This week’s Halakhah in Brief was prepared using my new Bar-Ilan CD-Rom, a birthday gift from my wife, Elizabeth. It greatly eased my access to sources on the topics I will discuss, and I wanted to note that whatever Torah we learn from these sheets has been greatly facilitated by her.

Given a busy life and the desire to learn Torah when possible, at what points during prayers can one study Torah? Two prime candidates that we will discuss today are hazarat haShatz, the repetition of the Shemoneh Esreh by the hazan, and Qeriat haTorah, during the reading of the Torah.

Hazarat haShatz is an ancient ordinance, originally for the sake of those who did not know how to pray on their own. In pre-printing times, prayerbooks were either unheard of or not easily accessible, and the exact words of the prayers were quite possibly not as fixed as they are now. There was therefore the great likelihood that members of the assemblage would not know how to pray. The solution was to have those who knew how to do so pray to themselves, followed by the hazan audibly praying. Those who did not know how to pray could then listen and fulfill their obligation through their listening to his words.

Even after prayer became more fixed, and prayerbooks more accessible, hazzarat haShatz was left in place. The question became as to whether one could learn during this time, since it was a relatively extended period of time with nothing to do. As prelude to answering this question, I would point out the opinions of R. Moshe Feinstein and the Rov, both of blessed memory. R. Moshe was asked whether it was permitted to talk if the hazzan was quiet at some point in the middle of hazzarat haShatz. He prohibited doing so, since the ordinance of hazarat haShatz was that all those listening would act as if they were presently fulfilling their personal obligation.

In a related view, the Rov was of the opinion that during the repetition of the Amidah the entire tsibbur should stand with their legs together, listening to the hazzan as if they themselves were actually praying. I believe the Rov’s view gains support from a gemara in Sota that refers to a kohein leaving his place to ascend to the dukhan and bless the people as being oqer raglav, uprooting his legs. That phrase makes most sense if he had been standing at attention, either in prayer or as if in prayer.

Both views suggest that the repetition of the Amidah is a time when the community should be listening attentively, as if they were praying themselves. As a result many authorities categorically prohibit studying Torah during this repetition. However, the Magen Avraham permitted learning Torah as long as the person could pay attention to each closing bracha. That would mean, for example, that the person would learn during the entire introductory part of the bracka, but not during the words "Barukh Ata , etc." The Magen Avraham apparently believed, as R. Moshe notes, that listening to a bracha is for the purpose of answering amen at the end. Someone who is able to listen just to the very end, know what bracha is being said, and answer, could then learn for the rest.

R. Moshe Feinstein quotes this Magen Avraham, and accepts it, with two caveats. First, he points out that the Magen Avraham could only have been talking about a situation where there was already a minyan of people listening to the hazzan other than this person. Since the ordinance of the repetition of the Amidah was made for a minyan, only if there are already nine people listening to the hazzan could an extra person allow himself to listen minimally while he was learning.

Second, R. Moshe quotes an opinion that complains about this Magen Avraham because others, not be able to divide their attention, will follow the first person’s example. These others, however, will not know what they are responding to, since they are not really listening even to the end of the bracha. Because of that worry, R. Moshe also seems to agree that a person should refrain from learning during this period, to avoid giving the wrong impression to others.

I once heard that R. Lichtenstein was asked about his practice of learning during the hazzarat haShatz and that he responded that he was personally capable of both learning and listening. As if in confirmation, this person (I do not remember who it was) told me he had witnessed an occasion where the hazzan skipped a piece of the davening, and R. Lichtenstein, for all that he appeared engrossed in his learning, was the one who caught the error.

Daf Yomi