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...
The Recitation of “Emet Ve’yasib” After the Morning Shema
Answering “Amen” to a Beracha After Completing “Hashkibenu” at Arbit
Does Minha Precede Musaf if One Did Not Recite Musaf Until the Afternoon?
Reciting the Verse “Yiheyu Le’rason” After the Amida
Laws of Kaddish
Halachot Relevant to Reciting the Verse “Hashem Melech”
Answering to Kadish, Barechu, Kedusha or Berachot During Baruch She’amar
May One Answer “Amen” During Pesukeh De’zimra?
If One is Praying the Amida When the Hazan Reaches Nakdishach
If One Mistakenly Recited Al Ha’mihya Instead of Birkat Ha’mazon
The Latest Time to Recite the Morning Amida, Baruch She’amar and Yishtabah
May a Kohen Interrupt Pesukeh De’zimra or Shema to Participate in Birkat Kohanim?
Upon Arriving Late To Minyan of Arbit
One Who Did Not Recite Minha the Day Before We Begin Reciting “Barech Alenu”
If One Mistakenly Recited “Barechenu” Instead of “Barech Alenu” on the Night of December 4th
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found