kosher bookworm: alan jay gerber

Tachanun: It's back, and that’s just fine!

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It is good to be careful that a chasan not attend shul during the wedding week, because he would prevent the people from reciting Tachanun.” (Mishneh Berurah 131:26).

Perhaps it was Rabbi Yisrael Reiseman who said it best: “As a chasan, I asked Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, whether or not I should refrain from attending minyan during my wedding week, based on this ruling of the Mishnah Berurah. He replied that this ruling is hard to understand. ‘Should a chasan miss Kaddish, Kedushah, keriyas ha Torah, and other benefits of tefilah b’tzibbur for so many days?’ he asked.

“ ‘Perhaps,’ Reb Moshe suggested, ‘the Mishnah Berurah was referring to a situation where the congregants are unhappy about missing Tachanun, and do not wish that the chasan attend. In this case, we could understand that he has no right to cause them this loss. If you could find a minyan where they would not mind having a chasan and skipping Tachanun, that would be preferable.’ Fortunately, I knew of just such a minyan, and I was able to attend shul during my sheva berachos week. As a matter of fact, I’d be hard-pressed to find a minyan where people would object to the attendance of a chasan!”

This humorous anecdote by Rabbi Reisman serves as a setup for us to evaluate the absence of the Tachanun liturgy during this past month of Nissan. With the onset of the new month of Iyar just about every day witnesses the recitation of Tachanun, with the possible exception of Yom Ha’atzma’ut and Yom Yerushalayim in some congregations.

In English there is not much written about this subject. Nevertheless, there is one little volume titled, “Tachanun: Prayer From The Heart,” by Rabbi Reuvene Slater (Targum Press, 2007) that goes into some detail in helping to explain to us the deeper meaning of the Tachanun liturgy. Starting with a history lesson on the origins of this prayer and the rationale behind it, Rabbi Slater explains the procedure of this prayer.

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