Q&A: Greeting One’s Rabbi on the Intermediate Days of the Festival with You
Greeting One’s Rabbi on the Intermediate Days of the Festival with You
Question
Festivals for joy,
As is well known, it is customary throughout the Jewish people to gather for the mitzvah of “greeting one’s rabbi” on the intermediate days of the festival—each person with his rabbi, each community with its leader.
What should someone do who regards you, Rabbi, as his rabbi? Where and how can one fulfill the mitzvah of greeting the rabbi?
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to organize some kind of gathering in order to fulfill the mitzvah?
Answer
The one who reads the letter…
Discussion on Answer
Does one fulfill one’s obligation of greeting the rabbi via Zoom?
Since there is no obligation, there is nothing to discuss.
Why is there no obligation?
The Noda B’Yehuda wrote that when there is no pilgrimage festival ascent, there is no greeting of one’s rabbi. And according to Maimonides, who understands it as stemming from honoring one’s rabbi, nowadays there is no primary rabbi, and people learn from books, so there is no obligation (and this is also cited in the name of the Steipler). Go out and see that nowadays people are not careful about this. Especially since in the original source it applies every month and on the Sabbath, and that certainly is not practiced today. In general, from the tone of the Talmud it appears that even in strict Talmudic law this is not really a formal halakhic obligation.
You can also do it in the Zoom classes 🙂