NON-MEMBER - any local resident who is not a member of this particular
shul.
GENERAL RULES:
It is a mitzvah for a congregation to allow any chiyuv, even a guest or a
non-member, to serve as Sheliach Tzibbur.(11)
Any member chiyuv has priority over any non-member chiyuv.
One may become a member even after his chiyuv begins.(12)
A chiyuv who has priority according to Halachah should not readily
relinquish his right to be the Sheliach Tzibbur, for the right is not really
his to surrender; rather, it belongs to the soul of his parent. If, however,
the other mourner will be greatly distressed if he is denied the opportunity
to be the Sheliach Tzibbur, he may give up his right(13). The rav should be
consulted.
A chiyuv who does not have priority according to Halachah but intimidates or
forces the other mourners to give up their rights to him, is described as
"gaining nothing for the soul of his parent, nor does he detract from any
merit that was due to the other mourner".(14)
When there are several mourners of equal status, they should divide the
Sheliach Tzibbur's duties among them in a fair and equitable manner.(15)
Since Shacharis may be divided into two parts, there can be up to four
chiyuvim dividing the three daily prayers services.(16)
It is improper to divide a large minyan into two in order to enable a second
mourner to have a minyan for which he can serve as Sheliach Tzibbur.(17)
A mourner who davens regularly in one shul, but whose opportunities to serve
as Sheliach Tzibbur will be curtailed because of the other chiyuvim in that
shul, is neither required nor advised to switch shuls during his eleven
months of mourning. On a Yahrzeit of a parent, however, one should see to it
that he does serve as Sheliach Tzibbur, even if it means davening
elsewhere.(18)
A grandson should serve as Sheliach Tzibbur if his grandparent died without
leaving a son. If there are other mourners at the same shul, a grandson
shares his slot with them but not on equal footing as would a son. The
particulars regarding the grandson's rights are left to the rav's
discretion.(19)
It is appropriate that a son serve as Sheliach Tzibbur after the passing of
an adoptive parent. The standard rules of priority, however, do not apply
and he does not take precedence over other mourners.(20)
During the twelfth month of the mourning period, the mourner is no longer
required to serve as Sheliach Tzibbur, but may do so if he wishes.(21) While
some poskim recommend that he do so, he has no priority over any other
mourner.(22)
One who is in mourning for both his father and his mother does not have more
priority than one who is mourning for one parent.(23)
The following rules of priority apply to chiyuvim of comparable membership
status (i.e., member vs. member, non-member vs. non member, guest vs.
guest):(24)
- A sheloshim has priority over a Yahrzeit(25) and all other chiyuvim.(26)
- A yahrzeit has priority over a Year and a Yom hafsakah.
- A Yom hafsakah has priority over a Year.
The following rules of priority apply between a member and a guest:
- A Yahrzeit member has priority over a Yahrzeit guest or a Sheloshim
guest.
- A Sheloshim member has priority over a Yahrzeit guest.(27)
- A Sheloshim or Yahrzeit guest and a Year member are equal chiyuvim.(28)
- A Yom hafsakah guest has priority over a Year member.
FOOTNOTES:
1 O.C. 53:20; Rama Y.D. 376:4.
2 On Shabbos, Yom Tov, Chol Ha-Moed and Purim, a mourner does not serve as
Sheliach Tzibbur. On Tishah B'av and Erev Yom Kippur a mourner serves as
Sheliach Tzibbur. There are various customs concerning Rosh Chodesh,
Chanukah and Erev Pesach.
3 The "eleven months" period is always calculated from the day of burial,
even if several days elapsed between death and burial; Beiur Halachah 132:1
as explained by Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:61-19.
4 Chayei Adam 67:6. The poskim debate whether a parent may excuse his child
from according him this honor and whether the child is obligated to listen
to his parent; see Pischei Teshuvah Y.D. 344:1; Chelkas Yaakov 2:93; Shearim
Metzuyanim B'halachah 26:1.
5 Mishnah Berurah 53:60.
6 Harav S.Z. Auerbach (Halichos Shelomo 18, note 28).
7 Actually, the most "important" period is the first seven days of mourning,
called Shivah. Our discussion, however, does not cover the rules of Shivah,
since most often the davening takes place in the house of mourning, not in
shul. In the atypical case where a mourner during Shivah must daven in shul
[where he is a member], he has priority over all other chiyuvim.
8 While Yom Tov mitigates some of the restrictions of Sheloshim, it does not
lessen the Sheloshim obligation of serving as Sheliach Tzibbur; Gesher
ha-Chayim 30:10-2.
9 "Regular mispallel" is defined as one who davens in this shul on Shabbos
and Yom Tov on a regular basis; Teshuvos Binyan Dovid, 12, quoted in Tefilah
K'hilchasah 24, note 194.
10 Beiur Halachah 132:1.
11 Mishnah Berurah 53:60.
12 Harav Y.S. Elyashiv (Tefillah K'hilchasah 24, note 194).
13 Eimek Berachah (Aveilus) pg. 143. See also Halichos Shelomo 18, note 51.
14 Chasam Sofer Y.D. 345, quoted in Pischei Teshuvah Y.D. 376:7.
15 One who has a choice of being a Sheliach Tzibbur for Minchah or for
Maariv, should choose Maariv over Minchah; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 26:1.
16 Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:61-5. Several brothers, even though they are davening
for the same parent, have separate rights as individual mourners; Rama Y.D.
376:4.
17 Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:61-4. See also Tefilah K'hilchasah 24:54 quoting Rav
Shelomo HaKohen of Vilna.
18 Harav Y. Kamenetsky (Emes Lya'akov Y.D. 376:4, note 224); Harav S.Z.
Auerbach (Halichos Shelomo 18:24).
19 Harav S.Z. Auerbach (Halichos Shelomo 18:15).
20 Harav S.Z. Auerbach (Nishmas Avrahahm, vol. 5, pg. 141).
21 Mateh Efrayim, Kaddish, 4:2.
22 Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:61-17. See also Shevet ha-Levi 2:161.
23 Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 26:16. See also Emes Lya'akov Y.D. 376:4, note 224.
24 Unless noted otherwise, the rules of priority are based on the decisions
of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 26 and Beiur Halachah 132:1. See also Yesodei
Semachos, 9:7 and 12:11.
25 During Shacharis, the Sheloshim leads until Ashrei U'va Letziyon, and the
Yahrzeit takes over from there.
26 Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:60; 4:61-20.
27 During Shacharis, the Sheloshim leads until Ashrei U'va Letziyon, and the
Yahrzeit takes over from there.
28 "Equal chiyuvim" means that neither has priority. During Shacharis, one
should daven until Ashrei U'va Letziyon, and the other continues from there.
Minchah and Maariv should be divided between them.
Weekly-Halacha, Copyright © 2002 by Rabbi Neustadt, Dr. Jeffrey Gross and
Project Genesis, Inc.
Rabbi Neustadt is the principal of Yavne
Teachers' College in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also the Magid Shiur of a daily
Mishna Berurah class at Congregation Shomre Shabbos.
The Weekly-Halacha Series is distributed L'zchus Hayeled Doniel Meir ben
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