Cancellation of the return of the Shatz
I understood that in the past, Maimonides abrogated it in Egypt. I understood that in the opinion of Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank, a regulation that has been abrogated cannot be restored (this is what he claims regarding the regulation on raising thin livestock in Israel). If so, in our day and age, when we are not in cities, and people are not intent on the return of the Shatz (blessings for its abrogation), and there is a public nuisance in it, and the abrogation of the Torah, why not abrogate it?
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0 Answers
Nowadays, unfortunately, nothing is canceled. But the source you cited deals with a different case: a rule that has already been canceled, can it be reinstated (or is it necessary for an authority to re-enact it). That is a different question. On the contrary, it precisely means that it cannot be canceled because there is no authority. Indeed, when it has already been canceled (with authority or without authority), a custom has been created and now it must be discussed whether it is obligatory to maintain it. It should be remembered that every custom is a breach of a halakhic boundary (for Kula or for Chumara), and the obligation to maintain a custom is an obligation to preserve the breach of the boundary. Regarding illiteracy, some have argued that this is not only a rule for those who cannot read, but that the revocation makes the prayer public. But this is an explanation in hindsight.
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Asks:
Further to my question about canceling the recitation of the Shatz, see the email below which states that some yeshivot have canceled the recitation of the Shatz at the mincha. Can this be relied upon to cancel the recitation of the Shatz in regular synagogues as well?
Question: Sometimes, instead of the usual practice of a mincha prayer (where after the benedictions of the congregation, the eighteen are prayed in a whisper and then the cantor begins the recitation of the Shatz), a “short mincha” is performed (i.e., immediately after the benedictions of the cantor begins the eighteen aloud, until “Kedushah” and “Haal Hakodosh” and then everyone prays in a whisper (and then there is no recitation of the Shatz again). When according to halacha is it permissible to do this, and why is this done routinely in yeshivas?
The short answer: The aforementioned short prayer is intended only for urgent situations, such as fearing that prayer time will pass, etc. And since this was the usual practice in yeshivot, some actually commented on it, but others justified the custom with various reasons as explained below.
The answer in more detail:
According to the Rema (O'H, 124:2), one prays a short prayer specifically "in times of stress, such as when one fears that prayer time will pass" (i.e., when the Shachaz will not have time to finish the eighteen blessings within the prayer time – מבב אלהים; and the Ma'b adds that this is also the law during Shacharit, if one fears that the Shachaz prayer will not be finished within the Shacharit time). And the Mishnah emphasizes there that in verse 6, "And without times of stress, many of the latter agreed not to do so, because the main rule from the dina is to pray beginning in a whisper, and then out loud."
[And some say that instead of fearing that when the Chastisement of the Lord comes, there will not be nine who listen and answer, they will do so anyway – see the booklet Prayer of Miriam in the book Shirat Miriam, page 44, note 14].
And one must ask, then, why is it that in many yeshivots it is customary to pray a "short mincha," even when there is no pressing hour?
In the booklet "Prayer of Mary" in the book "Shirat Miriam", page 44, note 45, the following is stated in this regard:
"And especially the custom of some yeshivas to pray a short mincha," explained in Sefer Emet Le Yaakov (Mark 124, Note 152) by Rabbi Kaminetzky, whose name is Shaminetzky, that the reason is because the main regulation of the recitation of the Shatz was only in the synagogue, where the people of the land who did not know how to pray prayed, but in the Beit Midrash, where only the Torah scholars prayed, they did not regulate the recitation of the Shatz at all. Only at Shacharit did the prayer return even in the Beit Midrash, because of the closeness of the redemption to the prayer, which made it impossible for them to stop after the 'redeemed Israel' and hear from the Shatz until it was holy, and therefore they were forced to pray on their own and again hear the recitation of the Shatz.
I also heard from a sage, Shlita, that the reason for the custom of those yeshivas, that on days when there is a general shiur, a short mincha is prayed, is because they feared that due to the Torah's ritcha, they would continue to talk during the study after the shiur at the expense of the mincha prayer, and it is better for them to speak while the Shatz is saying the first blessings aloud and not when the congregation begins the silent prayer.
And indeed, there were many who opposed this custom of some yeshivas. Refer to the book 'Fath Shadach' (p. 14) which was brought by Gra Rabbi Dushnitzer, who was sorry about this, but did not abolish this practice even in his place. He wrote there that at this time, the rejected fence of this practice has already been breached in several yeshivas, it is a mitzvah for anyone who has the power to destroy this practice completely, so that it will not be remembered or used. Refer also to the Responsa, then we will talk (Part 12, Section 23) about what he wrote about it.
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Rabbi:
This is not really abrogation but rather a shortening. Since the purpose of the regulation is null and void, I see no reason not to overlap as much as possible within the bounds of halakhic law. Therefore, it is certainly possible to do so.
By the way, in my opinion, the custom in yeshivot is simply because of the abrogation of the Torah.
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