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...
Amira L’Akum: Is It Permissible to Instruct a Non-Jew to Open a Refrigerator on Shabbat?
Amira L’Akum: Benefitting from a Prohibited Action of a Non-Jew
Amira L’Akum-Is it Permitted to Instruct a Non-Jew to Turn On the Lights in Shul?
Amiral L’Akum-May a Jew Benefit from a Melacha Done by a Non-Jew to Correct His Mistake?
Amira L’Akum: May a Jew Benefit When a Non-Jew Activates a Light in a Room with Jews and Non-Jews?
Amira L’Akum-If a Non-Jew Turned On a Light for his Own Benefit
Amira L’Akum: If a Non-Jew Turns on a Light for a Jew
Carrying on Shabbat: Wearing Additional Garments
Carrying on Shabbat: Defining a Garment
Carrying on Shabbat: Eyeglasses
Carrying on Shabbat: Watches
Carrying on Shabbat: Talit, Scarves, Towels and Jackets
Carrying on Shabbat- Bandages, Slings and Hearing Aids
Carrying on Shabbat- Sanitary Napkins, Crutches and Prosthetic Limbs
Carrying on Shabbat: Ornamental Keys, Reserve Buttons, Rain Gear
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found