Siddurim On A Bimah
‘The Heart Of Beth Din Provides For It’
(Shavuos 11a)
Our sugya discusses matters that are kedushas haguf – the body of the object being sanctified – such as the frankincense in the Beis HaMikdash. The Gemara’s difficulty is that if they possess bodily sanctity, how can they be redeemable? The Gemara answers “Lev beis din masneh aleihen” – lit. “the heart of beis din provides for it” – namely, that beis din makes a mental stipulation that if the items are required, they are so used, but if not they are to be redeemed for their value (i.e., kedushas demeihen – their sanctity is only for their redeemable value.
It thus follows that objects in a shul used for holy purposes, such as an aron kodesh, paroches or bimah, are called tashmishei kedushah and, as their sanctity is one of kedushas haguf, they may never be used for mundane purposes (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim 154) unless so specified at the time of dedication. Indeed, the Terumas Hadeshen (Responsa 1:273) writes that properly the bimah should be used only for a Sefer Torah and not for any other holy books.
Almost Impossible To Avoid
How, then, are we accustomed to put siddurim or Chumashim, which are of a lesser sanctity than the Sefer Torah, on the bimah? The Terumas Hadeshen settles the matter “with some difficulty,” claiming that now in our times it is almost unavoidable to be so pure in not using the tashmishei kedusha for mundane purposes: In contrast to the past, we now have many siddurim and Chumashim in shul and also spend more time there because of the many piyutim and zemiros that we add, and as a result, it is hard to avoid the resultant use of the bimah as a place to store these siddurim. Additionally, we are at times careless even as regards these lesser tashmishei kedusha.
Yet it is obvious that that is not enough to permit a transgression. From childhood, a Jew is accustomed to obey Hashem’s commandments, whether easy or hard. Terumas Hadeshen resolves this dilemma with the halachic rule cited above on our daf: “the heart of the beis din provides for it,” as we shall explore.
The sugya (ibid.) explains that sacrifices of the public, which for some reason were not sacrificed, may be redeemed from their sanctity and used for mundane purposes as “[t]he heart of the beis din makes a provision for them.” In other words, those offerings were sanctified in order to be sacrificed, but if not, they are not holy (i.e., with kedushas haguf, which cannot be redeemed) and may be redeemed and used for mundane purposes (Rashi). The innovation of this rule is that though such a condition was not explicitly made at the time of the dedication of the sacrifice, it suffices that “the heart of the beis din provides for it.” Similarly, regarding tashmishei kedusha in a shul, though it was not at first provided that they should serve mundane purposes, “the heart of the beis din provides for it” and it is as if this condition was so stipulated (Rema, Orach Chayyim 154:8).
A Tablecloth For Reading The Torah
All the above indicates that, as a first preference (lechatchila), we should refrain from using tashmishei kedusha for mundane purposes (or even lesser sanctified purposes). Indeed, in certain shuls, such as that of the Slonim chassidim and the Lederman Shul in Bnei Brak, the kehilla takes care to set aside a special tablecloth for the reading of the Torah. To avoid misuse and doubtful cases, halachic authorities (Mishna Berurah, 154, note 37, in the name of Magen Avraham, etc.) have asserted that at the time of the dedication of a tashmish kedusha, the donor should make an explicit condition that the object may also serve mundane purposes. At any rate, if such a conditions were forgotten, the Pri Megadim (Eishel Avraham, Orach Chayyim 154, note 9) writes that if one can avoid using it for a mundane purpose, one should not rely on the allowance of “the heart of the beis din provides for it.”
A Shul Bench
The Yerushalmi (Megillah 3:1) explains that the benches of a shul are also regarded as tashmishei kedusha since all the objects of a shul are holy. The Aruch HaShulchan (Orach Chayyim, ibid., sk12) notes the utilization of such benches for mundane purposes, such as for arranging a festive meal, and writes that people regard the practice as allowed, since “the heart of the beis din provides for it.” Some even doubt the propriety of the custom to throw the aravos on Hoshana Rabbah on top of the aron ha’kodesh (Darchei Chayyim Veshalom, Munkatch, p. 292) because by so doing, one is using the aron kodesh for a mundane purpose. Still, the Maharsham (Responsa 4:57) remarks that since people maintain this practice, “the heart of the beis din provides for it.” Of course, this allowance does not permit the use of the objects of a shul for just any purpose, as the Mishna Berurah (ibid., sk36) asserts: “…and only for cases where it is clear that the custom is to be lenient, but where there is no custom, we should not be lenient as it could be that they did not provide for it.”
