Todays minchas chinuch-style gemara says that a chatzi eved/ben-chorin cannot blow for himself bec. the tzad avdus will be motzi the tzad cheirus. I didn't get a chance to look around much but it seems pashut that this only applies to the mitzvah of shofar. The mitzvah of shofar is (acc. to most) a mitzvah to hear, not to blow (or at least primarily a mitzvah to hear like by the person coming out of the pit while blowing 28a, see minchas chinuch). Therefore, when someone blows, he is not being yotzei from blowing but rather his own blowing is motzi himself through hearing the sound. The problem is that a chatzi eved will be blowing for the chatzi ben chorin that is listening. But by other mitzvos such as tefillin, when he puts tefillin on his head, the entire chatzi ben chorin is wearing tefillin and yotzei. Similarly if he makes kiddush which is a mitzvah to say (not to hear), he can be yotzei bec. he the chatzi ben chorin is saying the kiddush.
The question is what about megillah. I would say that since the mitzvah of megillah is to read (at least for men), therefore the chatzi eved can read for himself. The tzad cheirus is yotzi through the reading even without hearing. However, the rema (689) writes that some say he cannot read from himself. His source is the beis yosef who says "the tur isn't concerned to point out that a chatzi eved/ben-chorin can't read for himself bec. he relies on what he writes by shofar". If not for the Rema and Beis Yosef, it seems more mistaver that the Tur is very meduyak and that the problem only applies by shofar and not by megillah. Perhaps the Rema is being choshesh that the megillah must also be heard not just read (see m.b. 689:5 by a deaf who is not mute).
3 comments:
Reb Avi,
From my search:
the issue by megilah is that even women and slaves are obligated. by tefilin i saw there is machlokes if he is obligated but i can't find the sources.
I didn't undesrtand your sevara but i don't really understand the whole concept...
see pri chadash in 689 regarding 1/2 eved in chanuka he is mesupak shaagas aryeh 6 and more.
r' yossi,
although women and slaves are obligated in megillah, they are not as obligated as men (perhaps men are midivrei kabbalah and women only miderabonon, perhaps men must read and women must hear - many achronim talk about the behag mentioned in tosafos megillah 4a) and that is why women can't read for men. therefore, if the mitzvah of megillah is to hear, similar to shofar, then the reading which comes from a chatzi eved, doesn't qualify as a reading to be motzi the chatzi ben chorin through hearing. But, anytime the mitzvah is the action that is being done, my understanding is that the chazti eved and the chatzi ben chorin did that act i.e. making kiddush, putting on tefillin, lighting candles and therefore he is yotzei.
i will try to check some of the sources you mentioned to see if they go against my assumption.
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