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...
Saying Kadish and Hazara If A Minyan Formed After Praying BeYachid
Answering “Amen” to the Beracha “Shomer Et Amo Yisrael Mi’kol Dabar Ra La’ad”
The Status of Israeli Residents Visiting America with Regard to “Barech Alenu”
Holding and Kissing the Sisit During Shema
Reciting the 'Yag Middot' Privately and with a Minyan; Counting the 'Yag Middot' with One's Fingers
Learning After One Finishes the Amida, Before the Hazzan's Repetition
The Proper Way to Hold One's Hands During Tefila
Must One Wear a Belt During Tefila?
If One Does Not Remember During the Amida Which Beracha He Just Recited
Insights On The Kadish
Reciting Berachot, Praying or Studying Torah When One Needs to Use the Restroom
Halachot Concerning the Recitation of the First Verse of Shema
Standing for the Recitation of Shema
"Keri" and "Ketiv": Words in the Torah That are Not Pronounced According to Their Spelling
Studying Torah or Praying When One Smells a Foul Odor
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found