Q&A: Erev Rav, Ruach HaKodesh & Learning During Chazaras HaShatz

Yeah, so, so again, I, I'm always asked to repeat the question, by the way, so I, I'm gonna try to repeat the question 'cause it doesn't always pick up.

Uh, the question is one that's a little bit personal, a little bit painful for me, and, and that is the Halakha of learning during Chazarat Hashatz.

Now, we know that the original purpose of Chazarat Hashatz was from a time when people...

Not everybody knew how to daven, so the concept was that people who knew how to daven would daven, and then the chazan would repeat the Amidah for people who didn't know how to daven and would be yotze with the chazan's repetition.

Now, even though logically that might mean in a case where everybody's davening, don't have Chazarat Hashatz, but, uh, we don't pasken that way.

We pasken it was a takanah of the chachamim, so even if the reason doesn't seem to apply, we have to have it.

And in Brisk, they have a further lamdus, and they say that Chazarat Hashatz is necessary even for people who were yotze Shemoneh Esreh already because they point out that when I daven my private Shemoneh Esreh with a minyan, that is called tefila b'tziabor.

That is prayer with a congregation.

But when the chazan recites on behalf of everybody, that is the prayer of the congregation.

That is a kiyum of tefilas hatziabor.

So there are two different ways, or maybe both ways you can visualize Chazarat Hashatz.

One as a takanah which was originally for the ignorant but then became part of our fixed davening.

Uh, the other is it actually is a fulfillment of the tziabor as a single unit.

Be as, be as it may, it's very, very clear that it is forbidden to talk during Chazarat Hashatz, and in fact, the Shulchan Aruch uses a very unusual language of harshness.

He who talks during Chazarat Hashatz, "gadol avono minaso," his sin is greater than he can bear.

That language does not appear in Hilchot Shabbat.

It doesn't appear anywhere except in that particular case.

Now, so the big issue is this.

I'm not allowed to talk, that's for sure, unless it is nogea the davening.

I could announce Yaaleh V'yavo or, or whatever it would be.

So what about learning Torah if I'm doing it by myself and I'm not talking, I'm not...

I'm just learning Torah? So once again, if you look at the Mishnah Berurah, you look at the Aruch HaShulchan, you look at the earlier commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch, uh, they almost unanimously say that you're not allowed to learn during Chazarat Hashatz, and they're very critical of people who do learn during Chazarat Hashatz.

Uh, so if somebody asks me, "Should I learn during Chazarat Hashatz?" Uh, the answer would of course be, "You should not learn during Chazarat Hashatz." And yet, and yet, and yet, in spite of that, you sometimes see, often you don't, many, many chashuve gedolim bedavka do not learn during Chazarat Hashatz, uh, as the Mishnah Berurah and the Aruch HaShulchan say.

But, uh, you do see sometimes, uh, very chashuve talmidei chachamim who do learn during Chazarat Hashatz.

And the question is, are they just in total violation of the Halakha, or is there some Halakhic basis? So there is a Halakhic basis, although it might be a thin Halakhic basis.