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Is it true that the Chabad custom is specifically not to wash hands for (and eat) bread for shalosh seudos, and, if so, why?

msh210
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SimchasTorah
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2 Answers2

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In Hayom Yom (22 Adar I) the Rebbe quotes the Rebbe Rasha”b (Meheirah Yishamah 5648) as saying, “The obligation to eat Shalosh Seudos is learned from the Passuk “Hayom Lo”, therefore we don’t need to eat bread, but one must taste something. As Rabbi Yossi said (Talmud, Shabbos 118b) “May my portion be among those who eat Shalosh Seudos”.

So Minhag Chabad is to make sure to taste something for Shalosh Seudos, and the reason why they don’t wash for bread is because of the Posuk “Hayom Lo”.

What this means is as follows: The Gemarah in Shabbos learns out the obligation to eat 3 meals of Shabbos from the following Posuk: “And Moshe said, eat [the Monn] today (Hayom), because today (Hayom) is a Shabbos for Hashem, today you will not (Hayom Lo) find [the Monn] in the field”. Since the Pasuk says the word “Hayom” 3 times (when speaking about the Monn which served them as bread), we learn that one must eat 3 meals on Shabbos.

Based on the words of Rabbeinu Bechayei the Tzemach Tzedek rules (Piskei Dinim Chiddushim on Rabbeinu Yerucham p. 357) that since this meal is learned from the words “Hayom Lo”, unlike the first two meals which are learned from the word “Hayom”, we don’t need to eat bread for Shalosh Seudos, unlike the first two meals.

Menachem
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Gershon Gold
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  • I once read a lengthy sicha justifying not eating anything physical and learning Torah instead to fulfill the third s'uda . Do you recall this? – WAF Jan 23 '11 at 03:42
  • vaguely........ – Gershon Gold Jan 23 '11 at 04:30
  • The often quoted Zohar of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai not eating bread and being yotzei with Torah instead was talking about Shabbos Erev Pesach. A bit shaky to apply it to every Shabbos. – Yahu Jan 23 '11 at 07:06
  • The funny thing is the Shulchan Aruch Harav seems admant about washing and eating thats why i found it so strange – SimchasTorah Jan 23 '11 at 13:16
  • Those that I know in Chabad say that the Shulchan Aruch HaRav was written when the Baal HaTanya was younger and there are things that even he did different than the Pesakim he gave. Those are recorded in his Siddur and amongst them is the not washing for Shalosh Seudos. – Gershon Gold Jan 23 '11 at 14:33
  • WAF: See Aruch HaShulchan OH 444:6 regarding learning in place of eating – Curiouser Jan 23 '11 at 15:19
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    @WAF: are you referring to the sicha at http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15998&st=&pgnum=97? On the contrary, the Rebbe there explains at length why it is important to eat something for Shalosh Seudos, but on the other hand why it is our custom not to wash for it - and also how this fits with what the Baal Hatanya writes in his Shulchan Aruch. (He also cites the Zohar that Yahu mentioned, but points out that indeed we don't apply this in general.) – Alex Jan 23 '11 at 18:19
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    This a pretty big chiddush by the Rebbe. Do we have any other examples of him making new drashas on pesukim that contradict pshat shulchan aruch? – Double AA Jun 20 '12 at 20:44
  • I've encountered many Lubavitchers who do as @WAF mentioned, which is to learn (usually Tanya) instead of eating anything. – Seth J Jun 21 '12 at 03:20
  • @DoubleAA, according to this the source for the drasha is Rabeinu Bechaya. He didn't make a new drasha. Unfortunately it doesn't give a specific source. Either way, the Drasha is not the source. Call it an Asmachta ;-). – Yishai May 22 '14 at 22:50
  • @Yishai That's just as anonymous a site as this one, and not very trustworthy, at that. – Double AA May 23 '14 at 02:58
  • @DoubleAA, you motivated me to track it down – Yishai May 23 '14 at 03:10
  • @Yishai That doesn't say not to eat. It doesn't even discuss bread. – Double AA May 23 '14 at 03:21
  • the rulings in the shulchan aruch harav are often different from the siddur and rulings in the siddur and later writings being written after take president over those written earlier. as far as this hayom yom goes. this isn't a reason to not wash. rather this is an asmachta demonstrating that if one did not wash you are able to be yotze on the third meal with eating other foods. – Dude Apr 11 '19 at 20:17
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The reason is (perhaps) due to the fight between the two potential successors of the "previous Rebbe" of Chabad. Although there are older sources on the topic relating to the Rebbes, the widespread custom in Chabad was for the chasidim themselves to wash (according to the halacha), up until the mid-20th century.

"Finally since Gourary (the previous Rebbe's elder son-in-law) was delivering a chassidic discourse at the Shlosh Seudos meal in 770, the Rebbe abolished this ritual in Lubavitch. Of course Gourary continued to lead the 770 meal, but it was sparsely attended as all knew that this was without the Rebbe’s blessings." - R. Zalman Alpert (YU Reference Librarian)

http://benatlas.com/2010/07/schneur-on-the-life-and-afterlife-of-menachem-mendel-schneerson/

Curiouser
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    The Rebbe didn't "abolish" anything. Chabad Chassidim do eat Shalosh Seudos, we just don't wash for it. Why would that prevent anyone from saying Chassidus at the time? This is just another one of these so-called "scholarly" explanations that see the Rebbe as, G-d forbid, some kind of Machiavellian maneuverer. – Alex Jan 23 '11 at 18:16
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    I don't understand why the -1; the previous answer did not answer the question at all. The question is not whether you have to eat bread; a cursory glance in the Shulchan Aruch shows that not to be the case; the question is why Chabad specifically does not (against the l'chatchila halacha) and why Chabad changed their practice not to in the last 60 years. And to that, my answer (quoting an esteemed scholar) seems reasonable. And yet I am attacked for the uncomfortable nature of my non-apologetic answer and my supposed associations. Since when is mi.yodeya a forum for such vitriol? – Curiouser Jan 27 '11 at 13:27
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    @Curiouser Just to be clear, the custom to not wash for Shalosh Seudas goes back to the Alter Rebbe after he was released from prison, and you can look in his siddur for the source. The real question is why people assume that before 60 years ago the entire Jewish people were washing on bread for S.S. or eating at all. –  Mar 07 '12 at 21:48
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    this is totally made up. earlier chasidim going back to the times of the alter rebbe did not necessarily always wash for the third meal. see the siddur where it emphasizes to eat something but not necessarily wash. claiming that the lubavitcher rebbe did away with an obligatory meal based on a disagreement is nothing short of ridiculous and insulting. you should delete your answer – Dude Apr 11 '19 at 20:20