Mishna Megilla 4:8
The Mishna says that one who insits he will only lead the services dressed in colored clothes , should not be allowed to lead in white clothes either. If he says I will not lead in sandals (i.e. only barefoot), he should not be allowed to lead barefoot.
The reason explained is twofold: First of all, these are specific issues the apikorsim of those times were stringent about, and we therefore suspect him of being an apikores for insisting on such behavior. Second of all, because he is insisting on conditions that people are generally not specific about, we suspect him of Apikorsus because a "Juke" must have entered his head and gave him crazy ideas.
We commonly find this practice nowadays where people insist they will not lead the davening unless they are wearing a jacket, or hat or tallit, etc.. The Mishna tells us not to be so finicky and get the "juke" out of your head. If it is not a requirement, you have no right to insist on it. Do what needs to be done and get the crazy ideas out of your head.
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3 comments:
I am not a guy, so I do not know first hand - but my understanding is that the shuls themselves make these rules. Are you saying the Shul gabbai has a "juke" in his head?
I am not talking about when a shul has a rule (though it might apply to that as well). If the shul has a rule, the potential candidate has no choice.
When the shul has no rule and someone refuses for these types of reasons, or in informal minyanim, that is what I was referring to.
BTW, I have been guilty of this as well at times. I would refuse to daven unless a tallit was provided (for Minha/Maariv). Some shuls require it and some do not. I prefer it when davening for the amud. On the occassion that there was no tallit, I refused. I will not refuse next time.
hey rafi,
good post. im goin to remember this one.
thanks man.
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