DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 604 KB)
If a Host Tells a Guest to Leave

The Gemara says, "Do anything a host tell you to do, except leave." A guest is obliged to obey his host, unless his host tells him to leave the home.

The commentators raise the question of why a guest is entitled to remain in someone’s home against the host’s will. Seemingly, a host reserves the right to tell his guest to leave. How can we explain the Gemara’s comment?

The Sefat Emet (Rav Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, 1847-1905) explains that this provision was made in response to the tragic incident of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa, which the Gemara relates in Masechet Gittin. An invitation intended for Kamsa was mistakenly delivered to Bar Kamsa, and when Bar Kamsa arrived at the party, the host forced him to leave. Bar Kamsa was very embarrassed, and decided to avenge his disgrace by going to the Roman emperor and telling him that the Jews rebelled against him, ultimately causing the destruction of Jerusalem. In response, the Sages enacted this provision that if somebody comes to a function to which he was not invited, he should not be told to leave. And if the host tells him to leave, he does not have to listen.

Thus, if a person, for whatever reason, attends a function uninvited, the host should not embarrass him by telling him to leave. We should learn the lesson taught by the tragedy of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa, and ensure not to embarrass a fellow Jew, even in a case of an uninvited guest.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Does One Answer “Amen” to a Child’s Beracha?
Does the Beracha of Kiddush Cover Beverages That One Drinks Subsequently?
Reciting Ha’mosi When One Has Several Different Types of Bread
How much bread must one plan to eat to require Netilat Yadayim, and within how much time must this amount of bread be eaten?
Must One Recite a Beracha Before Tasting Food?
The Beracha Over Products Made From Potato Starch or Corn Starch; The Beracha Over Bamba and Marzipan
Reciting a Beracha Upon Seeing the Site of a Personal Miracle
Does One Recite a Beracha Before Smelling Deodorizers?
Reciting a Beracha Before Smelling Fragrant Fruits, Plants, and Foods
Reciting a Beracha Before Smelling Incense or Fragrant Oil
Does One Recite a Beracha Before Smelling Synthetic Perfumes?
Does One Answer “Amen” if He Did Not Hear the Beracha, or to a Beracha He Heard Via Broadcast?
The Importance of Answering Amen
Birkat Ha’re’ah - Honeysuckles, Cinnamon, Shampoo, Deodorant, Soap and Air Freshener
If a Person Mistakenly Omitted One of the Words in the Phrase “Baruch Ata Hashem Elokenu Melech Ha’olam”
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found