rnimtapie: Ketorm Kesponsa tor the 1 wenty-First Century (Vol 2) page 9 Page 1 of 2 May a Non-Jew Wear a Tauurr? 5765.5 Shreilah A certain congregation family has asked whether or not the non-Jewish grandfather of a bar mitzvah may wear a tallit during the Sabbath morning service when the bar mitzvah will lead the congregation in worship. If he wears the tallit, he may wear it on the bimab. In our congregation, the non-Jewish parent or grandparents stand onthe bimah but do not pass the Torah when the Torah is pz to another. ssed from one generation This question is the subject of two existing Reform responsa. Rabbi Solomon B. Frechof' allows a non-Jewish clergy to wear a tallit in an ecumenical service in a synagogue. He reasons that since the tallit, and especially the tzitzit, are of lesser sanctity than the Torah and its accouterments, and since they may be discarded when worn out, unlike the Torah and its accouterments, which must be stored away, then we may deal with them differently. He continues that we may offer the tallit to the non-Jew “for the sake of peace.” However, Rabbi Walter Jacob? mentions that wearing the tallit is a mitzvah from the Torah and requires a b'rachah that specifically mentions the chosenness of Israel and so may be recited only by a Jew. So, may a non=Jew wear a tallit during the Sabbath morning service? (Rabbi Harry D. Rothstein, Utica, New York) T’shuvah This sh’eilab asks us to decide between two conflicting ’shuvot, each authored by an eminent poseik and teacher of the Reform Movement. We therefore state at the oitset our profound debt of gratitude to our teachers, even though we may disagree with them on one issue or Copyright (c) 2010 by Central Conference of American Rabbis. All rights reserved. Mav not be copied. distributed or sold without exoress written permission of CCAR Press. http://ccar-ebook.com/Reform_Responsa_21st_Century_Vol2/9 1023/2010Yrmtable: Ketorm Kesponsa tor the 1 wenty-Kirst Century (Vol 2) page 10 Page Tof2 + 4 © Sh’eilot Ur'shuvor another. Although our interpretations of text and our religious stance may diverge from those of our predecessors, we are able to conduct this discussion solely because they taught us the art and the process of Reform responsa and halachic thought. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and that very fact, ironically, accounts for the different angle of vision that we bring to this and to other questions.’ With thar in mind, let us consider the responsum of Rabbi Freehof. He bases his permissive ruling upon the distinction between tashmishei kidushab, “appurtenances of sanctity,” and tashmishei mitzvah, “appurtenances of a mitzvah.” Ritual articles belonging to the former category, including “the Torah and its accouterments,” are of a higher degree of sanctity than those belonging to the latter category, such as the tzitzit. Thus, if a Torah mantle has become worn and is no longer suitable for use, it must be stored away (placed in a genizah), while the fringes of a tallit that are broken or no longer used may, in the words of the Shulchan Aruch, “be thrown onto the ash heap because it is an appurtenance of a mitzvah and not inherently holy.” Indeed, Rabbi Freehof continues, the halachah even permits one “to go to the toilet wearing the tallit.”’ This leads him to the following kal vachomer argument: “If, therefore, the tallit may be worn in all sorts of places, and if its fringes (when separated) may even be tossed upon the ash heap, there is no question that one may lend it to a Gentile minister who will handle it reverently.”* He adds that in allowing the minister to wear the tallit “we will thus fulfill the basic mitzvah of acting ‘to follow the paths of peace’ (mipnei darchei shalom),” which, he notes, our tradition also states as “to avoid ill will” (sishvem eivah). In our view, Rabbi Freehof's t’shivah is somewhat less than persuasive, This is true, in part because of some of the debatable points of halachah helpful way to frame the question. The rallit’s inherent ritual sanctity (or lack thereof) is not the point. Even a Torah scroll, which possesses much more sanctity that a tallit, is hardly “defiled” if a non-Jew should touch that it contains,” but primarily because we do not think it it, yet this does not mean that we may or should call a non-Jew to the Copyright (c) 2010 by Central Conference of American Rabbis. All rights reserved. May not be covied. distributed or sold without exoress written permission of CCAR Press. http://ccar-ebook.com/Reform_Responsa_2Ist_Century_Vol2/10 10/23/2010+ mo Century (Vol 2) page 11 Page | of 2 is to perform the mitzvah “to remember to observe all My mitzvor and be holy to your God” (Num. 15:40); itis, in other words, a material expression of one’s membership in the community of Israel, a People sanctified through the mitzvot that characterize its covenant with God, The Rabbinic tradition understands the tzitait as a phy cal sign that marks Israel as a separate People, “made distinct by the mitzvor.” A gentile may wish to.vear a tallit for his or her own reasons, but the tallit i our symbol; it does not belong to the non-Jew, and it is not for him or her to define. The tallit, as our symbol, functions for us as a declaration that the one who wears it isa Jew, who bears the title Yisrael, who Partakes with the rest of us in the covenant that distinguishes us asa unique religious community. The Brandfather in our sheila may well feel a deep sense of familial pride in his grandson’s becoming a bar mitzvah, and his desire to participate in this special event is understandable. He is not, however, a Jew, a member of our covenant community. He should not wear « tallit, We also hesitate to apply here the categories “to follow the paths of Peace” and “to avoid ill will." While we certainly want to maintain 800d relations with our non-Jewish neighbors and to avoid causing family strife, we doubt that these principles are the appropriate way to frame the issues at stake in, this question. We are dealing, after all, with matters of deep religious principle, with observances that define uz asa Jewish community and that therefore set us apart from others. By calling ourselves a Jewish community, we necessarily draw lines and establish boundaries that flow from and reinforce our identity as Jews. To do so inevitably limits the role that non-Jews, those who do not partake in that identity, may play in our communal ritual life.” After all, we do not argue that a gentile ought ro be called to the Torah, recite Kiddush, or lead the synagogue service on the grounds that this would help preserve friendly relations with non-Jews, Indeed, our sho-eils congregation Places clear limits upon the role that the non-Jewish grandparents play oprah (c) 2010 by Central Conference of American Rabbis. AN rights reserved. Mavnol be covied. distributed or sold without exoress writen nomi rey CCAR Press (ccar-cbook.com/Reform Responsa_21st Century Vol2/I1Printable: Reform Responsa for the Twenty-First Century (Vol 2) page 12 Page Tof2 + 6 © Shreilor Ur’shuvor at the service marking bar mitzvah. The non-Jew should understand the need of the Jewish community to assert the right—a right that belongs by every self-identified community, religious or otherwise!’—to define itself, its patterns of life, and its qualifications for membership. This is especially true in democratic and pluralistic societies such as our own, where this right is acknowledged and where Jews are proud and equal citizens, It is good to preserve peace and to avoid hostility, but these goals, worthy as they are, do not convince us of the need to compromise our basic religious principles. For these reasons, we endorse the position taken by Rabbi Walter Jacob in his responsum. We do so not exclusively because the wearing of a tallitis preceded by the recitation of a b’rachah that stresses the nature of this act as a mitzvah. We frequently invite our gentile neighbors to participate in activities—for example, attending a Passover seder,'? sitting in the sukkah—over which we recite birchot mitzvah. Since it is obvious to all that they join with us as guests and not as Jews, we would not think to regard their participation as improper. Yet for a gentile to don a tallit at a public worship service, something he or she need not do in order to take part in that event, is to identify physically as one of us. Again, our position is based primarily upon the symbolic function of the tallit as a statement of Jewish identity and of membership in the covenant community. The gentile cannot make this statement; therefore, he or she should nor wear a tallit at our synagogue service NOTES 1. R. Solomon B. Frechof, Reform Responsa for Our Time, no. 2. R. Walter Jacob, Halakhah (a publication of the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah), Spring/Summer 1996. 3. The classic statement—"we are dwarfs, standing on the shoulders of giants”—scems. to have originated with the twelfth-century Scholastic philosopher Bernard of Chartres. R. Yeshayahu di Trani (d. ca, 1250) is apparently the first Jewish author to use the Copyright (c) 2010 by Central Conference of American Rabbis. All rights reserved. Mav not be covied. distributed or sold without exoress written oermission of CCAR Press. http://ccar-ebook.com/Reform Responsa 21st Century Vol2/12 10/23/2010~rvain won une 4 weinty-rirst Century (Vol 2) page 13 Page 1 of 2 ORACH CHAYIM « 7 phrase, which he calls “a saying [mashal] of the philosophers” (Resp, RYD, no. 62). R. Yeshayahu learns from this saying that although the dwarf certainly lache the great stature of the giant, he nevertheless can sce farther, precisely because the giant enables him to do so. This explains how we acharonim, or “later” sages, are permitted to disagree with our predecessors (the rishonim), even though the rishonim, accord ing to traditionalist ideology, are by definition grearer and wiser than we. On this subject, see Yisrael Ta-Shema, Halachah, Minhag, Um'tziut Blashkenaz (Jerusalems Magnes, 1996), 70-71; Avraham Melamed, Al Kit/ei Anakin (Ramat Gan: Bar Tlan Universi, ry Press, 2003); and Robert K. Merton, On the Shoulders of Giants: A Shandean Postscript (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) 484, OC 21:1. Actually, the passage reads “ecause no sanctity attaches i its physical substance” (she-ein b’gufab k'dushab); ie, the titzt is holy only because itis whole and attached to a fonr-cornered garment. 4 tetzit that is detached from the tallit is mere thread; no mitevah is performed with it, and it thus may be discarded, We wonder wwhether a proper analogy can be drawn from a detached tzitzt to a fringed tallit with which a mitzvah is indeed performed, 5.84, OC 21:3, The commentators on that passage, however, notably the Magen David and the Mishnat B'rurab, write that this refers to the tallit katan, the fringed tundergarment that one may wear all day long, and not to the tallit shel mitzvab that i worn specially during prayer. The later, they declare, should not be worn in the toilet § The precise sheilah addressed by Rabbi Frechof concerns a Christian minister who is {0 participate in a joint service at the synagogue and who wishes “to wear a talit as the rabbi does.” 7. See notes 4 and 5, above. 8. On the general question.of gentile participation in synagogue services, see Teshuvot for the Nineties, no. $754.5, pp. 55-75, 9: Prikta D’Rav Kahana 16:3 on Lam. 2:13; Sifrei D'varim, chap. 36 (to Deut. 6:9), 10. Mipnei darchei shalom is the justification cited for a number of takanot (Rabbinic legislative ordinances) during tannaiti times, See M. Gittin 5:8-9 and M. Shvi-i 4:3, among other places. Mish eivab appears during the later, amoraic periods; see, for example, BT Bava M'tzia 32b and Avodah Zarab 26a. 11. This Committee has spoken to.the issue on a number of occasions, Non-Jews are not called to the Torah, do not read the haftarah, do not recei surrounding the Torah service, and do not lead the central rubrics of our liturgy mportant “honors” Copyright(c) 2010 by Central Conference of American Rabbis, All rights reserved, Mav not be copied. distributed or sold without exoress written oermission of CCAR Press. http://ccar-ebook.com/Reform_Responsa_2Ist_Century Vol2/13 +jgute Some NEN Lor Ne I weRN- FERRER J F_ESHRNRL HoNSoATINN ASI 8 © Sheilot Ur’shuvot (Teshuvot for the Nineties, no. 5754.5, pp. 55-75; Reform Responsa for the Twenty- first Century, no. 5758.11, vol. 1, pp. 195-204; American Reform Responsa, no. 6, pp. 21-24; Current Reform Responsa, no, 23, pp. 91-93; and New Reform Responsa, no. 7, pp. 33-36). 12. For example, as one member of our Committee puts it, “How would we feel about a Jew attending a Catholic mass for a relative’s confirmation and taking communion?” ‘The members of that Catholic church would surely question whether the Jew had acted appropriately with regard to their sacrament. 13. Many traditionally observant Jews will not invite non-Jews to a seder or to any other Yom Tov meal. This is because the permission to cook on a Festival day (so long as it does not fall on Shabbat) is interpreted to apply only to food that is cooked for ww, lest one cook extra food on the see BT Beitzab 21b on Exod. 12:16). We Reform Jews clearly do not observe this restriction, Moreover, so long as itis clear Jews; therefore, “itis forbidden to invire the no Festival day specifically for him” (SA, OC 51 that one will complete the cooking prior to the onset of the holiday, there is no reason why Orthodox Jews should refrain from inviting non-Jews to the meal. 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