The One-Man Mechitzah
“Don’t ask Rabbi Taub a sh’eilah unless you’ve cleared your schedule” was a joke one year in the Purim grammen in shul.
There’s some truth to this. My desire to explain the background to a psak comes in no small part from my own need for chazarah. There are other motives as well.
There is a well-known concept that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Over the years, many of the halachic adventures I’ve shared in Ami Magazine have fallen into this category.
A simple illustration is the myth that a utensil does not need tevilah before its first use. This error seems to come from the fact that a disposable metal pan meant for one-time use only does not require tevilah. This“little” piece of information somehow led some people to believe that any first-time of a utensil is permitted without tevilah.
Not true!
Instead, the fact that the metal pan will be discarded after its first use means that it is not considered a real kli; it has nothing to do with first-time use.
During Sukkos, I saw this principle in action again. The following episode is the newest example to explain why I can sometimes be verbose in my answers to sh’eilos.
I was away with my family for Sukkos and was a stranger at a minyan on the second day of Chol Hamoed. The Shacharis crowd was a mix of chasidim and Litvaks, modern and yeshivish—a typical vacation Chol Hamoed minyan.
Some wore tefillin on Chol Hamoed and some didn’t, and the shul’s rav was supportive of these diverse minhagim being observed together, and at the same time.
I found a nice quiet corner in the back in which to daven, when, right before shemoneh esreh, I noted a peculiar sight: A bachur took two rolling mechitzos, set them up near the wall to form a triangle, and started the Amidah in his newly-created segregated corner.
After Hallel, I heard one man joke, “Maybe he’s in cherem.” Another man responded, “Maybe he has tzaraas!”
In truth, this young man meant well, but because he had limited information, his good intentions failed him. In order to understand why, some background information is necessary.
Although everyone agrees that we do not wear tefillin on Shabbos or Yom Tov, Chazal do not offer a definitive practice for chol Hamoed. This has resulted in a number of disparate—and strongly held—shittos.
The Shulchan Aruch rules that it is forbidden to wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed.The Rema disagrees, saying that it is actually a chiyuv.
While most who wear tefillin on CholHamoed do not recite a brachah, some do. This creates the separate issue of whether those who wear tefillin with a brachah should do so in a whisper so as not to cause division among those who don’t (see Shulchan Aruch, OrachChaim, siman 31, “nosei keilim”).
But what should one do if a shul’s minhag is to wear tefillin on Chol Hamoedbut he doesn’t, or vice versa?
The Chofetz Chaim rules that in such a case, one should follow the custom of the shul (ad loc. se’if 8). This is due to the prohibition of “Lo tisgodedu,” not causing machlokes within a group setting (Rambam, et al.; cf. Rishonim, who give other reasons for this prohibition).
When I was growing up, the minhag in my father’s shul was not to wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed, and those who did either went elsewhere or davened behind the mechitzah. Other shuls in Toronto had the same policy.
Over time, however, many shuls began to allow people with both minhagim to Daven together on Chol Hamoed.
According to this approach, what happened to the prohibition of “Lo tisgodedu”?
A contemporary of the Chofetz Chaim wrote, “In his sefer Mishnah Brurah, my dear friend, the gaon Rav Meir of Radin,says that [allowing] those who wear tefillinand those who don’t to daven together isnot appropriate [but not actually assur].This is because when people are simply acting out of doubt about what thehalachah is, it is not clear that this is actually a violation of ‘Lo tisgodedu’ (SdeiChemed, Chol Hamoed, 14).
Rav Moshe Feinstein went one step further.
Before technology and its ease of communication, some had no idea about minhagim in other locations. One’s bris took place in his shul and then his bar mitzvah; he davened there daily, the shul hosted his wedding, etc. making the average person wholly unacquainted with the minhagim in and of other communities. This being the case, one was liable to view any practice that was dissimilar to his shul’s as being in violation of halachah.
Today it is vastly different. Most people have davened in many different shuls, and even within their own minyanim there are often Jews of all backgrounds. In this melting pot, the mispallelim are aware of the different tefillin minhagim, and a concern about causing machlokes is not necessarily relevant (Igros Moshe, OrachChaim, 5:24;6).
The sincere bachur whom I saw in shul on Chol Hamoed had no doubt learned theMishnah Brurah advising one to davenseparately if his minhag is different from the shul’s. Seeing the mixed group, he must have thought to himself, “Since I’m wearing tefillin but the chazzan and the ravare not, I have to at least daven behind a mechitzah.”
In fact, I know that’s what he was thinking…because I asked him directly. I then explained to him gently that he had unintentionally caused a “scene” among the regulars in the minyan. I told him that the Netziv once said, “Some people run from the mouth of a fox into the mouth of a lion,” meaning that a person may sometimes think he is being machmir in one area when in reality he is causing a breach in another. In this case, the purpose of thechumrah of davening separately is to avoid machlokes by not acting in opposition tothe established minhag.
“In this case, the mara d’asra allows the participation of those who wear tefillin on CholHamoed,” Explaining, “By creating a mechitzah, you are actually disrupting the very harmony that you intended to protect.”
I immediately apologized to him if I had come across as harsh or pedantic, defending myself by sharing, “I heard people making comments and thought you-looking like a budding Talmud chacham– would want to be made aware of the halachic background”.
It was another great example of how a little information can be a dangerous thing.
It is known that Rav Moshe Feinstein (and others) pasken that if one davens regularly in a shul with strong established minhagim, he should follow them—even regarding tefillin on Chol Hamoed.
On that note, we will conclude with the following story:
Rav Kalman Winter, a”h, founded the Young Israel of Buffalo in the 1970s. He called Rav Moshe regarding every aspect of the shul, its construction, mechitza, etc.
Once complete, he once called asking, “The members here don’t wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed. Should that be the minhag of the shul?”
“Absolutely,” the gadol responded.
“But I am the rav.”
“So?” asked Rav Moshe.
“Well, my minhag is to wear tefillin,”Rav Winter said.
Rav Moshe laughed and responded, “Not anymore!”
Meaning, in that case, the rav had to yield to the minhagim of his own shul.
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