COVID-19 banished Jews from synagogue for talking on phone in prayers'
By JEREMY SHARON JERUSALEM POST MAY 20, 2020 06:23
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the most senior non-hassidic, ultra-Orthodox rabbi in the world, has said that Jews have been “banished” from synagogues by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the offense given to God by using cell phones in synagogue.In a letter published in the daily ultra-Orthodox Yated Neeman newspaper, the rabbi called for synagogue administrators to ban the use of cell phones in the prayer hall when prayer in synagogues is permitted again.
Gabbai Of Elad Shul Takes A Giant Step To Silencing Cellphones In Shul
The gabbai of the Shirat Naftali Shul in Elad has taken a giant step towards silencing mobile phones in shul. The gabbai spoke with mitpallalim, asking how to get them to leave their phones out of shul towards preventing distractions during tefilla.
The gabbai had cubbies made, but not just cubbies. There are chargers inside so one can have one’s phone safely locked away and charging instead of being bothered during davening.
The sign outside the shul reads: No more shiurim and tefilot with cellphones. Simply select an appropriate cubby, place the phone inside, lock it and then come and daven and learn with a quiet head.
The shul is described as home to mitpallalim who are either on their way to, or coming home from working. The gabbai explained he spoke to people in advance of having the cubbies built, and the gabbai explained that the mitpallalim said they would only use the cubbies if they contained chargers, which they do. It is reported people are beginning to lock up their phones and the shul is becoming quieter.
As we go back to Shul, why would this be relevant to us?
Isn't Shul a place for meeting and socialising?
Is there a problem with cellphones or other media in Shul?
The sources below are a few sources from the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch which refer to the sanctity of a Shul and Beit Midrash. Please learn them together and discuss them.
Synagogues, study houses, and even homes are called mikdash me'at, a small temple. According to the Talmud (Megilah 29a), God will dwell in the holy spaces we create, for they are the Temple in miniature.
Ezekiel cries out (11:13), "Lord God, you are wiping out the remnant of Israel." God responds by declaring that He has "removed them far among the nations and have scattered them among the countries, and I have become to them a mikdash me'at, a small sanctuary".
The sages have chosen to read God's becoming a mikdash me'at as a reassurance of God's presence in exile.
Rabbi Julian Sinclair
(א) דיני קדושת ב"ה ובו יב סעיפים:
בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות אין נוהגין בהם קלות ראש כגון שחוק והתול ושיחה בטילה ואין אוכלין ושותים בהם ולא מתקשטין בהם ולא מטיילין בהם ולא נכנסים בהם בחמה מפני החמה ובגשמים מפני הגשמים ות"ח ותלמידיהם מותרים לאכול ולשתות בהם מדוחק: (וי"א דבבית המדרש אפי' שלא מדוחק שרי): (ר"ן פרק בני העיר) ואין מחשבין בהם חשבונות אלא אם כן הם של מצוה כגון קופה של צדקה ופדיון שבויים ואין מספידין בהם אלא אם כן יהיה ההספד לאחד מגדולי העיר שכל בני העיר מתקבצים ובאים להספידו ואם צריך ליכנס בהם לצרכו כגון לקרא לאדם יכנס ויקרא מעט או יאמר דבר שמועה ואח"כ יקראנו כדי שלא יהא נראה כאלו נכנס לצרכו ואם אינו יודע לא לקרות ולא לשנות יאמר לא' מהתינוקות קרא לי פסוק שאתה קורא בו או ישהה מעט ואח"כ יצא שהישיבה בהם מצוה שנאמר אשרי יושבי ביתך (ושיעור הישיבה כדי הלוך שני פתחים) (לדעת הי"מ בסי' צ' ס"ס כ') (מרדכי ר"פ השותפין):
(1) One should not behave in a frivolous manner in a synagogue or house of study, by cracking jokes there, for instance, or by indulging in humorous or pointless gossip. One should not eat or drink there nor should one adorn oneself there or walk about there. One should not enter there in summer to cool off or in winter to seek shelter from the rain. In an emergency, scholars and their disciples are permitted to eat and drink there. No monetary calculations should be made there unless they are for religious purposes, collecting money for charity, for example, or for the redemption of captives. No funeral orations should be delivered there unless it is for one of the leading citizens of the city when all assemble there for the purpose. If a man finds it necessary to enter there for his own needs, to call someone, for instance, he should read or study something and then call him so that it should not appear as if he has entered for his own needs.... It is forbidden to have even a short nap in a synagogue but this is permitted in a house of study.
Every community has an obligation to fulfill the mitzvah of building a synagogue which will be their mini-sanctuary (mikdash me’at) and where people can pray in a minyan. As it is written (Ezekiel 11:16), “I have been for them a small sanctuary,” and Rabbi Yitzchak interpreted, “These are synagogues and study halls” (Megillah 29a).
Reish Lakish says whoever has a synagogue in his city and does not pray there is called a bad neighbor. Moreover, he brings exile upon himself and his descendants. Those who arrive early to synagogue to recite Shacharit and are late to leave after praying Ma’ariv merit long life (Berachot 8a; Shulchan Aruch 90:11).
It is a mitzvah to run to synagogue just as it is a mitzvah to run to perform every mitzvah, in order to express one’s passion for matters of sanctity, as it says (Hosea 6:3), “We will race on in order to know Hashem.” Likewise, when one leaves the synagogue, he should walk slowly, so that he not appear happy to leave the synagogue (Shulchan Aruch 90:12).