Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Oops!

The new Koren Sacks Siddur (which is, apart from the nitpicking in this post, an impressive work) has a section in the back entitled "A Halakhic Guide to Prayer for Visitors to Israel". Among other things, this includes the various opinions regarding what 2-day-yom-tov observers should do about yom tov when they're in Israel. One of these opinions is (in part):
On the day after Shemini Atzeret (Simhat Torah in the Diaspora, Isru Hag in Israel), one abstains from labor, but says weekday (or Shabbat) prayers (putting on tefillin in the morning, if not Shabbat).

5 points to the first person who catches the error.

11 comments:

  1. I think the error is that Simchat Torah can't fall on Shabbat, right?

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  2. Correct - the day after Shemini Atzeret/ diaspora Simchat Torah cannot fall out on Shabbat, based on the famous principle of
    לא אדו ראש

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  3. Hunh. I thought it was that the day after Shmini `Atzeret is isru chag, both in Israel and in the diaspora. Framing, framing.

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  4. JXG--I want to expand on your point.

    I was always taught (growing up in the Diaspora) that isru chag is the day after chag wherever you are. Thus in chu"l, it'd be the day after Simchat Torah (24 Tishrei) and in Israel, it'd be the day after Shemini Atseret (23 Tishrei).

    Am I correct? This seems to contradict the origin of isru chag, namely that it gave the pilgrims a chance to get home, but it may serve the modern purpose of giving those in chu"l a travel day as well.

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  5. the origin of isru chag was not to let people get home.

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  6. s. writes:
    Thus in chu"l, it'd be the day after Simchat Torah (24 Tishrei) and in Israel, it'd be the day after Shemini Atseret (23 Tishrei).

    I think JXG's point was that Shemini Atzeret is either 1 day (22 Tishrei) or 2 days (22-23 Tishrei). In the latter case, "Simchat Torah" takes place on the second day of Shemini Atzeret. So either way, isru chag (the day after chag is over) is the day after Shemini Atzeret.

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  7. The more I use the Koren Siddur, the more little tiny things keep annoying me -- even though I'm sure that happens with every siddur. The pages are *really* thin. And there are all these things I expect to be there that aren't, like that little intro to Ein Keilokeinu. And how they arbitrarily decide which prayers and psalms to print like poetry and which to print in paragraphs...

    But in general, I do like it, and the translation is super sweet. And I feel like not enough people are talkblogging about it...thank you!

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  8. "And how they arbitrarily decide which prayers and psalms to print like poetry and which to print in paragraphs..."

    Not to mention that some of the prayers and psalms are printed line by line in the Hebrew, but as paragraphs in the English, making it even more challenging than usual for those of us not fluent in Hebrew to follow the translation. But I don't dare add that complaint to my own Koren Sacks Siddur post, 'cause I'm in enough trouble already. (Hold the rotten tomatoes, please--I really did think it was a simple spelling error. That's what I get for discussing a quote from rabbinic literature, about which I know even less that I thought I knew, apparently.)

    As a whole, though, I do like the Koren Sacks Siddur, which is probably about as female-friendly as an Orthodox siddur can be, presents a variety of views in its comments and instructions, and is, as a general rule, pretty easy to read in terms of its lay-out, despite the "sometimes-poetry" problem.

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  9. If it's Simhat Torah in Galut (i.e. 2nd day of 8"A), then it's still Yo"T and you DON'T say weekday prayers OR put on tefillin!

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  10. That's not an error, in the logical sense. Maybe you can call it unnecessary/useless verbeage.

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