Q&A: Questions About Commandments
Questions About Commandments
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I’m becoming religious, slowly, and three questions in Jewish law came up for me:
1. I understood that tzitzit only have to be put on a four-cornered garment. But I don’t wear clothes with four corners. Am I required to wear tzitzit? I asked one rabbi and he said it’s worthwhile to wear a four-cornered garment with tzitzit attached to it, in order to “gain” a commandment. What do you think about that?
2. When I spoke with that same rabbi about halakhic authority, he argued that the Men of the Great Assembly also have authority (besides the Sanhedrin and the Talmud), and therefore we have to pray according to their text. I want to start praying Shacharit, Mincha, and Ma’ariv, but I don’t know what Jewish law actually requires and which liturgy to use. In light of what that rabbi said, do I need to pray according to the text established by the Men of the Great Assembly? Is that indeed the right way?
3. Regarding the Sabbath—religious people I spoke with told me that, in principle, if for example a television is turned on before the Sabbath, and you don’t touch the remote, there is no prohibition on watching what is being broadcast. Of course this could be generalized to all electrical appliances, like an air conditioner, oven, and so on. Is that really the case?
More generally, I’d be glad to know whether you have a recommendation for a Jewish law book that lays out the laws simply, how to perform them, and what is actually obligatory. My religiosity is fairly cold, and overall I just want to do what is incumbent on me, and no more. So I’m looking for what is actually required, not rabbis’ opinions that often say things unrelated to Jewish law (for example: a kippah, kissing the mezuzah, separating challah, candles, and so on).
Thanks in advance.
Answer
As a rule, it’s better to learn with someone and not by yourself from a book. That way you get proportions and concepts more accurately. You’re making various assumptions here out of ignorance. I suggest first learning, and only afterward forming positions and an approach to serving God.
- You are not required to wear a four-cornered garment. It is customary to wear one in order to gain a commandment, but there is no obligation.
- The Great Assembly was the Sanhedrin at the beginning of the Second Temple period. It wasn’t a separate institution. And indeed, their text is the binding one. That is the text found in the prayer book.
- There is a prohibition where the thing makes noise and people may suspect that you turned it on during the Sabbath. There is, however, a disagreement here between the Shulchan Arukh and the Rema, and therefore between Ashkenazi and Sephardi practice.
- Separating challah and lighting Sabbath candles are full-fledged Jewish law. Ceremonies of challah separation are usually a rather pagan matter.
Discussion on Answer
1. It is indeed proper to do so. Every commandment you do is a gain. More than that: because many people practice this, it has the force of custom.
4. When you make dough from a certain quantity and up, there is a halakhic obligation to separate challah from it. In recent years many people (mainly women) have begun holding deliberate challah-separation ceremonies in order to merit various salvations and other nonsense. It’s best to stay away from that. In many cases it comes close to severe Torah prohibitions, and even apart from that it’s pagan nonsense.
It’s best to learn with a rabbi, not just some random person. If you tell him what you’re looking for and ask for “lean” learning, there’s a chance he’ll do that. The claim that if Maimonides wrote something then it is probably correct has nothing to do with Hasidism. It’s a completely logical and correct claim. That doesn’t mean he is always right, but he was a great halakhic scholar. Just like people tell you to go to a doctor because there’s a good chance he’s right. A halakhic expert is like an expert in any other field.
The person who told you that saying about someone that he does bad things is lashon hara, and in practice a violation of a prohibition, was completely right. You are far too emphatic, especially given your great ignorance. Critical thinking is a good thing; excessive criticism is a bad and harmful thing that reflects arrogance and interferes with learning. I suggest you study with people and suspend your criticism a bit. When you have broader knowledge and familiarity, the criticism will come on its own, and then it will also be more grounded. Right now you’re just feeding off rumors and superficial impressions and judging statements and people in a hasty and unfounded way. In the meantime, learn what you are taught. Put trust in people. You’ll still have time to form positions of your own.
Got it.
When you say to learn with a rabbi, is it common to just go look in the local synagogue?
Or would it be better to look for organized Torah classes for the general public?
The simple issue is that I don’t know where to turn, really in the practical sense.
In principle there are also materials online (written and video lessons). As for learning in person—which is recommended, because there you can ask questions—that depends on where you live.
“ In recent years many people (mainly women) have begun holding deliberate challah-separation ceremonies in order to merit various salvations and other nonsense. It’s best to stay away from that. In many cases it comes close to severe Torah prohibitions.”
Could the Rabbi please explain which prohibitions?
See column 392.
Although I agree with the Rabbi with everything he wrote here, I feel there’s a bit of missing empathy and more practical detail toward someone becoming religious at the beginning of his path.
Of course, if he had asked me—as someone who became religious at a very young age and later realized his mistake—I would tell the dear questioner first of all not to take religion too seriously, and to understand that it is our tradition and nothing more. In the end, Judaism, like the other religions, is based on myths and errors. Still, learning is always good; to this day—as a complete heretic—I try to study Torah (or Jewish studies scholarship) in my free time, but everything has to be kept in proportion. And if you nevertheless really intend to become religious—alongside understanding that you still lack a huge amount of knowledge and are not yet in a position to criticize every detail, as the Rabbi told you—never neglect your intellect, your critical thinking, and your rational worldview, because if you do, you may sink to the lowest depths.
Good luck.
To Michi—I live in a town in the north of the country, and I don’t get to the center, for example.
Really, I don’t think online learning would be good for me, exactly because of what you said (I prefer to ask questions and understand).
I suppose maybe it would be good to sniff around among the religious people in the town, ask whether they know a rabbi who could help.
That definitely sounds reasonable. And as I said, try not to be overly critical. It won’t let you learn.
I’ll take that to heart, thanks.
To the questioner: if you leave an email address here (anonymous is also fine, the main thing is some way to communicate…), I’d be happy to help you. It seems to me that my approach to Jewish law is pretty much the same as what you’re looking for.
Thanks. Replying briefly so I can understand better:
1. That’s what I understood from that rabbi. But I’ll ask a meta-halakhic/normative question: is it proper to do something that is customary but not actually in Jewish law, like wearing a four-cornered garment in order to gain a commandment?
4. What do you mean? Is there a difference between a challah-separation ceremony and separating challah? (The first is “pagan” and the second is in Jewish law?)
And I really am looking for someone to learn Jewish law with so I can get a basic grasp, but I don’t know whom to turn to. I’m a little hesitant to go to a religious person and ask him, because in my experience it’s often seasoned with Hasidism, with statements like “if Maimonides wrote it then it’s true,” or with laws that, in my understanding, aren’t really laws at all (for example, the previous person I learned with told me that saying about someone that he does bad things is lashon hara, and actually a violation of a prohibition).
And sorry for the nitpicky questions—I come from a very secular home, so I’m probably looking for my way in an imprecise way.