? The traveling time needs to be ois k'cheshbon that you'll get there b'od yom gadol. That's the time frame of that. I asked many poskim, I don't know, there's no b'od yom gadol. So I guess it has to do with how much time it takes you to prepare for Shabbos. Chore, each person's separate. I saw in the Aruch LaNer, he says that it's an hour. Aruch LaNer brings down that you got to at least be home an hour before Shabbos. The Velt says over that you got to take travel time and give it double, whatever the travel time is. Azei zogt, travel time and what? You're saying if he's traveling for three hours, he should have six hours of time? No, the other way around. Let's say it should take you two hours and you'll get on time for Shabbos, four hours. You should leave four hours early, okay? Double the travel time. So I don't know where it came from. I went, I searched for, you know, where it comes from. Azei zogt the Velt, I don't know, maybe it's from Gedolim, but I saw there's a new sefer from Shmuel Kamenetsky. He brings down that Reb Shmuel said this, Kovetz Halachos, travel time, double. You got to double the travel time, and that's the thing you should do. I do want to point out one thing. There's an interesting Biur Halacha here that brings down. The Biur Halacha brings down, and he says, Im holech l'dvar mitzvah, mutar leilech ad סמוך לערב. He doesn't use the lashon of b'od yom gadol, and he bases it on a din in Shulchan Aruch in siman reish mem ches. It's an interesting Biur Halacha. I've asked Rav Shlomo Zalman. Is this סמוך לערב דווקא or לאו דווקא? Because when it's not דבר מצוה, then it's, you have to go home, come home, בעוד שביתו בעוד יום גדול. The Biur Halacha, when he speaks about when it's a דבר מצוה, he says סמוך לערב. Is it דווקא or לאו דווקא? Reb Shlomo Zalman told me that he believes that it's לאו דווקא. What he meant to say was that you have to give it time; it's not a סתירה. But it's an interesting lashon of the Biur Halacha. What's a נוגע למעשה? What do you call a דבר מצוה? You see, this becomes a very interesting... A דבר מצוה could be that a person wants to be home for Shabbos with his family. Are you in Shabbos? You're going to a guest, you're going to a simcha. We could call that a דבר מצוה. How about if a person is because of his parnassah? His parnassah is also דבר מצוה. What's called דבר מצוה? That's an interesting shaila. I've spoken it over with many gedolim over the years. But the point, just keep in mind, it's important to make sure traveling on Erev Shabbos after chatzos, you got to keep the time, and many gedolim didn't even travel after chatzos, period. I do want to end with the lashon of the Shlah. Shlah says, ומידת חסידות וקדושה יתירה להיות מוכן לצורך שבת.

The melachos, kveidos bechatzos. A person should be done with all his melachos, the heavy melachos, the big melachos, by chatzos. I think it's Ois Lamed Beis in the Shulchan Shabbos. Point being, there's a halacha, rabosai, of travel on Erev Shabbos. You can't just take on that everything farkert. I travel. Keep in mind that the Satan is always trying to stop you. Accidents and, I praise, roadblocks somehow pop up on Erev Shabbos, and red lights pop up on Erev Shabbos, where you usually make the green lights, they could sometimes red lights. And this is ma'aseh Satan. So this is the halacha of travel on Erev Shabbos. As far as next week, I know that it seems like the oilam wants two things. Some people want Hilchos Shabbos, some people want on the parsha. Maybe we'll do both. We'll split it. We'll learn some interesting halacha on Shabbos and some on the parsha. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.