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...
Decorating Homes and Synagogues With Flowers on Shabuot
Shabuot – The Special Quality of the Month of Sivan; A Reason for Eating Dairy Products on Shabuot
Giving Charity on Erev Shavuot
Shabuot – Netilat Yadayim, Birkat Ha’Torah and the Bedtime Shema
Shabuot – Shaharit and Musaf on Shabuot Morning
Giving Charity Before Shabuot; Learning on Shabuot Night
Shabuot – Reasons for the Custom to Decorate the Synagogue with Flowers
Shabuot-Preparing When Shavuot Falls Out On Mosaeh Shabbat
Shabuot-Is it Permissible to Donate Blood or Have Elective Surgery on Ereb Shabuot?
Shavuot- Should One Repeat Beracha Rishona for Beverages Throughout The Night While Studying Shavuot Night
Shabuot – The Two Different Versions of the Te’amim for the Ten Commandments
Shabuot – The Halachot of Berachot Over Food and Drinks During Shabuot Night; Reciting Birkat Ha’Torah on Shabuot Morning
If an Israeli Resident is Spending Yom Tob in the Diaspora
Shabuot – The Custom to Remain Awake Throughout the Night
Pesah – How Soon After Pesah May One Eat the Hametz Which He Had Sold?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found