Chol HaMoed: Difference between revisions
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#Some permit a regular medical checkup, whereas others advise avoiding it on Chol HaMoed.<ref>[http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/733780/Rabbi_Hershel_Schachter/Hilchos_Chol_Hamoed Rav Hershel Schachter min 29-30] holds that it’s permissible to schedule a doctor’s appointment even lechatchila and even if you planned to go on Chol HaMoed. Similarly, Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 46) quotes Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg and Rav Elyashiv concur and explain that just like it is permitted to do Ochel Nefesh on Chol HaMoed even if it is planned for then, it is similarly permitted to go for a checkup even if it is scheduled for Chol HaMoed. He assumes that a checkup is considered in the category of medical attention. | #Some permit a regular medical checkup, whereas others advise avoiding it on Chol HaMoed.<ref>[http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/733780/Rabbi_Hershel_Schachter/Hilchos_Chol_Hamoed Rav Hershel Schachter min 29-30] holds that it’s permissible to schedule a doctor’s appointment even lechatchila and even if you planned to go on Chol HaMoed. Similarly, Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 46) quotes Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg and Rav Elyashiv concur and explain that just like it is permitted to do Ochel Nefesh on Chol HaMoed even if it is planned for then, it is similarly permitted to go for a checkup even if it is scheduled for Chol HaMoed. He assumes that a checkup is considered in the category of medical attention. | ||
Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 46) quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein saying that one should not have a routine checkup if it does not involve a Melacha such as drawing blood. Igrot Moshe 3:78 writes that the leniency of doing melacha for physical need on Chol HaMoed only applies if a person is in pain or is afraid that not going to the doctor will make the condition worse. However, a healthy person shouldn’t make a dentist appointment on Chol HaMoed since it involves melachot and can be done afterwards. Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 62) follows the opinion of Rav Moshe and extends it to any routine medical checkup. Furthermore, Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg. 46) quotes Rav Moshe as saying that in order not to degrade the sanctity of the holiday one shouldn’t go for a checkup even if no melacha is involved. </ref> | Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 46) quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein saying that one should not have a routine checkup if it does not involve a Melacha such as drawing blood. Igrot Moshe 3:78 writes that the leniency of doing melacha for physical need on Chol HaMoed only applies if a person is in pain or is afraid that not going to the doctor will make the condition worse. However, a healthy person shouldn’t make a dentist appointment on Chol HaMoed since it involves melachot and can be done afterwards. Hilchot Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg 62) follows the opinion of Rav Moshe and extends it to any routine medical checkup. Furthermore, Chol HaMoed Zichron Shlomo (pg. 46) quotes Rav Moshe as saying that in order not to degrade the sanctity of the holiday one shouldn’t go for a checkup even if no melacha is involved. </ref> | ||
==Communal Needs== | |||
# It is permitted to do communal needs on Chol Hamoed even if there were planned for Chol Hamoed and even if they involve are professional labor or excessive effort. The work is permitted even in public.<Ref>Moed Katan 2a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 544:1-2, Mishna Brurah 544:1. The reason that it is permitted even if it is planned for chol hamoed is because otherwise the communal need will not be taken care of as everyone can push it off.</ref> | |||
# Professional labor is only permitted for communal needs under two conditions: 1) the community will benefit from it on Chol Hamoed itself,<ref>Mishna Brurah 544:1</ref> and 2) the community will benefit directly from the labor in a physical way, such as fixing the roads or water sources and not building a shul.<ref>Rashba 4:326, Rama 544:1</ref> | |||
# Non-professional labor for communal needs is permitted even if the community will only benefit after the holiday<ref>Shulcan Aruch 544:2, Mishna Brurah 544:1</ref> and even if the benefit isn't a physical benefit, such as construction for a shul.<ref>Mishna Brurah 544:1, Rama 544:1</ref> | |||
# Examples of communal needs include: fixing the streets, water aqueducts, marking graves, and fixing a mikveh.<ref>Moed Katan 2a, Shulchan Aruch 544:2. Mishna Brurah 544:4 clarifies that you can fix a mikveh only if it'll be completed on chol hamoed and be needed on the holiday otherwise it is forbidden since it involves professional labor.</ref> | |||
==Hiring Workers== | ==Hiring Workers== | ||
#It is prohibited to hire workers to do melacha on Chol HaMoed. This prohibition applies even if the action one is hiring another to do would be permitted if one was doing this activity for oneself or for another free of charge.<ref>Shulchan Aruch O.C. 542:1. Mishna Brurah 542:2 explains that the prohibition is uvda dichol. The Mishna Brurah notes that some poskim permit one to pay a worker to do work if 1) the person cannot perform the work himself, 2) the workers will not do the work unless they are paid, and 3) it is litzorech hamoed. </ref> However, if one does not give the worker a set salary and pays him with food that he eats with the owner, then paying a worker on Chol HaMoed would be allowed.<ref>Shulchan Aruch O.C. 542:1 </ref> | |||
#It is prohibited to hire workers to do melacha on Chol HaMoed. This prohibition applies even if the action one is hiring another to do would be permitted if one was doing this activity for oneself or for another free of charge.<ref> | #If the work is a pressing need to the point that it would cause a substantial loss if not performed (davar ha’aveid), then it would be permitted to hire a worker to perform the work, even if the work is not necessary for the holiday (litzorech hamoed) and involves skilled labor (maaseh uman). In such a case one may even pay the worker.<ref>Rama 542:1 and Mishna Brurah 542:5. The Biur Halacha explains that is preferable for one to hire a non-Jew in this situation. Mishna Brurah 540:2 states that if it would only be a minor loss, one may only do non-skilled labor (maaseh hedyot) to prevent the loss.</ref> | ||
#If the work is a pressing need to the point that it would cause a substantial loss if not performed (davar ha’aveid), then it would be permitted to hire a worker to perform the work, even if the work is not necessary for the holiday (litzorech hamoed) and involves skilled labor (maaseh uman). In such a case one may even pay the worker.<ref>Rama 542:1 and | #One may hire a worker who has nothing to eat in order that he will be able to sustain himself.<ref>Shulchan Aruch 542:2. The Mishna Brurah there cites the Magen Avraham as saying that if the poor person has bread and water, then it is prohibited to employ him. Magen Avraham 534:7 writes that ideally one should only employ such a person in a private setting because other people may not know that this poor person has a special exemption to do melacha on Chol HaMoed.</ref> | ||
#One may hire a worker who has nothing to eat in order that he will be able to sustain himself. | #Someone who has no food at all, or one who has food but does not have his needs for the holiday (tzorchei hamoed), is considered someone who has no food and is allowed to work on Chol HaMoed.<ref>Mishna Brurah 542:7. See the Magen Avraham cited by the Mishna Brurah who holds more stringently and says that if one has bread and water, one may not work on Chol HaMoed. </ref> | ||
#Someone who has no food at all, or one who has food but does not have his needs for the holiday (tzorchei hamoed), is considered someone who has no food and is allowed to work on Chol HaMoed.<ref> | |||
#If one stipulates with a non-Jew that the non-Jew should do work for him after Chol HaMoed, but the non-Jew starts the work immediately during Chol HaMoed, one need not stop the non-Jew because he instructed the non-Jew that he should perform the work after the moed.<ref>Rama 543:3 as explained by M.B 543:11</ref> | #If one stipulates with a non-Jew that the non-Jew should do work for him after Chol HaMoed, but the non-Jew starts the work immediately during Chol HaMoed, one need not stop the non-Jew because he instructed the non-Jew that he should perform the work after the moed.<ref>Rama 543:3 as explained by M.B 543:11</ref> | ||
