Tuesday 20 December 2016

tefilla - What would a slave say in the birchot hashachar?


Given that women replace shelo asani isha with she'asani kirtzono, is there any halacha on what a Jewish slave would say for shelo asani eved? Also, would a slave need to be need to be acquired & held according to halacha to be considered eved, or would a Jew forced into slavery by gentiles be considered eved for the purposes of halacha?


(In case you're wondering, this came up during a conversation about forced labor in concentration camps during the Holocaust.)



Answer



The Beit Yosef (OC 46) writes (quoting Sefer Abudirham):



השבוי מברך שלא עשאני עבד שלא תקנו ברכה זו מפני העבדות עצמה, אלא מפני שאין העבד חייב במצות כישראל ואינו ראוי לבא בקהל ופסול לכמה דברים.‏
One who is captured blesses "SheLo Asani Eved" for [our sages] did not enact this blessing because of the work itself, but rather because a slave is not obligated in Mitzvot like a Jew and is not eligible to [marry] into the [Jewish] community, and is invalid for some things.




From this we see the slave under discussion is an Eved Kena'ani not an Eved 'Ivri (who is obligated in Mitzvot like a Jew). Accordingly, Jews in forced labor camps in the Holocaust (for example) would still have needed to say this blessing. An Eved Kena'ani would seemingly just omit the blessing.


No comments:

Post a Comment

readings - Appending 内 to a company name is read ない or うち?

For example, if I say マイクロソフト内のパートナーシップは強いです, is the 内 here read as うち or ない? Answer 「内」 in the form: 「Proper Noun + 内」 is always read 「ない...