Dancing and clapping on Saturday
Hello Rabbi!
The Mishnah (Beitza 5b) says that it is forbidden to clap on Shabbat and it is forbidden to dance. The Talmud gives a reason why this is a ruling lest one repair a musical instrument.
He wrote a lot about the cancellation of the rabbi’s decrees. And my question is, in our day and age, is it possible to “ignore” this ruling, according to the rabbi?
Already the Toss commented that the decree was probably only for the reality that people are knowledgeable in repairing musical instruments. The explanation seems reasonable to me, but in this way many decrees can be ignored through divisions, and the concept of “the nullity of the taste does not nullify the regulation” no longer applies, because a regulation that nullifies its taste can be said to have been decreed from the beginning only for the situation where the taste belongs.
And perhaps it should also be considered that the reason appears in the Gemara and not in the Mishnah, and perhaps this is just an opinion of the Amoraim, but it is not certain that this is the real reason. (Menochat Ahavah writes that this is the case with killing a louse on Shabbat, which the Tannaim permitted and the Amoraim brought a reason that was discovered today to be incorrect, but it is still permissible because this is how the Tannaim ruled . If this reason were brought in the words of the Mishnah, then we would say that the Tannaim also erred in their assessment of reality and therefore it would be forbidden to kill a louse).
What does the rabbi say? Is it possible to clap and dance on Shabbat?
Thank you very much!
Revocation of decrees clarifies authority. According to Maimonides, a great rabbinic council is needed, both in wisdom and in number, even if it nullifies the purpose of the regulation. The mechanisms I suggested there are sometimes possible even without authority, but this is mainly when the regulation causes harm. If there is no harm but it is merely irrelevant, then it is more difficult to revoke. In any case, it is likely that some consensus among the poskim is needed for this. Beyond that, even today there are situations where musical instruments are repaired. We do not build them and do not make substantial repairs, but there are certainly repairs such as putting a string back in place, repairing a drum that has become loose, and so on. In short, I do not have a definitive answer to this matter, and as long as there is no definitive ruling here, my tendency is that the decree cannot be revoked.
I disagree with the words of the late Ahava. This is unfounded speculation. If they gave a reason, then that is the reason (I never liked the hypothesis about hidden reasons attributed to the GRA). Indeed, today it is forbidden to kill a louse. Furthermore, even if Chazal had forbidden it and today it were revealed that it was not a cow and was not a male, I would permit killing it, even for a cow with the prohibition of stoning.
See Aruch Shulchan Si’ Sh”t, section 9’ which permits clapping and dancing in our time, for another reason.
Thank you very much! (To both the Rabbi and Joel)
I don't understand the Rabbi's question about the rest of the love – He doesn't claim, like the Gra”a, that besides the written reason, there are other hidden reasons. He claims that the Tannaim simply did not reveal their reason in the Mishnah. And the Amoraim only offered an idea of why the Tannaim fixed it. Why is that not reasonable?
When the fixers of the regulation also write its reason, I think he would agree that this is the real reason according to which the ruling was made and there is no need to consider all sorts of hidden reasons.
And another question regarding the decree that a vessel should not be repaired:
The Gemara already mentions that it was customary among the people of Israel even after the decree to clap their hands on Shabbat, and the Gemara says that they did not wave their hands because it is better to be mistaken than to be a troublemaker.
My question is if they understand that the people cannot abide by such a decree – after all, they will sin in any case, then why don't they say that this is a decree that the people cannot abide by?
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