Memorial Services on the Sabbath

A great philanthropist (A. S.), a man of noble character and widely respected, died in our community. On the thirtieth day after his funeral, we propose to have a memorial service for him in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Is it permitted to do so? (From Rabbi Morris Lieberman, Baltimore, Maryland)

The question of a memorial service (hesped) on the Sabbath is a highly complicated one, because the permissibility of a hesped is involved in the permissible dates for the penitential prayers during the daily and Sabbath services (tachanun on weekdays and tzid-kos-cho tzedek on Sabbath afternoon). Also, it is tied up with the dates permissible for the funeral prayers (tsidduk ha din and the saying of Kaddish). Besides this complication of permissible dates for these penitential prayers, there are also the following questions to be disentangled: Is the hesped itself considered more penitential than the other penitential prayers mentioned above, or less penitential? If less penitential, then on the days when these prayers (tachanun, et cetera) are prohibited, may not the hesped be permitted under special circumstances? Or is the reverse true, that the hesped is more penitential than these prayers, so that even on special occasions when the prayers may be permitted, hesped is nevertheless forbidden, being more penitential?

Furthermore, the law frequently makes a distinction between the hesped in the presence of the dead and a hesped in the absence of the body, the former being actually a part of the funeral service (which would be prohibited on the Sabbath and holidays), whereas the latter, a mere address of solemn nature, an ethical exhortation, might well be permitted.

The pronouncing of a memorial address, a eulogy, at a funeral and the memorial address after the funeral are considered to be an important commandment, a prime duty. This is based upon the Talmud (b. Shabbas 105b), and is codified in the Shulchan Aruch: “It is a great mitzvah to eulogize the dead properly” (Yore Deah 344 : 1). The only question is on what days may this important mitzvah be fulfilled? The whole complex of the tachanun prayers in the daily worship and the funeral prayer (tsidduk ha din) and the hesped are generally lumped together as prohibited in times of joy or for some other special reason. On the New Moon, during the whole month of Nisan, the first seven days of Sivan, on the day before the New Year, the day before Yom Kippur, and on Chanukah and Purim, the special tachanun prayers are not recited. It is also the custom not to recite the tsidduk ha din on these same days (and, according to many opinions, the Kaddish at the grave is likewise forbidden on these days since it is considered to be a part of, or an appendage to, the tsidduk ha din). So, likewise, a hesped is not given on these days. To these prohibited times of hesped and tsidduk ha din must be added the eve of the Sabbath and yom-tov after the noon hour. Of course the Sabbath itself is not specifically mentioned; it is taken for granted as prohibited.

In general, it can be said that a memorial mood is not permitted to mar the sacred joy of the Sabbath. Nevertheless, it is to be noticed that we do say Kaddish on the Sabbath, and after the reading of the Torah we do have the penitential prayer Av Horachamim; furthermore, on Sabbath afternoon there is the prayer Tzid-kos-cho Tzedek, which is supposed to be a memorial prayer (tsidduk ha din) for Moses, Joseph, and Solomon. Therefore some mourning mood is actually permitted. There are many other exceptions to be noted. For example, Zedekiah Ha Rofeh, the author of the Germanic-Italian code “Shebole Ha-Leket” (thirteenth century) says (in the funeral laws, #13) that a certain man died on Choi Ha-moed (the halfholidays), and although the people did not wish to say tsidduk ha din or Kaddish, Rashi did do so on the ground that these prayers are not really mourning or eulogy, but the calm acceptance of the will of Heaven. In this procedure of Rashi we find a relaxation with regard to tsidduk ha din, but also the statement that the hesped is more penitential than the prayers, and therefore forbidden (by implication) on Chol Ha-moed. On the other hand, it is forbidden to have any penitence on the eight days of Chanukah, and yet Rabbi Leontin, a contemporary of Rashi, did give a hesped during Chanukah for a scholar (ibid.). Thus we see that these prohibitions have been modified by many exceptions.

These modifications apply specifically to the question of giving a memorial address on the Sabbath. Of course it must be understood that a funeral itself is prohibited on the Sabbath and that therefore, of course, the accompanying funeral address is prohibited. Yet it is possible that a memorial address thirty days or so after the funeral, or at a still later date, could well be permitted. The ground for the permission would rest partly on the fact that it is possible to consider a memorial address to be less penitential than the penitential prayers. This is precisely the standpoint taken by the famous Hungarian rabbi of two generations ago, Elazar Deutsch, of Bonyhad, in his “Peri Hasodeh” (Part II, in the large note in the Introduction). He discusses there specifically the right to make the hesped on erev Shabbas afternoon, and permits it. Thus he says that we would not pronounce the tsidduk ha din on Chol Ha-moed even for a great man, but would recite a hesped for him. But, he adds, the hesped should be rather sermonic than tearful or funereal in nature. Chaim Cheskia Medini, in his collection “S’de Chemed” (in Avelus #91), says: “I will discuss later whether it is permitted to give a memorial address on the Sabbath.” I cannot find this later discussion in his compendium, but the very fact that he says he will discuss it indicates that the permissibility of a hesped on the Sabbath is not to be dismissed outright.

In fact, there is a full discussion of the matter of hesped on Sabbath in the responsum “Minhat Elazar” (Part IV, #45), by Elazar Spiro, the famous rabbi of Muncacz. He is opposed to any hesped on the Sabbath, but his very discussion proves that there is considerable opinion in favor of it. He quotes the responsa “Tsapichis B’dvosh,” by Chiya Puntrimoli (Salonika, 1848), who, in Responsum #23, forbids deep study on the Sabbath because it is hard work, but in Responsum #26 permits the hesped on the Sabbath. Spiro takes the opposite opinion: he permits deep study on the Sabbath but forbids the hesped.

Spiro says he knows that many scholars in their sermons before the Shofar on Rosh Hashonah and before Kol Nidre, mention their sorrows over the scholars who have departed during the year; but, he says, this is no proof that the hesped should be permitted on the Sabbath. Yet he quotes a famous early authority, the “Kol Bo” (ed. Venice, p. 113b), in favor of a hesped: “Now that the regular Sabbath sacrifice no longer is made it is permitted to recite a hesped on the Sabbath.” (Hilchoth Avelus 114; see also Halachos Gedolos, ed. Hildeshermer, p. 616.)

Some modern authors seem to feel that a great deal depends on the nature of the sermon. They quote the ser mon, “Tselach,” by Ezekiel Landau (#31), to the effect that while it is forbidden on Nisan to make a hesped, it is nevertheless permitted to speak in praise of the departed. In other words, if the address is penitential and tearful, as may befit a funeral sermon (in which, according to the law, it is praiseworthy to weep), then it would be prohibited on these happy days. But merely to speak of the virtues of the departed without the intention of evoking mourning is permitted (see Greenwald, “Kol Bo Al Avelus,” p. 103).

In general, it may be said that all these penitential acts, tachanun, tsidduk ha din at funerals, and the hesped, are prohibited on all happy days, but that enough exceptions occur for us to permit a memorial service under special circumstances. First, the law seems to feel a greater leniency for the hesped, which is not part of a funeral service but occurs at a later date, as in this case. Second, the main purpose of the address should be not weeping and mourning, but the exemplification of the great virtues of the deceased and joy because of his service to the community. As long as the practice is not frequent and the mood of the service is not predominantly tearful, and if the man memorialized was truly worthy of it, then we are fulfilling the Talmud precept quoted as law in the Shulchan Aruch: “It it a great mitzvah to make an appropriate hesped.”