Gloss on What Is Forbidden on Shabbat

Chofetz Chaim

1904

307: Laws Concerning Talking [ . . . ]

16. It is forbidden to read on Shabbos proverbs or parables of a† secular character, erotic literature such as the book [by] Emanuel1 and likewise books about wars. It is even forbidden [to read them] on weekdays,‡ because of [the prohibition against participation in] a gathering of scoffers.2 [In addition,] one also transgresses [the prohibition] of, “You shall not turn to elilim,”3 ([which the Sages explained to mean,] you shall not turn§ to your inclinations). In [the case of] erotic literature there is still a further [transgression] involved, because [by reading it] one excites the yeitzer ha-ra (the evil inclination), and whoever writes it or copies it* and, needless to say, whoever prints it, causes the public to sin.

 

† Secular character. Josephus, the Sefer Yuchesin, the history of Rabbi Yosef Hakoheyn and the Sheyvat Yehudah4 are not included in [this category] because one can learn from them mussar (reproof and correction) and the fear [of God]. Consequently, even if they are written in a foreign language [i.e., a language other than Hebrew], it is permitted [to read them on Shabbos].

‡ Because of [the prohibition against participation in] a gathering of scoffers. One certainly [transgresses this prohibition] if he goes to theaters and circuses (which are [places of] amusement, as stated in Avodah Zarah, 18b) or [participates in] other pastimes. Even on Purim, only merriment that is intended to remind one of [the miracles that occurred in the time of] Achashveirosh is permitted. [M.A.] Nowadays, because of our many sins, some people are completely unrestrained in this matter and go to theaters, [despite the fact that] Scripture cries out saying, “do not rejoice, Israel, in jubilations” [Hosheya 9:1]. One also [transgresses the prohibition against] inciting one’s evil inclination [if he goes there], and our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “whoever scoffs, falls into Geyhinnom,5 as it is written, etc., and suffers afflictions [even in this world], as it is written, and now, do not scoff, lest your afflictions become heavier.’”6 (See additional [sayings and quotations regarding this matter] in the Gemara there.)

§ To your inclinations. [Meaning] to what you do by following the inclinations of your heart. [Rashi, see there.3]

* And, needless to say, whoever prints it. Similarly, book dealers who deal in [books] of this nature and make them available to customers for reading are [also] included in this category. See the first responsum of the work Machaney Chaim, who discusses this topic at great length. Our Sages, of blessed memory, said that one who brings a person to sin is worse than one who kills him, for if one kills [a person] he does so only in this world, but if he brings him to sin [he destroys him] also in the world-to-come.7

Translator unknown.

Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Emanuel ben Shlomo of Rome wrote the Machberot (compositions) in the fourteenth century c.e.

This expression comes from Tehillim 1:1 where it is written: “Happy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and did not stand in the path of sinners, and did not participate in a gathering of scoffers. But his desire is the Torah of God and he will meditate in His Torah day and night.”

Vaykira 19:4. The verse is explained in this manner in Shabbos 149a. Rashi explains that the word elilim means chalolim (hollows) and is a reference to the heart (which has hollows in it). The heart represents the inclinations of a person.

All these books deal with Jewish history.

Where the wicked go in the next world to be punished for transgressions.

Yeshayah 28:22.

See Sifre to Devarim 23:8 and Midrash Bamidbar, Parsha 21:4.

Credits

Chofetz Chaim (Yisrael Meir Kagan), "Gloss on What Is Forbidden on Shabbat," from Mishnah Berurah: The Classic Commentary to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim by Rabbeinu Yisroel Meir Ha-Cohen, vol. 3b: Laws of Shabbos 274–307, ed. Aharon Feldman and Aviel Orenstein (Jerusalem: Pisgah Foundation, 1980), pp. 385–87.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

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Creator Bio

Chofetz Chaim

1838–1933

Born Israel Meir Pupko ha-Kohen (Kagan) in Zhetl in the Russian Empire (today Diatlovo, Belarus), the scholar who came to be called the Chofetz Chaim received his early religious education at home. Kagan’s father died while Kagan was young and his mother moved the family to Vilna, where he entered yeshiva. After moving to Radun (Yiddish, Radin), a town in the Grodno region, he married and opened a store, which his wife managed. By 1869, students from across the region would gather at his home to study. Eventually, he became known by the title of his first book—Chofetz Chaim (Ḥafetz Ḥayim, 1873), on the laws of libel and gossip—and his Radun yeshiva and kollel gained prominence as the Yeshiva Ḥafetz Ḥayim. Antagonistic to the secularism of the early Zionist movement (an antagonism he later extended to all forms of secular Jewish outlook, including socialist activism and secular cultural activism of any sort), the Chofetz Chaim helped found the Agudas Yisroel Party and aligned himself with the Musar movement. He vehemently opposed the emigration of Jews to America on religious grounds, as evidenced in his booklet Nefutsot Yisra’el (The Dispersion of Israel). By the interwar period, the Chofetz Chaim was one of the most uncompromising voices for and a living symbol of Orthodox Jewish opposition to any sort of Jewish embrace of modernity.

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