Siman 128, Se'if 5 · Background: The Kohanim Worked Barefoot in the Beis HaMikdash

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 128, Se'if 5

"The Kohanim may not go up to the duchen in shoes, but in batei shokayim it is permitted. Some are stringent if they are made of leather, and the custom is to be lenient in a few places."

(Shulchan Aruch)

Background: The Kohanim Worked Barefoot in the Beis HaMikdash

• Working barefoot: When the Beis HaMikdash stood, all the working Kohanim, and anyone present during the service, stood barefoot. The floor of the Azarah is considered a holy floor, just as was said to Moshe Rabbeinu.

"Remove your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground."

(The pasuk spoken to Moshe Rabbeinu)

• Intestinal illnesses among the Kohanim: The Gemara relates that the Kohanim suffered from intestinal illnesses because they ate meat and caught cold. They could not wear shoes or socks, and Yerushalayim is chilly.
• The Beis HaMoked: In the Beis HaMikdash, there was a place called the Beis HaMoked, two of them, one below and one above, where the Kohanim could warm themselves when necessary or during a break from the service.
• An important clarification: Even though many people think that a Kohen goes up to the duchen barefoot because that is how they worked in the Beis HaMikdash, this is not the reason for the enactment. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's enactment that they go up to the duchen without shoes was instituted for a completely different reason, as the Mishnah Berurah explains.

The Reason for the Enactment: Lest the Strap Break (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 15)

"In shoes: Lest his strap break and it is an embarrassment to him, and they will mock him that his sandal is untied, and he will go tie it while his friends are blessing, and people will say that he is the son of a divorcee or the son of a chalutzah, and therefore he went and sat down."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 15)

• The nature of the concern: The Kohen goes up to the duchen in his shoes, and in the middle, the lace opens or tears, which would be an embarrassment to him, as if he does not know how to tie his shoes.
• The more severe concern: If he steps off the duchen to the side to tie his shoe while his friends are reciting the blessing, onlookers will say it was discovered that he is disqualified from lifting his hands in blessing, the son of a divorcee or chalutzah, and they will not attribute his stepping down to his shoe.
• What a sandal is in the Gemara's terminology: A sandal in the time of the Gemara is not like our sandals today, but rather a shoe with ties and straps, like a chalitzah shoe.

Lo Pelug Rabbanan: Even Shoes Without Straps

"And even in shoes that do not have straps it is forbidden, because the Sages did not differentiate."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• The reason for the expansion: If they had differentiated between one shoe and another, everyone would claim that their laces are strong and there is no need for concern, and there would be no end to the matter. Therefore, the Sages forbade any shoe, without distinction.
• The parameters of the prohibition: Any shoe made of leather, whether it has laces or not, is forbidden when going up to the duchen. The halacha regarding canvas and rubber shoes will be explained later.

Where to Place the Shoes and When to Remove Them

"One must be careful with shoes that they do not stand exposed in the shul because of respect."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• Placing the shoes: It is not fitting for a row of shoes to be standing in full view of the congregation. Rather, one should place them in a spot that is not exposed, such as under a bench.
• An ancient custom: They used to remove their shoes in the outer room, outside the shul, and walk from there to the duchen without shoes. Some find this difficult because of the cold, and therefore the custom is to be lenient and remove them near their seats.

"He should remove them before washing, and if he can remove them after washing without touching them, that is fine."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• The order of removal and washing: One who touches his shoes must wash his hands, so he should remove them before washing his hands for going up to the duchen. If he is able to remove them after washing without touching them, for instance by taking off the shoe with his foot, that is also good.

Batei Shokayim

"But in batei shokayim: long shoes that reach up to the knees."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• The definition: In the language of Chazal, a 'bayis' is the place where a limb enters, like a 'beis yad' which is a glove. 'Batei shokayim' are long shoes that cover a significant part of the leg up to the knee, a sort of boot.

"Because this reason does not apply. And even though they also sometimes have straps made near the knee, nevertheless we are not concerned lest he sit to tie them, for even if they are untied it is not such an embarrassment."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• The reason for the permission: First, they usually do not have straps at all. Second, even when they do have straps, they are near the knee and do not hold the foot in but are merely for decoration. Therefore, we are not concerned that he will sit to tie them, and even if they remain open it is not an embarrassment and people do not mock him.

(These boots were common in Europe, and even today there are Rabbis who walk in boots, even though it is not comfortable in the heat.)

The Strict Opinion Regarding Leather Batei Shokayim (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 17)

"Some are stringent if they are made of leather: Their reason is that this is included in a sandal and shoe, and the Sages did not differentiate between whether there are straps or there are no straps."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 17)

• The reasoning of the strict opinion: Anything made of leather is called a shoe, and there is no practical difference regarding its length or whether it has laces. Since it is called a shoe, it is included in Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's enactment.
• The expansion of the enactment: The enactment itself was stated regarding sandals and low shoes, and through the principle of 'lo pelug', the poskim expanded it this far.

"Nevertheless, batei shokayim together with the trousers is permitted according to everyone, because this is not included in the decree at all. And similarly, batei shokayim made of cloth, even if they are lined with leather."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• Two permissions: Batei shokayim that are attached to the trousers as one piece are not included in the decree at all and are permitted according to all opinions. Similarly, batei shokayim made of cloth, even if they contain a little leather, but are mostly cloth, one may be lenient with them.
• The custom: The Rema states, 'and the custom is to be lenient in a few places', meaning there are places that were lenient with long batei shokayim, but most poskim are stringent.

An Additional Reason: Respect for the Congregation

"Nevertheless, with our batei shokayim that are called shtivel, which are normally worn in the street in the mud, one should not be lenient because of respect for the congregation. And according to this reason, also rubber shoes called galoshes, it is also not proper for this reason."

(Mishnah Berurah)

• A new rationale: Up to this point, the entire reason was the concern that they would mock the Kohen and he would step off the duchen. Here, the later poskim add a reason completely unrelated to the enactment: respect for the congregation.
• The practical difference: One may not go up to the duchen in shoes that are worn in the street in mud and dirt, even if there is no concern regarding straps. It is not a respectful appearance, and the Kohen is standing before the congregation.
• Even with galoshes: Galoshes are rubber shoes whose whole purpose is to walk in the mud over one's shoes, and according to the reason of respect for the congregation it is not proper to go up in them, even though they are not made of leather.
• A practical expansion: According to this reason, even canvas shoes might be disqualified if they are not respectable, for example if he walked in them from his house to the shul through mud.

Practical Halacha

• Leather shoes: These are forbidden in any case, whether they have laces or not, and there is no difference in their height.
• Canvas shoes and rubber shoes without laces: There are those who permit them, since they contain no leather and have no concern of straps, such as rubber shoes or slip-on shoes that have no laces at all.
• Canvas or rubber shoes that have laces: Some say the problem remains in place, because the main enactment was stated concerning laces, and even though today we are not particular about this, the parameter of the enactment still exists.
• A Kohen who finds it difficult: A Kohen who is cold or finds it difficult to take off his shoes, there is room to be lenient for him according to the aforementioned conditions.
• Maris ayin: Even for a regular Kohen whose shoes are permitted by strict halacha, most of the congregation is not fluent in these halachos, and they see a Kohen going up in shoes, so not everywhere will they look at this favorably.
• A Kohen who went up in shoes: We must examine what kind of shoes are involved, and there are cases where the halacha dictates taking him down from the duchen.

(The continuation of the topic, the halacha of going up barefoot and the halacha of going up in socks, will be discussed in the next shiur.)

In Passing · The Karaites and the Tradition of the Oral Torah

1. Why Maseches Avos Opens With the Chain of Tradition

• The question: Maseches Avos deals with matters of ethics and derech eretz, and seemingly it would have been appropriate to open with the Mishnah 'The Men of the Great Assembly said three things.' Why does it open with 'Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua', which is an order of transmission and history?
• The Bartenura's answer: Since all the content of the tractate is not halachos but ethics, derech eretz, and behavioral norms, and norms change from generation to generation, the Mishnah comes to teach that even these ethics were transmitted from Sinai and are not subject to the changes of time.
• An additional explanation: Judaism is half built on the Oral Torah. 'And they shall be for frontlets between your eyes' does not teach what tefillin are, what is inside them and what is outside, or what color they are. Half of the laws are halacha leMoshe miSinai, and therefore we open with an exact chain of transmission: who was the teacher and to whom he transmitted it.
• Parallel sources: In Maseches Avos d'Rabbi Nassan there is a broader detailing of this development, and likewise the Rambam opens the Mishneh Torah with an introduction that is entirely the order of the generations from Moshe Rabbeinu until Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, whom he calls Rabbeinu HaKadosh, the compiler of the Mishnah.

2. Anan ben David and the Beginning of the Karaites

• The background: According to what is accepted by us, and not according to the Karaites, the beginning of Karaism was in the Geonic period. The Reish Galusa, who was usually of the seed of the House of David, served in the representative role towards the government, and the Rosh Yeshiva stood at the head of Torah leadership.
• Anan ben David: A Reish Galusa was appointed, and Anan ben David, who was also of the seed of the House of David, became angry that they did not appoint him, and a dispute erupted. The government had given the Jews full authority, and since he opposed their decision, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death.
• The advice he received in prison: According to tradition, he met a man in prison who advised him that the only way to be saved was to claim that he did not oppose the Jewish leadership at all, but rather represented a completely different branch, and then this is not a rebellion but two separate sects.
• The foundation of the sect: Thus the Karaite sect was founded, whose foundation is that we only follow the Mikra, what is written in the Written Torah, and we do not accept the tradition of the Sages. In the beginning, their power was very great.
• The claim against them: In debates, they were asked where this sect sprang from in the eighth century, and what was there two generations ago. Their answer was that they were the continuation of the Tzedukim, from whom they received their tradition, for the Tzedukim also only believe in the Written Torah, as we saw in the dispute regarding Sefiras HaOmer, that we say 'from the morrow of the Shabbos' means Yom Tov, and they say it means a literal Shabbos.

3. The Story About the Shoes in the Debate Before the King

• The incident: A story is told of a debate held before the king between a Jew and a Karaite. The Jew entered with his shoes in his hand. The king asked him why he took off his shoes, and he replied that they were about to discuss Torah, and just as at the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai everyone stood barefoot.
• The continuation: The king asked him, if so, why is he holding the shoes in his hand and not leaving them at the entrance. He replied that at Har Sinai they left their shoes on the side and approached the mountain, and when they returned they did not find them, because the Karaites stole all the shoes.
• The proof: The Karaite protested and said this was a lie, because there were no Karaites at all back then. The king said to him: Here you yourself admit that there were no Karaites at that time.