Dvar Ha'aved on Chol Hamoed

From Halachipedia

Running a Business

  1. It is permitted to work on chol hamoed if there is a dvar ha'aved. Dvar Hamoed means losing capital and not missing an opportunity to make money.[1]
  2. If someone is in danger of losing his job if he doesn't go to work on chol hamoed it is permitted for him to work.
  3. If someone has vacation days that he can take on chol hamoed but would prefer to use them at other times, it is forbidden for him to work on chol hamoed and he should take the vacation days then.
  4. If someone runs a business that has overhead costs, such as rent for office space or salaried workers, who he has to pay whether or not the business is open on chol hamoed, some poskim consider that dvar ha'aved.[2] Other poskim hold that it is not dvar ha'aved.[3]
  5. Losing a customer is considered a dvar ha'aved. Accordingly, if a business thinks that if by closing for chol hamoed it will permanently lose steady customers it is permitted to remain open on chol hamoed. However, unnecessary melacha must be avoided. If an order can wait to be fulfilled until after the moed, melacha to fulfill that order may not be done on the moed.[4] A rabbi should be consulted.

Watering Plants

  1. It is permitted to water plants that need be watered on chol hamoed in order to continue growing. If without water they'll die it is permitted to water them. However, if without water they'll grow but the fruits will just come more slowly or there will be fewer that is not a dvar ha'aved and it is forbidden to water them on the moed.[5]
  2. It is only permitted to water plants with water from the tap or hose directly. That is the modern-day equivalent to water from a spring, which Chazal permitted.[6] However, one may not draw with buckets to water plants even if they would die without the water.[7]
  3. If a plant is also ready to be picked, it is permitted even to draw water to water plants in order to pick them and eat them on the moed.[8] However, it is forbidden to water plants to improve them for after the moed.[9]

Can dvar haaved be done normally on Chol Hamoed?

  1. If there is a concern of a significant loss it is permitted to do melacha for dvar haaved normally without doing a shinuy (something abnormal). However, if there is a very minor concern of a loss it is only permitted to do melacha for dvar haaved with a shinuy.[10]

Can excessive effort be done for dvar haaved?

  1. It is forbidden to do excessive effort (tircha yetera) when doing a dvar haaved.[11]

Can a professional be asked to do melacha for dvar haaved?

  1. It is permitted to do a maaseh uman (professional work) for a dvar ha'aved.[12]

Can it be done in public?

  1. When doing melacha for dvar haaved it is necessary to do the melacha in private if possible. For example, if it can be done at night in a way that less people would see it if done at night it must be done at night.[13]

Intentionally leaving a dvar haaved for the moed

  1. If someone planned to do melacha to save a dvar haaved on the moed it is forbidden for him to do that melacha on the moed. Furthermore, if he does that melacha the rabbis penalized him and make that work ownerless.[14]
  2. If someone planned to do work before the moed but then forgot about it, or delayed to do it after the moed and thought it wouldn't be lost beforehand and then it became a dvar haaved on the moed, or if an unforeseen circumstance arose that created a dvar haaved that he couldn't deal with before the moed, then it is permitted to do melacha on the moed.[15]

Safek Dvar Ha'aved

  1. Safek dvar ha'aved is permitted.[16] The poskim write that if the concern that he'll come to a loss is likely to happen, because of a common occurence, then it is permitted. However, if the concern that he'll come to a loss is unlikely to happen, then it is forbidden.[17]

Sources

  1. ↑ Moed Katan 2a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:1. Tiferet Yisrael (Kupat Rochlim 5:5) holds that missing an extremely big opportunity is considered like a dvar ha'aved but that opinion is not accepted by the poskim.
  2. ↑ Aruch Hashulchan (YD 380:6, OC 533:3), Divrei Malkiel 2:100, Rav Moshe (Hilchot Chol Hamoed Zichron Shlomo teshuva n. 17), Rav Ovadia (Chazon Ovadia p. 182)
  3. ↑ Birkei Yosef 537:2 quoting Maharam Provansal, Rav Shlomo Zalman (Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata ch. 67 fnt. 40), Rav Yakov Kamenetsky (Hilchot Chol Hamoed Zichron Shlomo p. 56 fnt. 33), Minchat Yitzchak 6:52
  4. ↑ Hilchot Chol Hamoed Zichron Shlomo p. 56
  5. ↑ Moed Katan 2a, 6b, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:2
  6. ↑ Kaf Hachaim 537:13, Chazon Ish 134:14, Piskei Teshuvot 537:3. Kaf Hachaim writes that a machine which draws water from a spring that doesn't involve a lot of exertion is the equivalent of drawing water from a spring with one's foot which is permitted. Chazon Ish agrees regarding a pump that gets its water from a spring. Piskei Teshuvot applies this to modern day tap water. [Fundamentally, it doesn't matter if the tap water is from a spring or rainwater reservoir because they don't become used up when they're used normally. (Moed Katan 4a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:3)]
  7. ↑ Moed Katan 2a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:2
  8. ↑ Moed Katan 4a permits water plants to eat them on the moed. This is codified in Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:4. In this case it is even permitted to draw water which is a tircha since it is for ochel nefesh. Mishna Brurah 537:14 quotes Ritva who adds that it is permitted to draw water for plants to sell for other people to eat them on the moed. That too is considered a need of ochel nefesh. (Note that Ochel Nefesh does not include non-Jews on Chol Hamoed, Chayey Adam 106:11.)
  9. ↑ Moed Katan 4a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:4
  10. ↑ Rabbenu Gershom 6b s.v. uvsadeh, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:13, Mishna Brurah 537:37
  11. ↑ Moed Katan 2a, 4a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 537:2. [Bet Yosef 538:1 suggests that tircha yetera is only asur for dvar haaved if it is attached to the ground. However, this seems to be contradicted by Pesachim 55b and Moed Katan 13b.]
  12. ↑ Tosfot (Moed Katan 10a s.v. tofer), Mordechai (m"k n. 844), Maharshach 1:113, Tiferet Yisrael (Kupat Rochlin 5:5)
  13. ↑ Shulchan Aruch O.C. 538:2 and Rama. Mishna Brurah 538:12 explains that it should be done in private so that people don't mistakenly learn incorrect leniencies from this precedent. According to Ramban (Piskei Chol Hamoed), tzina (privacy) is only necessary when avoiding a loss of theft but not if the item itself is going to spoil. Ritva understands that this is because when the item itself is spoiling then it is evident why he's working and tzina isn't necessary. However, Maggid Mishna understands the distinction is between whether the item is certainly going to spoil or it is uncertain. If it is certain then it can be done in public, otherwise it needs tzina.
  14. ↑ Shulchan Aruch O.C. 538:1. Someone who leaves his melacha for the moed is called Mechaven Melachto Bmoed.
  15. ↑ Shulchan Aruch O.C. 538:1
  16. ↑ Maharshach 1:113. His two proofs are the Rashba writes that it is permitted to write down one's finances so that a person doesn't forget them and come to a loss. Also, Raavad writes that it is permitted to write a letter and send it on the moed because perhaps after the moed there won't be anyone to deliver the mail available. Mabit 1:27 agrees. Magen Avraham 537 codifies this. Chazon Ish 134:14 agrees. However, Machasit Hashekel, Pri Megadim, and Levushei Srad on 537 write that according to the opinion that melacha on chol hamoed is from the Torah safek dvar ha'aved is forbidden. Chayey Adam 106:5 writes that safek dvar ha'aved should be done by a non-Jew.
  17. ↑ Biur Halacha 537:1 s.v. dvar, Hilchot Chol Hamoed Zichron Shlomo p. 51
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