Holy Cows

Some Acharonim have a beef with Rabban Gamliel himself purchasing a cow in the marketplace. After all, Rabban Gamliel was a Nasi, and this type of errand would seem to be beneath the dignity of a Nasi. Indeed, some have suggested that Rabban Gamliel was not a Nasi when this story took place. However, other Acharonim disagree. Furthermore, why didn’t Rabban Gamliel send a messenger so he could stay in the beis midrash?

There is a clear halachah in Shulchan Aruch (OC 250:1): “One should wake up in the morning to prepare for the needs of the Shabbos. Even if one has many servants that serve him, he should still strive to personally prepare any item for the needs of the Shabbos in order to honor it. Rav Chisdah used to cut the vegetables very fine; Ruvah and Rav Yosef used to chop wood; Rav Zeira used to kindle the fire; Rav Nachman used to prepare the house, prepare utensils for the needs of the Shabbos, and put aside the regular utensils. Every individual should learn from their example. One should not say, ‘I will not do what is beneath my honor,’ for it is indeed within one’s dignity to honor the Shabbos.”

This lengthy exposition is somewhat unusual for the Shulchan Aruch. The Shulchan Aruch generally does not bring anecdotes to back up halachah. However, Rav Yosef Karo wanted to impress upon everyone the obligation to be personally involved in Shabbos preparations, no matter how great one is.

Even a great sage has a personal obligation to make some preparations in honor of Shabbos, notwithstanding that it may be otherwise beneath his dignity to engage in such tasks. Indeed, the Mishnah Berurah comments that the well-known dictum of “mitzvah bo yosef mi’bishlucho” applies here—it is a bigger mitzvah to engage in Shabbos preparations oneself than to appoint an agent to do so. These Amoraim mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch could have left the Shabbos preparations to their family members or their domestic help. However, they chose to honor Shabbos by performing these tasks themselves.

The Chida concludes that this is why the Nasi Rabban Gamliel personally went to purchase the animal for his son’s wedding feast. He didn’t leave it to the caterer. He wanted to be personally involved in the preparation of his son’s wedding seudah, which was a seudas mitzvah.

The Magen Avraham seems to concur with the Chida’s reasoning. On the aforementioned Shulchan Aruch, which directs sages to be personally involved in Shabbos preparation, the Magen Avraham comments, “And the same is true for all mitzvos.”

However, the Machzik Berachah suggests that while it is true that sages should personally prepare for Shabbos meals and other mitzvos, the same does not hold true for other meals such as wedding feasts and the seudah after a b’ris. They do not need to stop their learning to be personally engaged in these meals, because the preparation for the meal is not the actual mitzvah. This is as opposed to building a sukkah or a fence around a roof. The Machzik Berachah suggests an alternative interpretation of the incident with Rabban Gamliel.

As a practical matter, the Mishnah Berurah leaves this following question unresolved. If a mitzvah can be accomplished through an agent, must a talmid chacham interrupt his learning to fulfill it himself? Perhaps the Shulchan Aruch’s ruling only applies to Shabbos preparations. Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita, remarked that the Mishnah Berurah’s question is if a talmid chacham is obligated to stop his learning. However, the Mishnah Berurah would certainly agree that a talmid chacham is permitted to stop his learning and fulfill a mitzvah himself rather than appoint an agent.

As an aside, the Chofetz Chaim (MB 250:4) advises us all that on “short Fridays” everyone should help out as much as possible in order to ensure that Shabbos preparations are completed on time.