Why do we cover our heads?

אסור לילך בקומה זקופה, ולא ילך ארבע אמות בגילוי הראש

2:6 "It is forbidden to walk in an upright posture, and a man should not walk with his head uncovered for four cubits (6 feet)." 

The textual source of these two Halakhot is the same: TB, Qiddushin 31a. The trained student, however, will notice a difference in the way these two rules are presented.  While walking in an upright position is classified as "forbidden", walking with the head uncovered is not. 

Why? 

All Rabbinical laws have their origin in the Talmud, and the later Rabbis paid close attention to the way the laws were formulated.  In the case of walking upright the Talmud quotes rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy who said: "It is forbidden to walk erected".  Rashi explains that in light of God's Omnipresence walking in an upright position is considered a sign of arrogance. We should walk with humbleness. 

On the other hand, when talking about covering one's head the Talmud does not bring a general rule, but the case of Rab Huna. "Rab Huna never walked [even] four cubits without covering his head. Rab Huna said: God's Presence is above me". In another text Rab Huna emphasized the exceptional nature of his behavior: "I should be rewarded for never have walked four cubits with my head uncovered".   

All rabbis agreed that as opposed to "walking upright", "walking with the head uncovered" is not a universal prohibition but Middat Hasidut: a personal stringency.   Maimonides classified this kind of personal regulations, brought very often in the Talmud, as mandatory for Tora Scholars. Maimonides dedicated one whole Chapter, Hilkhot De'ot Chapter 5, to the standards of behavior of Talmide Hakhamim (Tora Scholars) which are obviously, way above the normal standards.  In Halakha 6 he mentions that a Tora Scholar should not uncover his head. 

On the other hand, and formulated as "one should not",  the Shulhan 'arukh, following the Tur, did no limit this indication to Talmide Hakhamim but to everyone else, as a permanent reminder of God's presence. 

NOTE: The above mentioned debate refers to "walking" with the head uncovered (at the workplace, in the street, etc.) . However, in the Synagogue, when praying or when studying Tora, the head must be covered.  

Shulhan 'arukh, Chapter 1 (selected paragraphs)

I have selected mainly the Halakhot which I believe are more needed or relevant for our days. My comments are integrated into the texts.  

One should get up in the morning with renewed energies [lit. with the strength of a lion] to serve God, the Creator. 

It is appropriate for every God-fearing Jew to lament and grieve for the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash. Many optional prayers were composed for this purpose, one of them is tiqun hatsot, said after midnight. A pious Jew cries for the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash and requests from HaShem to restore His presence in Yerushalayim, building His Temple soon in our times. 

Regarding these extra prayers, it is better to say fewer prayers with full consciousness  (kavana) than more prayers without full attention.  Since these prayers are optional there is no mandatory text that has to be recited, as it will be the case for example, with the recitation of the Shema Israel, etc. Therefore, one should chose quality over quantity. We have translated kavana by consciousness or awareness. The ideal level of kavana includes understanding the meaning of what we read, paying attention to what we read and feeling what we are reading.  

Before we start the formal Tefila (Barukh sheAmar, etc) we should read some Biblical passages related to the qorbanot (sacrifices). After we read  those texts we ask haShem to consider this recitation as if we have actually offered those sacrifices. All these texts are already included in our prayer books.

According to the Shulhan 'arukh we should also read every day, among other things, the Ten Commandments. All commentaries agree that the Shulhan 'arukh is referring here to the private (as opposed to public) recitation of the Ten Commandments. The public reading of the Ten commandments was a subject of debate from Talmudic times (Berakhot 12a). Since the Christian Church considered the Ten Commandments as of a level higher than the rest of the commandments (arguing than only the Ten Commandments were expressed directly by God)  Jews have avoided the public recitation of the Ten Commandants. The prevalent custom then is to omit them from public worship.  

The first Chapter of Shulhan 'arukh (Hebrew)

סימן א'

דין השכמת הבוקר ובו ט' סעיפים:

(א) יתגבר כארי לעמוד בבוקר לעבודת בוראו שיהא הוא מעורר השחר. (ב) המשכים להתחנן לפני בוראו יכוון לשעות שמשתנות המשמרות שהן בשליש הלילה ולסוף שני שלישי הלילה ולסוף הלילה שהתפילה שיתפלל באותן השעות על החורבן ועל הגלות רצויה. (ג) ראוי לכל ירא שמים  שיהא מיצר ודואג על חורבן בית המקדש. (ד) טוב מעט תחנונים בכוונה מהרבות בלא כוונה. (ה) טוב לומר פרשת העקדה ופרשת המן ועשרת הדברות ופרשיות עולה ומנחה ושלמים וחטאת ואשם. (ו) פרשיות הקרבנות לא יאמר אלא ביום (ז) כשיסיים פרשת העולה יאמר: יהי רצון מלפניך שיהיה זה חשוב ומקובל כאילו הקרבתי עולה וכך יאמר אחר פרשת המנחה והשלמים מפני שהם באים נדבה. (ח) יאמר עם הקרבנות פסוק ושחט אותו על ירך המזבח צפונה לפני ה'. (ט) יש נוהגין לומר פרשת הכיור ואחר כך פרשת תרומת הדשן ואחר כך פרשת התמיד ואחר כך פרשת מזבח מקטר קטורת ופרשת סממני הקטורת ועשייתו:

Was the Shulhan arukh ever summarized?

Yesterday I got many phone calls and emails from friends and readers who reacted to my proposal of rewriting the original Shulhan 'arukh. Most of them were telling me that they already have the Shulhan 'arukh. This is a real quote: "I was always fascinated by the Shulchan Aruch and have learned very much from the English translation."   I told my friends that as far as I know the shulhan 'arukh was never translated into English or to any other language. So, they must have been reading a different book.... 

  

I know where this confusion comes from. If you go to Amazon and you write "shulchan aruch" you will find the following book as the first option: " KITZUR SHULCHAN ARUCH - CODE OF JEWISH LAW. COMPLETE 5 VOLUME".   We need to clarify a few things.  First, that the "Kitzur Shulchan aruch" is a very good and popular book written by rabbi Shlomo Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886).  Rabbi Ganzfried lived in Ungvar (then Hungary, today Ukraine) and he wrote his book based on the traditions and customs of Hungarian Jews. Rabbi Ganzfried followed in his rulings the three Halakhic authorities of his time and place: Rabbi Yaakob Loberbaum, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Ladi, the first Chabad rabbi (who, by the way, wrote a book which he also called "Shulhan 'arukh" containing his own rulings and traditions. See this) and Rabbi Abraham Danzing.  

  

What the reader needs to know then is that the Kitzur Shulchan aruch is a distinct book,  definitely NOT a summary of rabbi Yosef Caro's Shulhan 'arukh (and it probably never claimed to be so!).  What confuses us is the name "Kitzur shulchan aruch" which seems to indicate that it is a "summary" of the Shulhan arukh ("Kitzur" means "summary"). But the truth is that the Kitzur is a book entirely different from the shulhan 'arukh. Different in its rulings, its order, its size, its purpose, etc.   

  

Amazon (or better said: the publishers ) also have their share in the misrepresentation of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.  Because presenting the Kitzur as the "Code of Jewish law" gives the impression that they are describing "The" Code of Jewish Law, which is Yosef Caro's Shulhan 'arukh. 

  

I explained to my friends that a summary of the Shulhan 'arukh was never necessary. Among other things, because the shulhan 'arukh was explicitly conceived as the summary of the Bet Yosef- a practical summary to be reread every thirty days- written by the same author of the Bet Yosef,  rabbi Yosef Caro.

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Shulhan 'arukh Venezia

Previously, I explained why rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575) wrote the shulhan 'arukh and how did it happen that the shulhan 'arukh became the most accepted Code of Jewish Law. We also saw that the shulhan 'arukh was not meant to be an independent code of law but a compendium of the Halakhic conclusion of the Bet Yosef. 

 The shulhan 'arukh was written as a short book to be studied monthly, in its entirety, as a way to constantly review all aspects of Jewish law. However, the shulhan 'arukh was never used as a monthly compendium of Jewish Law. Why? One of the reasons is that except for the 1565 Venezia edition (published while Maran Rabbi Yosef Caro was alive!) the shulhan 'arukh was systematical printed with a great number of glosses, amendments, critical commentaries and supercommentaries (= commentaries on previous commentaries) etc. So, when one approaches the study of the shulhan 'arukh, it feels that one has to read all of its commentaries to comprehend the shulhan 'arukh. The truth is that according to rabbi Yosef Caro, to understand the shulhan 'arukh all a student needs is to know the Bet Yosef! The commentaries amend, oppose or confirm the rulings of the shulhan 'arukh, but they should be studied as a supplementary reading. The ironic destiny of the shulhan 'arukh "as a text" was perhaps the fault of those publishers, who instead of integrating the commentaries on the text of the shulhan 'arukh, should have printed those commentaries as independent books, for advanced students, and leave the shulhan 'arukh in its original form. 

 The fact is that since 1565 (to the best of my knowledge) the plain shulhan 'arukh as it was originally conceived by Rabbi Yosef Caro was never (re)published. Today, since we have the text of the shulhan 'arukh (with commentaries, etc.) online, it is relatively easy to re-produce the original shulhan 'arukh. A few days ago I started to do just that. It is relatively simply and easy. And there are no costs involved. 

I think it will be appropriate to recreate the 1565 Venezia Edition of the shulhan 'arukh, a digital edition to begin with. So far I have composed 15 chapters which I'm using to teach in my mornings shiur. Although this is a relatively easy job to do, more help is needed. So, if any of the readers would like to volunteer, all help will be welcomed. If you would like to help please email me to rabbibitton@yahoo.com (a minimal proficiency of rabbinical Hebrew is required) .

Shulhan 'arukh Venezia 1565  

Click  here to see the  first 15 chapters of the shulhan 'arukh Venezia. 

What you might not know about the shulhan 'arukh.

The shulhan 'arukh is known to be "the Code of Jewish Law", and "the most authoritative legal code of Judaism". 

Here is what most people don't know about the shulhan 'arukh.

A SUMMARY OF BET YOSEF

The shulhan 'arukh, written by rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575) is NOT an independent book. It is a summary of the monumental book written previously by rabbi Yosef Caro himself, the Bet Yosef .  In the Bet Yosef (it took him 32 years to write this book) rabbi Caro examines and analyses Jewish Law from the Talmud through the interpretation and commentaries of the most important Rabbinical authorities up to his own time.  In the theshulhan 'arukh rabbi Caro wrote the halakhic conclusions of the Bet Yosef.  Rabbi Yosef Caro wrote the shulhan 'arukh for the sake of Tora scholars who need to have an accessible brief halakhic guide. He also states in his introduction that he writes this short book (in terms of its  text, the shulhan 'arukh is perhaps 3% of the Bet Yosef) to be memorized by the young students. He also divided the shulhan 'arukh in 30 sections so it can be reviewed once a month. All this implies that before reading the shulhan 'arukh one must read the Bet Yosef.  The shulhan 'arukh cannot be properly understood, let alone, used as a source of law, without studying first the Bet Yosef. 

FOR SEPHARDIM and ASHKENAZIM

The Bet Yosef/shulhan 'arukh was written explicitly as an attempt to bridge the gaps between Sephardim and Ashkenazim.  In his introduction to the Bet Yosef, Rabbi Caro sates that in his days the Tora became like multiple Torot. He identified mainly three traditions. The Spanish communities who followed Maimonides, the Franco-German tradition who followed the Rosh, and the North african communities who followed the Rif. Rabbi Caro based his Bet Yosef on the book who follows the Rosh (The "TUR", written by the Rosh's son), and as a rule, to establish the final Halakha he followed the opinion of the majority of these three Rabbis. In this way, he hoped, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, would compromise some of their previous customs and all Jews would follow and adopt one single set of Laws.  

(To be continued...) 

   

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