BE”H, we will be starting Klal 9 on January 1st. Klal 9 is all of the basic rules of meleches Shabbos, and therefore a very important klal. Sponsorships are available for the whole klal or individual concepts or individual shiurim. Please contact Rabbi Reingold at (301)996-5910 or rabbireingold@gmail.com to sponsor
We are beginning siman 29 and 30, and we will learn siman 30 before siman 29. The Gemara says that when one makes the bracha on the neir, they must be close enough to it to be able to benefit from its light. If a person is far away, the light does not give them any benefit.
The Gemara says a person must be close enough that they can distinguish between different coins. The language of the Shulchan Aruch (siman 298), and as followed by the Chayei Adam, indicates that one does not actually have to physically distinguish between two coins, but that they are close enough that they would be able to distinguish, should they wish to do so. For this reason, even though some have the minhag to turn off the electric lights, so that the light is truly bright enough to actually benefit from the light, those who do not have this minhag follow the opinions that being close enough that one would fulfill the criteria should the electric light not be present is sufficient.
Either way, a person standing too far away from the neir will not fulfill their chiyuv. Thus, the person leading havdalah should make sure that all those being yotzei were close enough to fulfill their chiyuv, or should keep the neir lit after they finish reciting havdalah so that they can come closer.
In siman 29, the Chayei Adam writes that practically, the minhag is to look at one’s fingernails and skin of the hand as an indication that a person is close enough to the neir. If they are able to distinguish between the fingernail and surrounding skin, it is an indication that they would be able to differentiate between two types of coins, and they are yotzei. We must remember that at the times of Chazal, each state would make their own coins, and they often looked quite similar.
The Chayei Adam clarifies that one should not look at their fingers in a way that they see the front of their fingers. Therefore, one should bend their fingers in a way that they do not see the front of the fingers, and they should put their thumb inside their palm. This particular minhag is based on a Zohar, cited by the Rema, and the Biur HaGra finds a source in the Yalkut Shimoni in Tehillim as well.
The fingernails are a siman tov, because they constantly grow during a person’s lifetime, and because the growth is visible. It is thus considered a sign of the fertility of Klal Yisroel and a siman tov.
Similarly, some have the minhag to look at the fingernails while they are cupped within one’s palm, and then to turn the hand to the other direction, and look at them from the other direction as well.
Rav Moshe brings down a number of questions he was asked regarding havdalah (OC 5:20:31), and includes a statement from an individual who felt that the minhag to look at the fingernails is not a valid minhag. Rav Moshe takes this person to task, and writes that a person who goes against it is making light of the words of Chazal, and deserving of punishment. Nevertheless, it is not meakeiv. The chiyuv is to be close enough to see the light, as we learned above. A person should be careful to fulfill this minhag, because it is a minhag Yisroel.
Summary
- One must be close enough to the neir to be able to distinguish between two coins. Our indication of this distance is whether one can distinguish between their fingernail and flesh surrounding it.
- The minhag Yisroel is to bend one’s fingers into their palm and look at them. Some also have the minhag to turn the fingers around, and look again. The minhag is not to look at the front of the fingers, and to hide the thumb under the other fingers.
