{"id":7108,"date":"2016-01-05T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T02:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=7108"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:18:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:18:05","slug":"01-05-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/","title":{"rendered":"04. The Shabbat Sermon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It has long been customary for rabbis to deliver important <em>derashot<\/em> (sermons or homilies) on Shabbat, in which they deal with halakhic and theological matters. These would be attended by the entire community. This important practice has its foundation in God\u2019s instruction to Moshe:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>God said to Moshe: \u201cGather together large groups and publicly teach them the laws of Shabbat. Thus, future leaders will learn from you to convene groups every Shabbat and assemble in the <em>batei midrash<\/em> to teach and instruct Israel about what the Torah permits and forbids. Thus My great name will be glorified among My children.\u201d Based on this, the Sages averred: Moshe instituted that Israel discuss matters pertaining to the day \u2013 the laws of Pesa\u0125 on Pesa\u0125, the laws of Shavu\u2019ot on Shavu\u2019ot, the laws of Sukkot on Sukkot. Moshe said to Israel: \u201cIf you follow this system God will consider it as if you enthroned Him in His world, as it is stated: \u2018You are My witnesses, declares the Lord\u2019 (Yeshayahu 43:10).\u201d (<em>Yalkut Shimoni<\/em>, Vayak\u2019hel \u00a7408)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One may not schedule a meal during the <em>drasha<\/em> (SA 290:2). According to the Sages, doing so is one of the reasons that wealthy people become impoverished. We are told that there was a family in Jerusalem who regularly scheduled meals during the <em>drasha<\/em>, and on account of this sin they were wiped out (<em>Gittin<\/em> 38b).<\/p>\n<p>R. Zeira recounts that originally he thought that people who ran to hear the <em>drasha<\/em> were desecrating Shabbat by not walking there unhurriedly. But, after he heard R. Yehoshua b. Levi say, \u201cOne should always run to hear words of Torah, even on Shabbat,\u201d he too would run to the <em>drasha<\/em> (<em>Berakhot<\/em> 6b). Because the <em>drasha<\/em> was meant to address the entire community, it was difficult to calibrate it to meet everyone\u2019s needs. There were some who already knew everything that the rabbi was about to teach, while others could not understand a thing he was saying. This is why the Sages stated: \u201cThe reward for the <em>drasha<\/em> is for running to attend it\u201d (<em>ibid<\/em>.). For the fact that people are running and gathering to hear the <em>drasha<\/em> already honors the Torah. The <em>Shekhina<\/em> rests upon them, which allows them to strengthen their faith and their connection to Torah and <em>mitzvot<\/em>. In any case, one who does not attend the <em>drasha<\/em> should study Torah during the time it is delivered. Under no circumstances should he schedule his meal then or plan to take a walk (MB 290:7).<\/p>\n<p>The primary goal of the <em>drasha<\/em> is to teach the community practical <em>halakha<\/em> and to guide the audience in the ways of God, as the Sages state: \u201cto teach and instruct Israel about what the Torah permits and forbids\u201d (<em>Yalkut Shimoni loc. cit.<\/em>). Once, R. Abahu and R. \u0124iya happened to be in the same place on Shabbat. R. Abahu held forth on matters of <em>aggada <\/em>while R. \u0124iya taught of <em>halakha<\/em>. Most of the listeners left R. \u0124iya\u2019s <em>drasha<\/em> and went to listen to R. Abahu. R. \u0124iya was upset about this because R. Abahu had deviated from the primary purpose of the <em>drasha<\/em>, which was to offer halakhic instruction. Although R. Abahu tried to appease R. \u0124iya, he refused to be placated (<em>Sota<\/em> 40a). We can assume that R. Abahu felt that the community was at a low point and needed to be encouraged in their faith through <em>aggada<\/em>, while R. \u0124iya felt the community had the strength to hear a halakhic discourse.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line is that everything depends on the community and what areas it must improve. Generally, a mixture of <em>halakha<\/em> and the reasons behind it, together with some theology and moral instruction, is called for. Indeed, this was the custom of many leading Torah scholars (see <em>Tur<\/em> \u00a7290; <em>Ba\u0125<\/em>; MA; SAH 290:3; MB <em>ad loc.<\/em> 6).<\/p>\n<p>It is incumbent upon the community leaders to strengthen communal Torah study on Shabbat and to schedule many varied classes for men and women, old and young, on halakhic and aggadic topics, in Tanakh and in Talmud, so that everybody can participate. Included in this is the need to encourage and schedule a central <em>drasha<\/em> for the entire community, to give honor to Torah and reinforce its status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has long been customary for rabbis to deliver important derashot (sermons or homilies) on Shabbat, in which they deal with halakhic and theological matters. These would be attended by the entire community. This important practice has its foundation in God\u2019s instruction to Moshe: God said to Moshe: \u201cGather together large groups and publicly teach [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-01-05"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It has long been customary for rabbis to deliver important derashot (sermons or homilies) on Shabbat, in which they deal with halakhic and theological matters. These would be attended by the entire community. This important practice has its foundation in God\u2019s instruction to Moshe: God said to Moshe: \u201cGather together large groups and publicly teach [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/716cb852d9b9d1fb36cf3b60a4415178\"},\"headline\":\"04. The Shabbat Sermon\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"05 - Torah Study and Prayer on Shabbat\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/\",\"name\":\"04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/01-05-04\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"04. The Shabbat Sermon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"description\":\"HaRav Eliezer Melamed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peninei Halakha\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/logo-ph-.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Peninei Halakha\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/716cb852d9b9d1fb36cf3b60a4415178\",\"name\":\"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/author\\\/thfvhacvcss\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha","og_description":"It has long been customary for rabbis to deliver important derashot (sermons or homilies) on Shabbat, in which they deal with halakhic and theological matters. These would be attended by the entire community. This important practice has its foundation in God\u2019s instruction to Moshe: God said to Moshe: \u201cGather together large groups and publicly teach [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/","og_site_name":"Peninei Halakha","article_published_time":"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00","author":"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/"},"author":{"name":"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/716cb852d9b9d1fb36cf3b60a4415178"},"headline":"04. The Shabbat Sermon","datePublished":"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/"},"wordCount":707,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["05 - Torah Study and Prayer on Shabbat"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/","name":"04. The Shabbat Sermon - Peninei Halakha","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-05T02:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-23T15:18:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/01-05-04\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea","item":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"04. The Shabbat Sermon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","name":"Peninei Halakha","description":"HaRav Eliezer Melamed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#organization","name":"Peninei Halakha","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/logo-ph-.png","width":300,"height":64,"caption":"Peninei Halakha"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/716cb852d9b9d1fb36cf3b60a4415178","name":"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ba17770ba8ce22dc07b91d8f4d0b098f24d0589815cb02522b506f7d0ee9d94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u05de\u05e0\u05d4\u05dc \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8"},"url":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/author\/thfvhacvcss\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11642,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108\/revisions\/11642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}