Geonic kapparot -- based on Adonis gardens / swinging nettles?

Elul is here, and with it, the approach of kapparot. Nowadays people use a chicken. In prior times, people also sometimes used a ram, though presumably did not swing it about their head. For a long time, people have argued about the legitimacy of this practice.

An oft-cited Rashi on Shabbat 81b discusses a Geonic practice:

האי פרפיסא - עציץ נקוב שזרעו בו ובתשובת הגאונים מצאתי שעושין חותלות מכפות תמרים וממלאין אותם עפר וזבל בהמה וכ"ב או ט"ו יום לפני ר"ה עושין כל אחד ואחד לשם כל קטן וקטנה שבבית וזורעים לתוכן פול המצרי או קיטנית וקורין לו פורפיסא וצומח ובערב ר"ה נוטל כל אחד שלו ומחזירו סביבות ראשו שבעה פעמים ואומר זה תחת זה וזה חליפתי וזה תמורתי ומשליכו לנהר:

"This porpisa - a perforated planter in which one plants. And in the teshuvot Hageonim I found that that they make palm-leaf baskets, fill them with dirt and animal manure, and 22 or 15 days before Rosh Hashana, they make each one for each male and female child in the house, plant in it beans or peas, and they call it porpisa, and it grows. Then, on Erev Rosh Hashana, each one takes his own, swings it around his head seven times, and says 'this is in place of this, this is by substitute, this is my replacement' and then casts it into the river."

The Jewish Encyclopedia makes a bold assumption that this is "obviously" a carry over of the pagan Adonis gardens.

Another and apparently an older practise in geonic times was that of planting beans or peas in palm-leaf baskets for each child in the house two or three weeks before the New-Year. Then on the day before New-Year the children would swing the baskets containing the ripened plants around their heads three times, saying, "This be in lieu of me; this be my substitute and my exchange," and would then throw them into the water (Rashi, Shab. 81b). This is obviously a survival of the pagan rite connected with the so-called "Adonis gardens," Ἀδώνιδος κῆποι = "niṭ'e na'amanim" (Isa. xvii. 10; see Marti's and other commentaries). In Solomon b. Adret's time the kapparot ceremony was performed for the youths only (see "Bet Yosef," l.c.). According to S. I. Curtiss, "Primitive Semitic Religion To-Day," p. 203, Chicago, 1902, the Moslems of the villages of the Syrian desert still sacrifice a cock for each new-born son and a hen for each daughter born.

Perhaps. I don't see this as so obvious.

Read here in Wikipedia about Adonis Gardens:

Women in Athens would plant "gardens of Adonis" quick-growing herbs that sprang up from seed and died. The Festival of Adonis was celebrated by women at midsummer by sowing fennel and lettuce, and grains of wheat and barley. The plants sprang up soon, and withered quickly, and women mourned for the death of the vegetation god.

I suppose that the time is approximately right, and the quick-growing herbs are right. But I am not sure about the rest. And we would expect a connection to the month of Tammuz more than Tishrei:

Adonis was certainly based in large part on Tammuz.^{[citation needed]} His name is Semitic, a variation on the word adon meaning "lord". Yet there is no trace of a Semitic deity directly connected with Adonis,^[14] and no trace in Semitic languages of any specific mythemesconnected with his Greek myth; both Greek and Near Eastern scholars have questioned the connection.^[15] The connection in practice is with Adonis' Mesopotamian counterpart,Tammuz:

Women sit by the gate weeping for Tammuz, or they offer incense to Baal on roof-tops and plant pleasant plants. These are the very features of the Adonis legend: which is celebrated on flat roof-tops on which sherds sown with quickly germinating green salading are placed, Adonis gardens... the climax is loud lamentation for the dead god.^[16]

I would also see a connection to the swinging of nettles as a Germanic cure, and using nettles as a replacement for one's person. To cite The Big Bad Book of Botany, pg 36:

Mythology around the prickly nettle plant abounds. The Vikings believed nettles were especially important to the god Thor, and that burning one in a fire could prevent lightning strikes. Germanic cultures used nettles in medicinal rituals, believing that sickness could be cured by grabbing the plant by the roots and waving it over a patient while reciting his (and his parents’) names. According to Greek mythology, these stinging plants arose after a watchful father transformed his beautiful daughter into a prickly plant to prevent the god Apollo from seducing her.

masechet Rosh Hashanah: disappearing midwives and individual shofar blowing during the silent Amidah

Two days before Rosh Hashanah, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, I learned through maseches Rosh Hashanah on the train. I used an illustrated one that I picked up at last year's YU Seforim sale, Mishnayos Meiros, and it was nice.

There were plenty of illustrations, perhaps to excess. Some masechtos really require many illustrations to get the point across, e.g. Succah and Shabbos. And then, when something is not illustrated, you chance not understanding it. Other masechtos don't really lend themselves to illustrations. For Rosh Hashanah, as I said, there were plenty. Some unnecessary. E.g. if the Mishna mentions a fruit tree, need I really show a tree with fruit, because otherwise we would not know? Where the regalim are mentioned, need we really have a picture of a Matza, and Mountain, and a Lulav, to show Pesach, Shavuos, and Succos? I was amused, but still, it is better to err on the side of more pictures.

One thing then stuck out like a sore thumb. A Mishna (2:6) detailed people to whom we grant techum Shabbos at their destination, and naturally, every case is illustrated:

ב,ו  בראשונה, לא היו זזים משם כל היום; התקין רבן גמליאל הזקן, שיהו מהלכין אלפיים אמה לכל רוח.  ולא אלו בלבד, אלא אף החכמה הבאה לילד, והבא להציל מיד הגיס, מיד הנהר, מיד הדליקה, מיד המפולת--הרי אלו כאנשי העיר, ויש להן אלפיים אמה לכל רוח.

Well, except one. Can you guess which?

Yes, they skip right over החכמה הבאה לילד. I suppose they thought it would not be tzniusdik to show a woman in labor. But they did not have to show the baby crowning. They could have the pregnant woman in the background and the midwife rushing to help her, just as the fellow in the picture above is rushing towards the fire. Unless they won't show any pictures of women at all, because of tznius considerations...

I also had an interesting (and compelling) thought about the very last Mishna:

ד,ט  סדר תקיעות, שלוש של שלוש שלוש.  שיעור תקיעה, כדי שלוש תרועות; שיעור תרועה, כדי שלוש יבבות.  תקע בראשונה, ומשך בשנייה כשתיים--אין בידו אלא אחת.  מי שבירך, ואחר כך נזדמן לו שופר--תוקע ומריע ותוקע, תוקע ומריע ותוקע, שלושה פעמים.  כשם ששליח ציבור חייב, כך כל יחיד ויחיד חייב; רבן גמליאל אומר, שליח ציבור מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן. 

"Just as the Shliach Tzibbur is obligated, so is each individual obligated. Rabban Gamliel says: The Shliach Tzibbur fulfills the obligation on behalf of the community."

The standard commentaries and translations render this as referring to the obligation to say the Amidah. This in light of the gemara on the Mishna, which cites a brayta which elaborates.

However, based on the surrounding context, it really seems like pashut peshat in the Mishna is that it is referring to blowing the shofar. That is, the Amida involves the blessings of Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot, which are accompanied by shofar blasts. One might think that since the individuals are saying this in their private Amida, they should also blow the shofar. And indeed, this is what the Tanna Kamma says. But Rabban Gamliel argues and say that the Amida + shofar blasts in chazaras haShatz covers them.

To support this idea that each individual was blowing the shofar, see the previous Mishna for more context:

 אין מעכבין את התינוקות מלתקוע, ומתעסקין עימהם כדי שילמדו.  והמתעסק, לא יצא; והשומע מן המתעסק, לא יצא.

Why is chinuch of children to blow the shofar so important, if it is done by only a single person on behalf of the community? But the children are engaged in blowing the shofar, and people are engaged in teaching them to blow. This indicates that there is widespread shofar blowing going on. (Not necessarily in the course of prayer, though.)

Further, see Rosh Hashanah 29b:
1. (Rabah) Everyone is obligated to blow Shofar, but not everyone is competent to do so.
2. There is therefore a concern that a person might carry it on Shabbos to an expert for instruction.
3. It is for this reason that the Rabanan forbade Lulav and Megilah on Shabbos.

Note that he is bringing it to the expert for instruction. Not that he could hear it from the expert, but that he should be able to blow it for himself. If he could hear and fulfill, and this was an ideal situation, why the assumption that he should learn how to blow?

What about the gemara, and the brayta? I would say we should try to see if we can interpret the brayta in light of this understanding of the Mishna.

כשם ששליח צבור חייב כך כל יחיד ויחיד וכו':  תניא אמרו לו לרבן גמליאל לדבריך למה צבור מתפללין אמר להם כדי להסדיר שליח צבור תפלתו אמר להם רבן גמליאל לדבריכם למה שליח צבור יורד לפני התיבה אמרו לו כדי להוציא את שאינו בקי אמר להם כשם שמוציא את שאינו בקי כך מוציא את הבקי

"The learnt in a brayta: They said to Rabban Gamliel: According to you, why do the congregation pray? He said to them: so that the Shliach Tzibbur can arrange his prayer. Rabban Gamliel said to them: According to you, why does the Shliach Tzibbur descend before the ark? They said to him: So that he should fulfill for whoever is not an expert. He said to them: Just as he fulfills for the non-expert, so he fulfills for the expert."

So the context clearly seems to be prayer rather than shofar blasts. But try to interpret it otherwise. Namely, since the performance of the shofar blasts are part of the prayer, their individual prayer is nothing. So why pray? Answers Rabban Gamliel, to give the Shliach Tzibbur time to prepare.

He said to them: Why does the Shliach tzibur descend before the ark, if each individual must blow for himself as part of his prayer? They said: To fulfill for he who is not a baki, and expert.

Note the use of בקי, which should mean an expert in shofar blowing. [However, or also, see the discussion in the Yerushalmi over whether people should be expected to be experts in shofar blowing or the nusach hatefilla of Rosh Hashana specifically.]

This would make for a very interesting Rosh Hashana davening, I think, where everyone comes to shul with his shofar and blows during the silent Amidah.

YUTorah Rosh Hashanah To-Go for 2013

Download The Benjamin and Rose Berger Rosh Hashana-Yom Kippur To-Go 5774 which contains the following articles:
	A Serious Birthday Celebration  Rabbi Reuven Brand (Rosh Kollel, YU Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago) U’Netaneh Tokef: Will the Real Author Please Stand Up  Rabbi Kenneth Brander (Vice President for University and Community Life, YU • The David Mitzner Dean, Center for the Jewish Future) Thoughts on the Concept of Tekias Shofar  Rabbi Shlomo Drillman z"l (Rosh Yeshiva, RIETS) Yom Kippur: When Less is More  Mrs. Chaya Batya Neugroschl (Head of School, Yeshiva University High School for Girls) "And he saw the place from afar": Avraham's Journey to the Akedah Mrs. Deena S. Rabinovich (Director, Legacy Heritage Scholars/Jewish Educators Project, Stern College for Women • Instructor, Stern College for Women)  In Every Generation  Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner (Rosh Beit Midrash, YU Torah MiTzion Zichron Dov Beit Midrash of Toronto)  Practial Halacha Supplement: A Guide to Eiruv Tavshilin  Rabbi Joshua Flug (Director of Torah Research, Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future) Plus 5 more years of Rosh Hashana To-Go issues with additional articles and divrei Torah

Why you didn't hear 100 shofar blasts on Rosh HaShanah

Albert Joseph  Moore
The Mother of Sisera Looked out a Window

There is an old minhag to blow 100 shofar blasts on Rosh HaShanah. As I cite here:

The Aruch also mentions a custom to blow 100 blasts = tarat tashat tashrat each three times while seated {for a total of 30}, another during the Shemoneh Esrei on the seder of Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot of the chazarat haShatz, for a total of 60. The additional 40 were thirty during the silent Shemoneh Esrei and 10 at the end. To cite a secondary source:

h) 100 - The ARUCH himself does not count just 60 Teki'os. He mentions that the custom is to blow 100 Teki'os altogether, corresponding to the 100 wails that Sisera's mother wailed for him when he did not return from the war with the Jews. (He apparently had a Midrashic source for these 100 wails.) It is from the Yevava (cry) of the mother of Sisera that we learn what a Teru'ah is (33b). The extra 40 sounds were blown as follows: 30 during the silent Shemoneh Esreh, and another 10 at the end of the Tefilah, before leaving the synagogue.

Others apparently connect it to the 101 letters in Sisera's mother's lament, but I am not sure how they reckon these 101 letters.

The Meshech Chochma has another take on the 100 blasts, which does not have to do with Sisera's mother. From the same secondary source:

The MESHECH CHOCHMAH (Parshas Tazria) cites another allegorical source for blowing one hundred blasts. The Midrash (Vayikra Raba 27:7) says that when a woman gives birth, she wails and cries out one hundred times. 99 of those cries are out of the conviction that she is going to die, and the final, 100'th cry is out of the realization that she is going to live after all. Similarly, we blow one hundred Teki'os on Rosh Hashanah. 99 are blown out of our fear of the judgment of the day, but with the one- hundredth we demonstrate our confidence that we will emerge from our judgment blessed with life.

How do we arrive at a 100 count?

A total of thirty sounds (as described above) are blown during the official shofar blowing ceremony which follows the Torah reading.

During three breaks in the silent part of the Musaf Amidah, another 30 blasts are sounded, ten (tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah; tekiah, shevarim, tekiah; tekiah, teruah, tekiah) during each break. 

The same thing repeats itself during three breaks in the repetition of the Musaf, another 30.

Following Musaf, during a break in the Kaddish, another 10 blasts are sounded.

30
30
30
10
____
=100

However, the 30 is not really 30. It is 27! How so? Well, how do you count a tashrat? Is it tekia; shevarim; teruah; tekia, as four separate blasts? Or is it tekia; shevarim-teruah; tekia as three separate blasts.

This was what I was discussing in the previous post. There were some who held that a terua is what we call a terua and some who held that a terua is what we call a shevarim. Rabbi Abahu instituted in Caesaria to blow tashrat.

According to the simple reading of Rabbi Abahu in context; and according to the way that his contemporary Amora in the same location, Eretz Yisrael understood it; and according to Ravina, the redactor of the Talmud, this means that Rabbi Abahu was fulfilling blowing a terua according to both shitot. If so, shevarim and terua in tashrat are two blasts.

However, according to the setama degemara, and the way we pasken halacha lemaaseh, Rabbi Abahu actually blew this tashrat in addition to tarat and tashat. If so, what is the purpose of tashrat? The setama degemara answers that this is a third position in the definition of terura, that Rabbi Abahu was thinking that perhaps the Biblical terua was a shevarim-terua. If so, shevarim and terua are a single blast.

So take away 3 from each set of 30, and 1 from the final set of 10.

Why Tashrat should really suffice

The Mishna in Rosh Hashana (33b):

מתני' סדר תקיעות שלש של שלש שלש שיעור תקיעה כשלש תרועות שיעור תרועה כשלש יבבות

Or, in English:

MISHNAH. THE ORDER OF THE BLASTS CONSISTS OF THREE SETS OF THREE EACH. THE LENGTH OF A TEKI'AH IS EQUAL TO THREE TERU'AHS, AND THE LENGTH OF A TERU'AH TO THREE YEBABOTH.

Thus, the Mishna defines a teruah as 1/3 of a tekiah, and a yevava as 1/3 of that. This is important since the Torah had declared that we are to blow teruot, as for instance in Bemidbar 29:1:

א  וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ יִהְיֶה לָכֶם--כָּל-מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה, לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ:  יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם.

1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a day of blowing the horn unto you.

and we now seem to have a definition of a teruah.

The gemara has as follows:

שיעור תרועה כג' יבבות:

והתניא שיעור תרועה כשלשה שברים אמר אביי בהא ודאי פליגי דכתיב (במדבר כט, א) יום תרועה יהיה לכם ומתרגמינן יום יבבא יהא לכון וכתיב באימיה דסיסרא (שופטים ה, כח) בעד החלון נשקפה ותיבב אם סיסרא מר סבר גנוחי גנח ומר סבר ילולי יליל

THE LENGTH OF THE TERU'AH IS EQUAL TO THE LENGTH OF THREE YEBABOTH. But it has been taught, ‘The length of the teru'ah is equal to three shebarim’? — Abaye said: Here there is really a difference of opinion. It is written, It shall be a day of teru'ah unto you, and we translate [in Aramaic], a day of yebaba, and it is written of the mother of Sisera, Through the window she looked forth, [wa-teyabab]. One authority thought that this means drawing a long sigh, and the other that it means uttering short piercing cries.

The pasuk in Bemidbar, cited above, certainly says Yom Teruah. And the Targum on that is:

כט,א וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ יִהְיֶה לָכֶם--כָּל-מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה, לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ:  יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם.

וּבְיַרְחָא שְׁבִיעָאָה בְּחַד לְיַרְחָא, מְעָרַע קַדִּישׁ יְהֵי לְכוֹן--כָּל עֲבִידַת פֻּלְחַן, לָא תַּעְבְּדוּן:  יוֹם יַבָּבָא, יְהֵי לְכוֹן.

So we know that teruah is equal to the Aramaic yabava. And what does yabava mean? See what how it is defined in Biblical Hebrew, by the mother of Sisera, in Shofetim 5:28:

כח  בְּעַד  {ר}  הַחַלּוֹן נִשְׁקְפָה וַתְּיַבֵּב אֵם סִיסְרָא, בְּעַד הָאֶשְׁנָב:  {ס}  מַדּוּעַ, בֹּשֵׁשׁ רִכְבּוֹ  {ר}  לָבוֹא--  {ס}  מַדּוּעַ אֶחֱרוּ, פַּעֲמֵי מַרְכְּבוֹתָיו.  {ס}

28 Through the window she looked forth, and peered, the mother of Sisera, through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

Note the translation of teyabev as "peered", taken as parallel to nishkefa, "looked forth". Abaye took this at as making a teruah sound.

See Radak, who writes:

[ה, כח]
ותיבב - הריעה.  מתרגם:  תרועה - יבבא. 

ויונתן תרגם:  ואודיקה לשון הבטה.

Thus, it could either be the same as making a teruah sound or, according to the local Targum Yonatan, peering.

It is interesting that the term יבבא has possibly undergone a change. Otherwise how can one say in the gemara that teruah, which had been translated as יבבא, means 3 יבבות, and another that it means 3 שברים?

At any rate, we only have two possible definitions of teruot / yevavot here, and nothing Tannaitic which defines it as both the sound long sighs followed by short piercing cries. That would be rather unexpected, since יבבא means one particular thing, and Sisera's mother is only a means to the end of discovering what that Targum Onkelos meant.

On the next daf, 34a, we have the following:

אתקין רבי אבהו בקסרי תקיעה שלשה שברים תרועה תקיעה מה נפשך אי ילולי יליל לעביד תקיעה תרועה ותקיעה ואי גנוחי גנח לעביד תקיעה שלשה שברים ותקיעה מספקא ליה אי גנוחי גנח אי ילולי יליל 

מתקיף לה רב עוירא ודלמא ילולי הוה וקא מפסיק שלשה שברים בין תרועה לתקיעה דהדר עביד תקיעה תרועה ותקיעה 

מתקיף לה רבינא ודלמא גנוחי הוה וקא מפסקא תרועה בין שברים לתקיעה דהדר עביד תש"ת אלא רבי אבהו מאי אתקין אי גנוחי גנח הא עבדיה אי ילולי יליל הא עבדיה מספקא ליה דלמא גנח ויליל אי הכי ליעבד נמי איפכא תקיעה תרועה שלשה שברים ותקיעה דלמא יליל וגנח סתמא דמילתא כי מתרע באיניש מילתא ברישא גנח והדר יליל:

Or, in English:

R. Abbahu prescribed in Caesarea that there should be a teki'ah, three shebarim, a teru'ah and a teki'ah. How can this be justified? If [the sound of teru'ah] is a kind of wailing, then there should be teki'ah, teru'ah and teki'ah, and if it is a kind of groaning, there should be teki'ah, three shebarim, and teki'ah? — He was in doubt whether it was a kind of wailing or a kind of groaning.

R. ‘Awira strongly demurred against this procedure, saying, Perhaps it is a kind of wailing, and the three shebarim make an interruption between the teru'ah and the [first] teki'ah? — We assume that he afterwards blows teki'ah, teru'ah, teki'ah. 

Rabina strongly demurred against this, saying, Perhaps it is a kind of sighing and the teru'ah makes an interruption between the shebarim and the [second] teki'ah? — We suppose that he afterwards blows teki'ah, shebarim, teki'ah. 

What then is the point of R. Abbahu's regulation? If it is a groaning sound, it has already been made, and if it is a wailing sound it has already been made? — He was in doubt whether it does not include both groaning and wailing. If so, the reverse should also be carried out, namely, teki'ah, teru'ah, three shebarim, teki'ah, since perhaps it is wailing and groaning? — Ordinarily when a man has a pain, he first groans and then wails.

I would say that the correct understanding of Rabbi Abahu is as the gemara originally understood. That is, with tashrat, he was trying to fulfill all the shitos. Therefore, misafek, he instituted tashrat. Thus, a tekia before; and then, for the teruah, both shevarim and yevavot (what we call teruah), such that whatever it was, he fulfilled; and finally, tekia to close.

Rav Avira (see here, here, and here; presumably the one who was contemporary to Rabbi Abahu and student of Rabbi Yochanan) and Ravina's (later) objection is that it would form a hefsek. One held that the hefsek would come from before, the other held the hefsek would even apply after, such that he is not fulfilling anything. And the setama degemara supplied that he also would perform tarat and tashat. (Why Ravina would need to give this objection after Rav Avira is open to discussion. Perhaps as I suggested above in this paragraph, perhaps as displaying a preference for teruah or shevarim as primary. Unless all of this setama degemara was supplied by the 8th generation Amora, Ravina II.)

I would say that Rabbi Abahu does not hold that Sisera's mother both groaned and wailed, and thus a Targumic yevava, and thus a Biblical teruah, is shevarim teruah, wailing and groaning. As I noted above, there is no Tannaitic source for this position. Nor do I see any Amora explicitly suggesting this. This is the setama degemara adding to what Rabbi Abahu's institution was, on the basis of objections by Amoraim, and extrapolating from the earlier statement of Abaye about groans and wails. It seems that the named Amoraim, namely Rabbi Avira, who was a contemporary of Rabbi Abahu and could see for himself, as well as the much later Ravina, both understood Rabbi Abahu's institution as a compromise shitta, and objected because they did not believe that he separately blew other sets.

Even in Yerushalmi, there is no mention of this third position, that teruah is actually groan + cries. Rather, only two positions are mentioned. Yerushalmi 21b:

איזו היא הרעה רבי חנניא ורבי מנא חד אמר אהן טרימוטה וחורנה אמר תלת דקיקן.  רבי חנניה חשש להדא דר' מנא ולהדא דידן.

What is a haraah {teruah}? Rabbi Chanania and Rabbi Mana: One said these terimota {one light blast?}, and the other said three light ones. Rabbi  Chanania was choshesh for the position of Rabbi Mana as well as these of ours. Perhaps that means short ones and slightly longer ones?

In terms of hefsek mentioned by Rav Avira and Ravina, we can simply point to Rabbi Yochanan's position. For Rabbi Yochanan was the teacher of Rabbi Abahu. At the end of the amud, going on to the next:

אמר רבי יוחנן שמע תשע תקיעות בתשע שעות ביום יצא תניא נמי הכי שמע תשע תקיעות בתשע שעות ביום יצא מט' בני אדם כאחד [לא יצא] תקיעה מזה ותרועה מזה יצא ואפי' בסירוגין ואפי' כל היום כולו

R. Johanan said: If one heard nine blasts at nine different times of the day, he has performed his religious obligation. It has been taught to the same effect: ‘If one heard nine blasts at nine different times of the day, he has performed his religious obligation. If, however, he heard nine different people at once, he has not performed his obligation. If he hears a teki'ah from one and a teru'ah from another, he has fulfilled his obligation, even if the intervals extended over the whole day’.

The gemara goes on to contrast it with a conflicting opinion, of Rabbi Yochanan citing his teacher Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak. But Rabbi Yochanan himself holds this, and thus so does Rabbi Abahu. Just as you can hear these nine blasts spaced out across the entire day, so can you happen to hear other blasts which do not undo the legal blasts you have heard.

At the end of the day, I am convinced that tashrat tashat tarat is a waste, and tircha detzibura. I think that we could say like Rabbi Abahu and just do tashrat. Or, we can pick a tradition and run with it. Or, if we want to be choshesh for all traditions, and believe that the opposite tradition is a hefsek, we can do tashat and tarat. But if so, for goodness sake, skip the tashrat! Don't reinterpret Rabbi Abahu to this extremely forced explanation, that he was innovating a completely new teruah, to be blown alongside the other two.

So nine blasts became (for Rabbi Abahu) twelve (tashrat tashrat tashrat, with shevarim and teruah separate), and at the end of the gemara, more than that: 3 tashat, 3 tarat, and 3 tashrat. See this post how it got expanded even further, though with some bending for and acknowledgement of tircha detzibura. And then expanded more to 100 shofar blasts, with no concern for tircha detzibura. Also, a note there about speaking after the first round of tekiot, and whether it is really an issue.

Note: Not halacha lemaaseh. In other words, if you want to act for yourself, don't blame me. And learn through the sources yourself. This is more my reason for getting aggravated at the development of halacha is an expansive fashion, which ends up more burdensome upon the tzibbur.

Rosh Hashanah To-Go™ 5773

Individual Articles download

• Rabbinic Advisory Committee - "An Appreciation of Our Beloved Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan"
• Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm - "Repentance Beyond Sin"
• Rabbi Edward Davis - "The Delicate Balance in Creation"
• Rabbi Dr. Zalman Levine - "Of Fertility and Faith"
• Rabbi Dr. Alex Mondrow - "Teshuvah and the Psychology of Change"
• Rabbi Dr. Aaron Ross - "Is there a Mitzva to do Teshuva?"
• Rabbi Benzion Scheinfeld - "The Enigma of the Prayer Insertions of Aseret Yemai Teshuvah"
• Rabbi Ezra Schwartz - "The Minhag of Not Sleeping on Rosh HaShana"
• Rabbi Chaim Strauchler - "Our Voices for Our King"

Or, look at their website and see the Rosh Hashanah To-Go entries for previous years.

YUTorah offers Rosh Hashana To-Go

Download Rosh Hashana To-Go from YU Torah here, as a single download. Or, visit their website to see the package from previous years.

Here is a list of the individual articles, which can be downloaded separately.

• Let There Be Light - Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm
  (Chancellor and Rosh HaYeshiva, Yeshiva University)
• The Yom Kippur Mikvah- Rabbi Reuven Brand
  (Rosh Kollel, YU Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago)
• Why Do We Read the Story of Chana on Rosh Hashana
  Mrs. Mali Brofsky (Faculty, Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim)
• Admitting Mistakes - Rabbi Joshua Flug
  (Director of Torah Research, Center for the Jewish Future)
• Sachar V’Onesh? Addressing Suffering as We Look to the New Year – Mrs. Norma Mintz 
  (Faculty, Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School)
• Even Ephraim – Rabbi Zvi Romm 
  (Faculty, Isaac Breuer College, Yeshiva University)
• Telling Stories at Rosh Hashana: The Orality of Jewish Tradition - Professor Peninnah Schram 
  (Professor of Speech and Drama, Stern College for Women)
• It's the Thought That Counts - Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner 
  (Rosh Beit Midrash, YU Torah Mitzion Zichron Dov Beit Midrash of Toronto)
• Strategies for Transformative Teshuva - Rabbi Ari Zahtz(Assistant Director, Yeshiva Masmidim Honors Program, Yeshiva University)

posts so far for Rosh HaShana

2010

1. Intent and purpose in blowing the shofar. And what it has to do with copper snake and Moshe's upraised arms.
   .
2. Will Rav Eliezer Berland's chassidim go to Uman this year for Rosh Hashanah? My guess is that they will, even though he confidentally predicted that, due to Mashiach's arrival, last year would be the last year they would go to Uman.

2009

1. Coming late to shul on Rosh Hashanah?! In defense.
   .
2. A Melech Elyon variant.

2008

1. Is Hatarat Nedarim a sham? parts one, two, three, four, five.
   
2. Hatarat Nedarim -- as atonement.
   .
3. The form of hatarat nedarim.

2007

1. Chazzanut on Rosh Hashanah -- and extending the davening as a result.
   
2. The sky is falling - again -- Some false predictions for the Rosh Hashanah / Succot holidays. Now, writing in 2009, I can say that there is nothing new under the sun.
   
3. Why eat egozim on Rosh Hashanah -- a reason to eat those nuts. On the other hand, there is a well established reason why most people do not eat nuts of Yom Kippur.
   
4. All of Rif on masechet Rosh Hashanah.
   
5. Speaking after the first round of tekiot.

2006

1. Tilting the Scales in Our Favor - My take on a specific derasha, and how it is derived from the pesukim.
   
2. Tekiat Shofar and Sisera's mother -- my novel interpretation of the relevant gemara, that the linkage to Sisera's mother is purely linguistic, as opposed to conceptually meaningful.
   
3. Being sad on Rosh Hashanah -- for practical reasons. And why one should not be dejected.
   
4. Egoz, gematria chet, and causing phlegm -- part one, the objection that it is not actually the gematria of chet, and an answer; part two, about egoz with gematria chet; part three, and part four, about egoz causing or increasing phlegm; and finally, in part five, egoz and simana milta, such that one should eat egozim on Rosh Hashanah.
   
5. Why the new Sanhedrin blew the shofar on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah.

to be continued...

Intent and purpose in blowing the shofar

There is in interesting and deliberate juxtaposition of two Mishnayos in the third perek of Rosh Hashanah. The first Mishna discusses how someone is able to accidentally fulfill the mitzvah of hearing the shofar. If he was passing by, or lived by, a synagogue and heard it, he fulfills.

ג,ה  [ו] שופר שנסדק ודבקו, פסול; דבק שברי שופרות, פסול.  ניקב וסתמו--אם מעכב הוא את התקיעה, פסול; ואם לאו, כשר.  [ז] התוקע לתוך הבור או לתוך החדות או לתוך הפיטס--אם קול שופר שמע, יצא; אם קול הברה שמע, לא יצא.  וכן מי שהיה עובר אחורי בית הכנסת, או שהיה ביתו סמוך לבית הכנסת, ושמע קול שופר, או קול מגילה--אם כיוון ליבו, יצא; ואם לאו, לא יצא:  אף על פי שזה שמע וזה שמע, זה כיוון את ליבו וזה לא כיוון.

Now, the Mishna says im kiven libo. Which would appear, at first glance, to rule out accidental hearing. However, the gemara (daf 28b) clarifies that what this means is intent to hear the sound, but not that he even recognized that it was the sound of the shofar. Rather, he might have thought that it was the sound of a donkey braying. The very next Mishna has a midrash inexplicably embedded into it:

ג,ו  [ח] "והיה, כאשר ירים משה ידו--וגבר ישראל . . ." (שמות יז,יא), וכי ידיו של משה עושות מלחמה או ידיו שוברות מלחמה:  אלא כל זמן שהיו ישראל מסתכלין כלפי מעלן, ומכוונין את ליבם לאביהם שבשמיים--היו מתגברין; ואם לאו, היו נופלים.  כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר "ויאמר ה' אל משה, עשה לך שרף . . ." (במדבר כא,ח), וכי הנחש ממית ומחיה:  אלא כל זמן שישראל מסתכלין כלפי מעלן, ומשעבדין את ליבם לאביהם שבשמיים--היו מתרפאין; ואם לאו, היו נימוקים.  חירש שוטה וקטן, אין מוציאין את הרבים ידי חובתן.  זה הכלל--כל שאינו חייב בדבר, אינו מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן. 

Here is the famous statement that by the bronze snake, it was not the snake (Nechushtan) which healed, but the focus of the Bnei Yisrael on their Father in Heaven. So too in the battle against Amalek, it was not Moshe's uplifted hands, but rather the focus caused by Moshe's uplifted hands, that the Bnei Yisrael focused on their Father in heaven.

Finally, a cheresh, shotah or katan, who don't have the requisite daas, cannot blow.

Is there any connection between the midrash and the surrounding dinim? I can spot three possibilities.

(1) Taking the simplest explanation, rather than that proposed in the gemara, we actually need thought and intent to fulfill the mitzvah. This is not some magic ritual which wins the day for us, but intent is required, because the entire purpose it to direct us to our Father in heaven.

(2) Taking the explanation of the gemara, that no intent is required. As a result, we might mistakenly believe that fulfilling the strict dictates of the commandment are all that is required. Hear the 9 blasts, or now, the 30 blasts or 100 blasts, and you are set. But this would be missing the point. Yes, it is important to fulfill the mitzvah because it is a mitzvah, but to fulfill the ratzon haBorei, and perhaps to end up with a good result, fulfilling the literal dictates of the mitzvah is not enough. As it states in Amos 3:6:

ו  אִם-יִתָּקַע שׁוֹפָר בְּעִיר, וְעָם לֹא יֶחֱרָדוּ; אִם-תִּהְיֶה רָעָה בְּעִיר, וַה' לֹא עָשָׂה.

6 Shall the horn be blown in a city, and the people not tremble? Shall evil befall a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

That might be a trumpet of war, rather than a ritual shofar, yet it expresses the idea, that the purpose is that people will take it to heart and tremble, and do teshuva.

(3) There is a matching-up of the words im kiven libo in the first Mishna with umechavnin et libam in the second Mishna. This is then a peirush of the words im kiven libo. Then, insert the sentiments of (1) and (2).

This Rosh Hashanah, may we not only fulfill the requirements of a kosher shofar-blowing and hearing, but may we take it to heart, and turn our hears to Avinu she-ba-shamayim, and may this taking to heart accomplish what it is meant to accomplish.

Will Rav Eliezer Berland's Chassidim go to Uman this year?

I ask because he said in the past to his Chassidim that this time (meaning a Rosh Hashanah in the past) would be the last time they go to Uman.

Thus, from a Hallucinating about Moshiach post that managed to get its way into the Letters to the Editor section of Country Yossi Magazine, in September 2009:

The Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Berland, shlita, also said to his Chassidim prior to Rosh Hashanah, “This will be the last time you will be traveling to Uman.” Harav Eliezer told his Chassidim not to purchase flight tickets to Uman this year until further notice. He also said some hair-raising warnings about hostilities that could erupt in the world before Rosh Hashana.

(I link there because all the junk the Hallucinating About Mashiach site loads.)

This seems contradictory, for if it (last year Rosh Hashana) is the last time they will go to Uman, why was he telling them not to go to Uman that year? I don't know if they went or not, but those predicted hostilities that "could" erupt before Rosh Hashanah did not.

At any rate, it is almost time again to go to Uman, for those that go. As  Reb Akiva writes at Mystical Paths:

It’s Rosh Chodesh Elul.  In Jerusalem posters are up announcing trips to Uman for Rosh Hashana for Breslev chassidim and the many who find Rebbe Nachman of Breslev’s Torah a positive impact in their lives.

Of course, Rabbi Eliezer Berland predicted hostilities, and an apocalyptic war, this year for 22 Av, and that also did not amount to anything. So now we are about to hit Rosh Hashanah. I wonder if his chassidim are planning to go, or not, and if he has even the slightest bit of embarrassment at making these bold proclamations. I doubt it, because he keeps making them. But perhaps eventually people will stop listening to him.

That is, the purpose of this post is to point out that if indeed there is another Rosh Hashanah at Uman, his bold apocalyptic over-the-top statement will be shown to have been false.

Melech Elyon variant

I meant to post this a while back, but didn't get a chance until now.

My father has a "scholarly" machzor, which
has the original text of Melech Elyon. Basically, instead of what we have, which is a bunch of Melech Elyons with an ending of two Melech Evyons followed by one final Melech Elyon, the original had about twice as many stanzas, and a good many more Melech Evyons. The original alternated between these Melech Elyons and Melech Evyons throughout.

My guess is that they stopped this practice because the guy who got peticha began to develop carpal tunnel syndrome.

;)

Coming late to shul on Rosh Hashanah?!

In his post-Rosh Hashanah reflections, The Jewish Worker includes this point:

It amazes me how people waltz in to shul late on Rosh Hashana. Yes, davening is earlier then a regular Shabbos, but still how hard is it to get to shul on time?

I'd like to offer an alternative perspective. There is a famous story, which I will borrow from NCSY's website:

One of the more famous Chassidic stories is told about Rav Moshe Leib Sassover and Yankel the misnaged, an opponent of the Chassidim, who was visiting Sassov during the yomim noraim period when Jews rise before dawn to recite the selichos. When Yankel came to the shtiebel to daven and noticed that the Rebbe, Rav Moshe Leib, arrived in shul after the selichos service had concluded, he confronted the Rebbe’s followers and asked how can a Rabbi come to shul when the selichos are already over. In unison, the chassidim responded: “you don’t understand, the Rebbe is late because he ascends high into the heavens to pray on behalf of the Jewish people.”

Dissatisfied, Yankel decided to investigate on his own to prove all the chassidim wrong. Early the next morning, Yankel heard the Rebbe rise and leave the house with a package of food and an axe. Yankel followed. Dressed like a peasant, the Rebbe walked into the woods, took out his axe and chopped a tree into firewood. The Rebbe then took the bundle of wood and walked to an old, run-down house. An elderly woman let the Rebbe into her home. Pretending to be a peasant, the Rebbe explained that
he had brought the woman wood and food. When the woman stated that she had no money to pay for these things, Rav Moshe Leib responded: “That’s not a problem. We’ll put it on account and you can pay me when you have the money.”

Yankel watched all of this transpire from the darkness of the night. And when the elderly woman told the Rebbe that she was not strong enough to light the fire, Rav Moshe Leib placed the wood in the furnace and recited the 13 middos: “Hashem, Hashem, Keil, Rachum V’Chanun, G-d, of Mercy and Compassion.”

Yankel ran back to the shtiebel, and when asked whether he had seen the Rebbe ascend high into the heavens, without pause he responded: “Yes, yes, high into the heavens, if not higher.”

There is a more modern version of this story, which I hope to retell accurately:

A certain avrech was consistently late for davening. One of his rabbeim rebuked him for this, telling him that he should try to come to shul on time.

The avrech explained: "You don't understand! There is a woman in this neighborhood who has 5 children, and she had difficulty in the mornings getting them up, dressed, and fed. And so, before going to shul, I help her deal with this."

His rebbe: "Wow! What a great mitzvah! Now I understand completely. But tell me, how can I contact this poor almana, so that I can assist her as well?"

The avrech: An almanah!? Chas veshalom! She's my wife!!

While this was clearly meant as a joke, I think that it has a lot of merit to it in all seriousness. Charity begins at home, and one of the most important aspects of marriage is the opportunity (and perhaps the obligation to desire to find opportunity) to do tremendous chessed for one's spouse. And I also think that this attitude, not of "what can I get?" but always mutual "what can I do for the other person?" leads to better shalom bayit and in general a happier and successful marriage.

It is true that women are patur from mitzvos aseih shehazman gerama, and thus possibly from getting to shul for the beginning of it -- and a large part of this may be the sociological cause that they raise and deal with children, which makes performing many of these mitzvos quite difficult -- even so, I don't think the husband should entirely bow out.

Let us say that one's wife is pregnant and also not feeling well, and could greatly use some extra sleep. Assuming one is not taking all the kids to shul, is it a bigger mitzvah to abandon her to cope with the kids on a given morning in order to daven betzibbur, or to daven without a minyan at home? I think at the very least it should be a question, and I would even lean towards saying that it is a bigger mitzvah to stay at home.

Let me give you an extreme yet practical case from someone I know in the neighborhood. I won't name names so as not to embarrass him. But his wife is pregnant and has another medical condition approaching chronic fatigue syndrome, and he has a few children, who would need monitoring of a parent. His wife wanted to also go to shul. But the kids somehow slept until 9:20, his wife, who had been up during the night, awoke at 10 AM. Getting everyone up and out took him to shul on the first day (when there was no shofar blowing) at about 11 AM. While shul on a typical Shabbos began at a bit after 9 AM, since it was Rosh Hashanah it began at 8 AM. And so he came quite late for davening, and was more than a bit sheepish about this.

He didn't expect this, and maybe he should have arranged to have a babysitter beforehand, to handle such an eventuality would it occur.

But would I look down at him for making this choice? Certainly not! In fact, I would even say that he exhibited good traits and exemplary behavior on the Yom HaDin. To cite Yankel the misnaged, "he went high into the heavens, if not higher."

Of course, not every case is the same as this. Some people simply like to sleep late, or have difficulty getting up for shul in the morning, and did this in this instance as well. But for any individual, not knowing his particular circumstances, I would not judge.

Also, to those others, I would understand them. Shul is indeed earlier than usual. (In some instances, more than an hour and a quarter earler.) So it might be difficult to start the day and get out of the house so early, particularly married men with kids, or even simply people who have difficulty waking up early in the morning and who would not set an alarm clock, since it is Shabbos and Rosh Hashanah. Indeed, even on the morning of Mattan Torah the Jews slept late! People nowadays do not have roosters.

And besides being earlier, Rosh Hashanah davening is more shlepped out. Yes, this was instituted halachically for certain reasons. But the fact is that even on a typical Shabbos, some people find davening boring and shlepped out. And IMHO this can often lead to talking. Could you imagine how such people might relate to the longer, stretched out davening on Rosh Hashanah. They might not appreciate all the piyutim. Coming late to shul might well be a coping mechanism, since it effectively cuts the davening short. And I am not sure that I would always condemn this corrective trend of the hamon am.

All that said, it certainly is good to get to shul on time, and to develop the attitude and approach described in The Jewish Worker's post.

posts so far for Rosh HaShana

2010

1. Intent and purpose in blowing the shofar. And what it has to do with copper snake and Moshe's upraised arms.
   .
2. Will Rav Eliezer Berland's chassidim go to Uman this year for Rosh Hashanah? My guess is that they will, even though he confidentally predicted that, due to Mashiach's arrival, last year would be the last year they would go to Uman.

2009

1. Coming late to shul on Rosh Hashanah?! In defense.
   .
2. A Melech Elyon variant.

2008

1. Is Hatarat Nedarim a sham? parts one, two, three, four, five.
   
   
2. Hatarat Nedarim -- as atonement.
   .
3. The form of hatarat nedarim.

2007

1. Chazzanut on Rosh Hashanah -- and extending the davening as a result.
   
   
2. The sky is falling - again -- Some false predictions for the Rosh Hashanah / Succot holidays. Now, writing in 2009, I can say that there is nothing new under the sun.
   
   
3. Why eat egozim on Rosh Hashanah -- a reason to eat those nuts. On the other hand, there is a well established reason why most people do not eat nuts of Yom Kippur.
   
   
4. All of Rif on masechet Rosh Hashanah.
   
   
5. Speaking after the first round of tekiot.

2006

1. Tilting the Scales in Our Favor - My take on a specific derasha, and how it is derived from the pesukim.
   
   
2. Tekiat Shofar and Sisera's mother -- my novel interpretation of the relevant gemara, that the linkage to Sisera's mother is purely linguistic, as opposed to conceptually meaningful.
   
   
3. Being sad on Rosh Hashanah -- for practical reasons. And why one should not be dejected.
   
   
4. Egoz, gematria chet, and causing phlegm -- part one, the objection that it is not actually the gematria of chet, and an answer; part two, about egoz with gematria chet; part three, and part four, about egoz causing or increasing phlegm; and finally, in part five, egoz and simana milta, such that one should eat egozim on Rosh Hashanah.
   
   
5. Why the new Sanhedrin blew the shofar on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah.

to be continued...

The Form of Hatarat Nedarim

Continuing my discussion of hatarat nedarim. Here are a few nitpicks I have with the instructions given in the machzor.

First, the instructions at the top (circled in red):

"The three 'judges' sit while the petitioner stands before them and states:"

At issue is how the hatarah works. Based on their commentary, Artscroll thinks it does not work at all. In which case I suppose it makes sense to have the judges sit. The purpose is to make the person realize the severity of his sins by vowing, and the more formal we can make it, the better.

However, assuming that is actually supposed to work, there are two means an annulment can happen. One is to find a specific petach, an opening, such that if the person had known X, he never would have vowed. The other is to open the vow with charatah, regret. It seems that the idea within the formula is that they are opening with charatah. Whether the particular brand of charatah, of regretting the making of the vow but not the particular actions, is valid, I will not address here, but certainly, this seems to be the intent of the formula. The difference lehalachah between them is that for the former, real deliberation must be done, and so the judges must sit. But when we open a vow with regret, no deliberation need be done, and so the judges may stand. And yet the directions here are that the judges sit. I do not understand this requirement. The directions may be a matter of custom rather than halacha.

While on this subject, all sorts of other restrictions of a bet din are relaxed, for these are not judges but rather "judges," as the machzor makes clear. Thus, hatarah can be done at night, or on Shabbos if the neder needs be annulled for the sake of Shabbos. And the judges may be related to one another.

My next nitpick is with the formula the judges use in responding to the petitioner. According to the Rambam, the judges only need to say one time, one language of annulment. Thus, they can say muttar lach, or they can say machul lach, or they can say sharui lach.

The Tur (IIRC) has a more developed formula. Once again, they can say muttar lach (or they can say machul lach, or they can say sharui lach). But whatever they say, they say three times. Thus (see here)

טור יורה דעה סימן רכח

מי שנדר ונתחרט יש תקנה ע"י חרטה ואפילו נדר באלהי ישראל כיצד יעשה ילך אצל חכם מומחה וסביר ואם אין יחיד מומחה ילך אצל ג' הדיוטות והוא דגמיר דגמרי להו וסברי וידעו לפתוח לו פתח ויתירו לו והאידנא אין מומחה שיהא ראוי להתיר ביחיד בפחות מג': ואין לו לאדם להתיר במקום רבו ובמקום שיש גדול ממנו אא"כ יתן לו רשות וכיצד הוא ההתרה יאמר לו ג"פ מותר לך ואפילו מעומד ובקרובים ובלילה ובשבת אפילו אם היה אפשר לו מאתמול לישאל עליו ובלבד שיהא לצורך השבת כגון שנדר שלא לאכול או לבטל מעונג שבת.

Or according to Shulchan Aruch:

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה סימן רכח
כיצד היא ההתרה, יאמר לו ו ד] ג' פעמים: מותר לך, ה] או שרוי לך, או מחול לך, (<ד> בכל לשון שיאמר), (ב"י בשם הרמב"ם), ז ו] <ה> אפילו מעומד, (ב) ובקרובים, ובלילה, ובשבת, אפילו אם היה אפשר לו מאתמול לישאל עליו, ז] ובלבד שיהיה לצורך השבת, כגון שנדר שלא לאכול או ליבטל מעונג השבת. ח ח] <ו> וחרמי צבור, נהגו להתיר אף על פי שאינם לצורך השבת.

So that we see that it is one, or the other, or the other. Not all three, even though he adds this point, just as Tur, of repeating whichever lashon is chosen three times. And even that is not strictly required. As Shach says:

ש"ך יורה דעה סימן רכח
ג' פעמים - לאו דוקא דבחד זימנא נמי סגי אלא עושין כן כדי לחזק הענין עט"ז ומשמע דבדיעבד סגי בפעם אחת וכ"כ הב"י והב"ח בשם הרמב"ם דא"צ שיאמר רק פעם אחת:

The nusach in the machzor has all three leshonos, and the judges repeat the whole formula three times. Thus, there is a total of nine statements. Plus we have the whole paragraph, not just those three phrases, which they recite three times. This is exceptional overkill. But then, I suppose it makes for great ritual. Ritual likes repetition of threes. As you might guess, I take exception to this. (Perhaps we might say this is kedei lechazek hainyan to the nth degree. Or rather the threefold repetition is kedei lechazeik hainyan while the use of all three languages, plus more, is just the way that liturgy grows way past what is required...)

While on this subject, I might note that again lehalacha, it seems that the bet din can annul vows of multiple people, just as they can annul several vows simultaneously (though there is dispute about the latter, about several vows where one is chal on top of the other, such that it only takes effect once the first one is annulled). So the typical process in shul is possibly a tremendous time waster. It depends. If people always pair up in threes, then they get out pretty quickly. But an acceptable alternative is to let several people say their petitions, and have the bet din then grant the annulment to all of them.

Finally, a word as to the translation of hakol yihtu muttarim lach, hakol mechulim lach, hakol sheruyim lach. Artscroll translates

"May everything be permitted you, may everything be forgiven you, may everything be allowed you."

I forget where I saw it, but I seem to recall other explanations. Mutar as in untying, as with a knot, and the same for sharui. And for machul, not in the same of forgiven, but rather making profane, as in lo yachel devaro, and the associated derashot.

Note: Not halacha lemaaseh. Don't pasken or act based on blogs.

Hatarat Nedarim -- As Atonement

This is just a throwaway thought. I criticized the Artscroll for presenting the hatarat nedarim on erev rosh hashanah as a sham, where the real purpose was "as a means of repentance for the sin of abusing vows."

I still do not believe that this is the function of the hatarah. But perhaps we can find an early echo of this idea in the Yerushalmi Nedarim, 18b:

ואתיין אילין פלוגוותא כאילין פלוגוותא דתני יום הכיפורים צריך לפרוט את מעשיו דברי רבי יודה בן בתירה. רבי עקיבה אומר אינו צריך לפרוט את החטא. אית תניי תני צריך לפרוט את הנדר. אית תניי תני אינו צריך לפרוט את הנדר.

Thus, the requirement to delineate one's sins, or lack of such a requirement, is compared to the requirement to delineate one's neder, or to the lack of such a requirement.

It is appropriate to delinate one's sins for Yom Kippur. And indeed, that seems to be the role of Ashamnu and VeAl Chataim where it is really appropriate to substitute one's personal sin that one actually did, in place. (Perhaps a later post on this, and how the plural saves us.) And so we don't really list them, or we list a bunch of them. But then, we say

ועל כלם אלוה סליחות סלח-לנו מחל-לנו כפר-לנו
ועל חתאים שאנו חיבים עליהם, ארבע מיתות בית דין,
סקילה שריפה הרג וחנק על מצות עשה,ועל מצות לא תעשה,
בין שיש בה קום עשה, ובין שאין בה קום עשה,
את הגלוים לנו, ואת שאינם גלוים לנו,
את הגלוים לנו,כבר אמרנום לפניך, והודינו לך עליהם.
ואת שאינם גלוים לנו,לפניך הם גלוים וידועים

or else:

על מצות עשה ועל מצות לא תעשה, בין שיש בה קום עשה ובין שאין בה קום עשה, את הגלויים לנו ואת שאינם גלויים לנו. את הגלויים לנו, כבר אמרנום לפניך והודינו לך עליהם. ואת שאינם גלויים לנו, לפניך הם גלויים וידועים. כדבר שנאמר: הנסתרות לה' אלוהינו, והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת. כי אתה סלחן לישראל ומחלן לשבטי ישורון בכל דור ודור, ומבלעדיך אין לנו מלך מוחל וסולח אלא אתה.

and so, this excuse from having to list all our vows, seems par for the course. And saying that they are so many seems like a confession of a lot of wrongdoing. And so, perhaps there is something to that idea.

Also, within the extended text the dayanim say, they say "aval yesh kan slicha mechila vechappara," which surely has to do with atonement and forgiveness. And they say that just as they matir them in the bet din down here, so should they matir them in the Bet Din above.

Even so, for all the reasons I gave above, I do not believe this is the true (or at least only) function of hatarat nedarim on erev Rosh Hashanah. The presumption is that, at least at some point in Jewish history, it did work. If the present nusach works, prove it. If not, fix it.

Note: Not halacha lemaaseh. Don't act based on blogs.