Question: I recently returned from a trip abroad. When I entered my synagogue early one weekday morning, I asked the officers for an aliyah so that I could bless HaGomel. I was informed that I could receive an aliyah, however – as per the Rabbi’s instruction – I would have to wait until the Sabbath to bless HaGomel. I was not given any reason for this and did not wish to display my ignorance, so I quietly acquiesced. Can you please explain what was meant?
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Answer: Since this blessing is one of the enumerated situations that can only take place in the presence of ten men, let us first discuss the entire concept of requiring a minimum of ten men for synagogue services and other related mitzvot that are “davar she’b’kedusha” – matters of sanctity. The requirement of a minimum of ten adult males who constitute a minyan – lit., a quorum or count – for any davar she’b’kedusha is derived through the hermeneutic principle of gezerah shava, one of the fixed principles [middot] of interpretation through which our Sages expound the Torah. These are the exegetical rules by which halachot are derived from the Biblical text. Gezerah shava is the principle according to which a law is inferred via verbal analogy. Thus, if the same word or phrase appears in two separate verses in the Torah, and a certain halacha is explicitly stated in one of them, we may (under certain circumstances) infer on the basis of verbal analogy that the same halacha applies in the second case as well.
In our case, the first verse of the gezerah shava (which applies to the words “betoch” and “mitoch”) is found in Parashat Emor (Leviticus 22:32), where we are instructed not to violate – with intent – any of G-d’s commands, resulting in a diminution of G-d’s honor: “Velo techalelu et Shem Kodshi venikdashti betoch Bnei Yisrael, ani Hashem mekaddish’chem” – You shall not desecrate My holy Name, and I will thus be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel; I am Hashem Who sanctifies you.” We must zealously strive to sanctify G-d and in so doing, we ourselves will be sanctified.
The second verse is in Parashat Korach (Numbers 16:21), when G-d instructs Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the rebellious Korach and his followers: “Hibbadlu mitoch ha’edah hazot va’achaleh otam ke’raga” – Separate yourselves from amid this congregation, and I shall destroy them in an instant.”
Kli Yakar points out that Moshe Rabbeinu’s reaction to this command (as stated in the verse that immediately follows) was due to the fact that he understood “edah” to refer to the entire congregation of Israel, whereas G-d had asked him and Aaron to separate themselves only from Korach and his cohorts.
This leads us to another gezerah shava that is drawn between the word “edah” in this verse and a verse in Parashat Shelach regarding the episode of the spies whom Moses had sent to investigate the land of Canaan. When they returned with a bad report about the land that had been promised to the Children of Israel, G-d made His wrath known to Moses and Aaron (Numbers 14:27): “Ad matai la’edah hara’ah hazot asher hema mallinim alai, et telunot Bnei Yisrael asher hema mallinim alai shamati” – How long [shall I bear] this evil congregation that complains against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Children of Israel against Me.
This gezerah shava comes up in a discussion between R. Huna and R. Yehoshua b. Levi regarding a person who enters the synagogue while the congregation is engaged in the recitation of the Shemoneh Esrei and who wishes to catch up and join the congregation (Berachot 21b). R. Huna allows him to start his own [silent] recitation of the Shemoneh Esrei if he will be able to join the congregation when the chazzan reaches Modim (the Thanksgiving Blessing – the 17th blessing of the original Eighteen Blessings, which were expanded to 19 with the addition of “Ve’Lamalshinim”), while R. Yehoshua maintains that he has to join the congregation at the third blessing, the recitation of Kedusha, which is when the congregation joins the chazzan in the repetition of the Amidah. On what is their difference based? R. Huna permits an individual to recite the Kedusha by himself, while R. Yehoshua rules that Kedusha can be said only with a quorum of ten (and that is the halacha).
How does R. Yehoshua b. Levi come to this conclusion? R. Adda b. Abaha explains that it is derived from the verse, “Venikdashti betoch Bnei Yisrael,” quoted earlier, which implies that there have to be at least ten people present for any manifestation of sanctification. How do we derive this halacha from the verse? Rabinai, the brother of R. Chiya b. Abba, taught: We draw an analogy (gezerah shavah) between the word “betoch” in this verse and the word “mitoch” in “Hibbadlu mitoch ha’edah hazot.” And we know that “edah” implies at least ten people because of the verse, “Ad matai la’edah hara’ah hazot,” which clearly referred to the ten Spies (the original 12 spies minus Joshua and Caleb – the only spies who brought back a favorable report on the land).
The Gemara (Megillah 23b, Mishna) enumerates the situations that require a quorum of ten. The parallel passage in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Megillah 3:4) utilizes different verses to deduce the gezerah shava on which the rulings pertaining to davar shebi’kedusha are based (see the commentary of Korban Ha’edah ad loc.). It has recourse to a verse from Parashat Kedoshim, when G-d addresses Moses and Aaron after the tragic death of the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 19:2): “Dabber el kol adat Bnei Yisrael ve’amarta aleihem, ‘Kedoshim tih’yu ki kadosh ani Hashem Elokeichem’” – Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and say unto them, ‘You shall be holy, for I, the L-rd your G-d, am holy.’ An analogy is then drawn with a verse in Parashat Miketz, when Jacob sent his ten sons to Egypt to purchase food (Genesis 42:5): “Va’yavo’u Bnei Yisrael lishbor betoch habba’im, ki haya hara’av be’eretz kena’an” – The sons of Israel (i.e., of Jacob) came to buy provisions amidst those that came, for there was a famine in the land of Canaan.
R. Ba [Abba bar Zutra] and R. Yosei [b. R. Yehoshua b. Levi] say in the name of R. Yochanan that the analogy is drawn between the word “edah” that appears in the verse in Parashat Kedoshim (“Dabber el kol adat Bnei Yisrael”) and in the verse about the incident of the spies (“Ad matai la’edah hara’ah hazot”). Since the last verse clearly refers to ten, we have to assume that sanctification (i.e., Kedusha) also requires ten. R. Simon derives the analogy from the word “betoch.” Since in the case of Jacob’s sons they numbered ten, the verse “Venikdashti betoch Bnei Yisrael” in Parashat Emor also refers to a quorum of ten. R. Yosei b. R. Bun (R. Avin) questioned drawing an analogy from the word “betoch,” since the sons of Jacob were clearly amid (betoch and not mitoch) a multitude, and suggests instead that the gezerah shava is drawn from the expression “Bnei Yisrael” found both in Parashat Kedoshim and in Parashat Miketz (where the sons of Jacob are referred to as “sons of Israel”).
Although the drawing of analogies is often quite intricate because the Sages differ as to which verses are considered to be the source of the ruling, the ruling itself – that any davar she’b’kedusha requires a quorum of ten, or minyan – is unanimous. We now have to determine which situations are defined as “matters of sanctity.”
The Talmud (Megillah 23b, Mishna) lists in detail what we may not recite without the presence of ten men. They are: “Ein porsin al Shema” (lit., we may not divide the Shema), which refers to a quorum of ten required for the half-Kaddish before Barechu (of Shacharit) and the first beracha preceding the Shema, “Yotzer Ha’meorot”; “Ein ovrin lifnei ha’teivah” – we do not go before the Ark to act as sheliach tzibbur for the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei; “Ve’ein nos’in et kappeihem” – the Kohanim do not recite the Priestly Blessing, which is done with the lifting of hands; “Ve’ein korin baTorah” – we do not perform the public reading of the Torah – whereby there would be no opportunity for Birkat HaGomel with a lack of ten men present; “Ve’ein maftirin be’navi” – we do not conclude the reading with the haftara from the Prophets; “Ve’ein osin ma’amad u’moshav” (lit., “standing and sitting tributes”) – the custom during a funeral procession to take at least seven steps, after which the mourners would be told, “Imdu yekarim imdu” – Arise, dear ones, arise, and “sh’vu yekarim sh’vu” – Sit, dear ones, sit, exhorting them to sit to deliver and/or listen to eulogies for the departed before resuming to walk after the funeral bier; “Ve’ein omrim birkat aveilim” – we do not say the mourners’ blessing; “Vetanchumei aveilim” – nor the consolations to the mourners; “U’virkat chatanim” – nor are the wedding blessings recited; “Ve’ein mezamnin ba’Shem pachot me’asarah” – nor is G-d’s name mentioned in the invitation to recite the Grace after Meals in the presence of fewer than ten men; “U’vekarka’ot tish’ah ve’Kohen” – and in the appraisal of consecrated land, nine men and a Kohen are required.
Now, if the Birkat HaGomel is a blessing that one is only able to recite in the presence of a minyan – which it surely is – then why in your situation did the Rabbi instruct you to wait until the Sabbath?
To be continued next week
