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...
Use of Blech or Hotplate on Shabbat-Summary
Is It Permissible to Place a Cover on a Pot on a Blech on Shabbat?
Employing a Non-Jewish Maid on Shabbat
May a Jew Engage a Non-Jew to Invest on his Behalf on Shabbat?
May a Non-Jewish Technician Perform Repairs in a Jew’s Home on Shabbat?
Drying Dishes on Shabbat
Drying One’s Hands on a Towel on Shabbat
Cleaning Shoes on Shabbat
Using a Timer to Activate a Hotplate on Shabbat
The Difference Between Hatmana and Placing Food on a “Blech”
Hatmana: Covering Pots on the Blech
Hatmana: Foil –Placing Wrapped Foods on the Blech
Hatmana: Covering Pots on a Blech with Towels
Hatmana: Warming a Baby Bottle
Hatmana-Wrapped Foods in a Pot
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found