In searching for a halakhah that I did not find, I came across a responsum written on the day of Shiv`a Asar Be-Tammuz, a discussion in R. Ovadia Yosef’s Yabia Omer about how aninut works on Shabbat. After reading that, I looked and found two more interesting responsa also written on that day— I suspect that a fast day is a convenient time for gedolei Yisrael to catch up on correspondence, since one’s mind isn’t working as well as usual anyway. In honor of the time period we are now in, I thought we might review some of the Torah disseminated on the fast of the 17th of Tammuz.

R. Ovadya was asked about the possibility of a person who is an onen davening maariv early on Shabbat afternoon (in other words, saying the maariv for motsaei Shabbat while it was still day) and saying havdalah with a cup of wine as well. There are several dimensions to this question, all worth reviewing. First, an onen, one of the seven types of relatives who are obligated to involve themselves in burying a person who has passed away (the spouse, parents, siblings, and children of the deceased) is not allowed to perform mitsvot during the time of aninut, the time when that person could be involved with the burial.

There was some discussion in halakhah as to whether the issue of not performing mitsvot was an allowance, to free the onen to be fully involved in giving the proper kavod to the deceased, or whether it was a requirement, that refraining from any other involvements is itself an act of kavod hamet. Le-halakhah, we take the latter view, that the onen should not perform any mitsvot—should not pray, put on tefillin, make blessings over food, and so on. However, the onen must not violate any halakhot; for example, an onen who wishes to eat bread is required to wash, because there is a prohibition to eat bread without washing. The onen would not, however, say the bracha of al netilat yadayim, since onenim do not make brakhot.

Shabbat is a different story. Since on Shabbat the onen may not do anything to prepare for the burial, the Taz rules (and I believe most authorities follow this ruling) that the onen says kaddish and davens as usual during Shabbat. An interesting element of controversy in that ruling is its assumption that kaddish can be recited before burial. Since some see kaddish as a way to help avoid or mitigate the deceased’s punishment for whatever sins were committed during that person’s lifetime (a notion of kaddish supported by the custom to only recite it for 11 months, since after 11 months only true evildoers would still be receiving punishment), some authorities thought it impossible to recite the prayer until after burial, when the soul has gone on to its final accounting of reward and punishment.

Others point out, however, that kaddish is not specifically a way to avoid punishment, it is a meritorious act performed on behalf of the deceased. In fact, any meritorious act performed on behalf of the deceased has similar (if not greater) effect on the deceased’s soul. Mourners should actually be careful to, in addition to saying kaddish, make a concerted effort to give extra charity, learn extra amounts of Torah, and generally improve one’s Jewish commitment and performance of mitsvot. during the time they are mourning the deceased. In that view of kaddish, it is relevant even before burial, so that if the onen is unable by virtue of legal impermissibility to act on the deceased’s behalf, the onen could say kaddish. All that is only true where the onen is halakhically prohibited, not practically, from acting on the deceased’s behalf. Practical considerations— such as waiting for a flight to take off— would not allow the onen to daven, etc.

Towards the end of Shabbat, however, the onen might return to that status, since halakhah does allow some activity on the behalf of the deceased. Although this is rarely relevant anymore (since cars are faster than walking in almost all cases), halakhah allows being makhshikh al hatehum, going to the edge of the distance one can travel outside of one’s city on Shabbat, if that will help the needs of the deceased.

Assuming that the possibility of aninut was not relevant on that Shabbat, we might be able to construct a way for an onen to daven the maariv of motsaei Shabbat after pelag hamincha on Shabbat afternoon. To understand how, recall that we hold the view that an ordinary person may daven maariv anytime after pelag hamincha. In addition, the gemara explicitly allows reciting the motsaei Shabbat maariv on Shabbat itself, although we generally refrain from doing so for a variety of reasons. For an onen, however, this will be the only opportunity, since once Shabbat actually ends, that onen will be again prohibited from davening. However, complicating the issue, maariv and havdallah are actually requirements of the end of Shabbat, so perhaps an onen (or someone who will be an onen at that time) is not obligated in those acts at all. R. Ovadya rules that an onen is actually theoretically obligated in all mitsvot during the period of aninut, although the rules of being an onen prevent the person from fulfilling those obligations. If there is a way, therefore, to fulfill the obligation in havdallah and maariv before aninut returns, he allows doing so, both for maariv and for making havdallah with a cup of wine.

We will, be-ezrat Hashem, continue our review of responsa written on the day of 17 Tammuz next week.