There is a Rashi on this Mishna which I believe is widely misunderstood. The Gemorah says that a "ragil" should lead the davening on the Ta'anis. Rashi defines a "ragil" as one who has the nusach down pat and won't fumble the davening. Our desire for such a chazzan, Rashi says, is based on the Mishna in Brachos 44b which states that when a chazzan errs it is a "siman ra" for the tzibur.
At first brush one would assume that Rashi's meaning is that we opt for a ragil in order to avoid the siman ra. This, of course, is untenable. As the Mishna in Brachos makes clear, the siman ra is Min HaShamayim and is unavoidable. The Mishna illustrates this with R. Chanina ben Dosa who knew in advance whether his tefillos were accepted by how well he was able to articulate the tefillah. So what does rashi mean when he says we want a ragil because fumbling is a siman ra?
I believe the answer is this: We want a ragil in order to identify a siman ra. If our chazzan is not a ragil then we can never know if his being toeh was a siman ra or just the natural result of his inexperience. When a ragil messes up, then we know.
7 comments:
r' yisroel,
Shkoyach for the post - it is an excellent (and sharp) he'ara!
first, the mishnah you quote is brachos 34b (not 44b).
the simple reading of rashi is clearly that we are trying to avoid the siman rah, not just identify it.
Your assumption is that Hashem has already decided to do something bad and sends the siman rah to notify us. based on this premise it is true that a more experienced shliach tzibbur won't help.
But, perhaps the mishnah of siman rah is trying to instruct us to be meticulous in the davening and to be careful who we choose. there is no predetermined decree that we are notified of by the siman rah. rather, the siman rah is the cause for the evil decree. therefore, choosing a shliach tzibbur who will be meticulous in his davening will in fact avoid the siman rah.
one more point -
rashi who understand "ragil" to mean an expert in the tefillah goes lishitaso on the bottom of 16a that ragil likros is so that he will be familiar with the pesukim. but acc. to the girsah of our gemara that says ragil (or baki) in tanach and also MIDRASH AND AGGADAH, the issue of ragil is not for performance of the shliach tzibbur but rather for the quality of the shliach tzibbur (see m.b. siman 93 on si'if 4 who brings both interpretations of "ragil in tanach").
R. Avi-
If the davening of a ragil avoids the siman ra, how can we explain R. Chanina ben Dosa occasionaly experiancing a siman ra?
Are you suggesting a difference btw the siman ra of a yachid and a chazzan?
i am suggesting that the fumbling of the tefillah is a siman rah that can sometimes be avoided or at least reduce the chances. a proper chazan will be less likely to fumble and a better choice to avoid siman rah. but of course even by the most expert chazanim as r' chaninah, the tefillah will sometimes not be shagur and will be a siman rah.
i ask you then my friends, once and for all, is a siman ra a siman or a sibah
The pirush on the mesifta learns that we send a ragil to avoid the siman ra. he says "since he is a ragil, he will not mess up."
i will look further though
perhaps to reconcile all opinions we can say this: the reason this is a siman ra is that it shows there is a lack of connection between the mind and speech. in the holy books, speech is the connection between mind and action. this is why speech comes from the neck where the head connects with body. and you probably figured out that moshe has the shchina talking from his neck where as paroh is the "oref" or back part of this connection.
in any case even on a non mystical level, slurred speech is a sign.... of not having you mind in full control. therefore, if we appoint one that doesn't know the tefilah well and will make mistakes because of that this by itself shows that this person is not fit for proper concentration for a shliach tzibur. if however we have a proper shliach tzibur and he still fumbles this shows us that g-d is doing that. rav pinkus in his book on davening says that when one has a hard time concentrating in davening at times it can mean because overall his mind is not in the right place. i they say in name of the gaon that one who is careful in "mayim megulim" with the stringencies of the gemara in avodah zara then this will help him with proper concentration. point being that all this is connected.
so we have 2 dinim in slurred speech.
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