by Rabbi Michael J. Broyde*

I. Introduction

The dispute as to whether the prohibition of work is Biblical or rabbinic remains the fundamental one in determining the weltanschauung (essence) of Chol HaMoed. If the Torah rule is that all work is permitted, and the Sages of the Talmud prohibited certain types of work and permitted other types, then engaging in work that is permitted would seem broadly consistent with the Divine mandate. On the other hand, if the Torah prohibited work, and the Sages — for the sake of the holidays — permitted certain limited types of works, then whatever work that can be avoided should be.²

It is important to note that even according to those who rule the prohibition of working as Biblical, this Biblical prohibition is different from others in that its precise boundaries were given to the Sages to define.³

II. Situations When Work is Permitted

1. Work, if not done, will lead to a significant financial loss;

   The precise definition of financial loss varies from society to society and person to person⁴. Notwithstanding that fact, certain guidelines can be given. Loss of (significant) capital is almost always considered a financial loss. On the other hand, mere loss of interest or profit is not considered a true financial loss, and thus only allows rabbinic prohibitions. One who owns a store that sells items of use on Chol HaMoed (food, for example) may unquestionably remain open on Chol HaMoed. One who is not selling any such items may only keep the store open if the general good will necessary to run the business requires that the business be open each day during the general work week.⁵

2. Work done to produce food for the sake of either the intermediate days or the holidays;

   The parameters of the exception permitting work for the sake of the holiday includes any actions — lighting fires, harvesting plants or turning on lights — needed either for Yom Tov, Chol HaMoed or the upcoming Shabbat's food needs.⁶ This exception permits every activity needed for food preparation, provided that it could not be done prior to Moed.⁷

3. Work where the action is of benefit to many people;

   The rationale for this exception is that public works are best done at a time when many are available.⁸ Most rule that amateurish work of benefit to many is permitted even if not for the sake of the holiday, and skilled work is permitted only for the sake of the public and the needs of the holiday.⁹

4. Work done by an amateur, rather than a professional, or in a amateurish way rather than a professional way, for the sake of the holiday;

   Amateurish work of any type may be done for the sake of the needs of the holiday or the Shabbat that follows; thus, for example, one may turn on a light during Chol HaMoed when one needs light to read, or turn on the radio to listen to recreational music for pleasure on that day.¹⁰

5. Work done by a person who does not have money to buy food or other necessities.

   A person who has no money to pay for the basic needs of himself or his family¹¹ may work even in otherwise prohibited work, and it is preferable to do such work than to accept charity.¹² It is preferable that such work be done in a private, rather than a public, way.¹³

III. Taking Vacation During Chol HaMoed

This exact issue is a dispute between contemporary decisors: Must a worker — who wishes to take his vacation days in order to do a specific vacation activity that cannot be done on the intermediate days (for either halachic or practical reasons) — nonetheless take them on the intermediate days, and forsake that desired vacation. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein¹⁴ states that declining to take vacation on Chol HaMoed so that these vacation days can be used at some other time is permissible (and merely the pious avoid it). In the same volume¹⁵ Rabbi Moshe Stern avers that such conduct is prohibited and states that employees must save up vacation days to use on the intermediate days whenever possible. Rabbi Neuvert¹⁶ suggests a compromise position. He states that an employee who has a finite number of vacation days in the year need not save them to use on the intermediate days, but if he has them available during the intermediate days, he must take them. Rabbi Neuvert observes that if one were to accept this ruling, a person whose vacation days accrue at the beginning of the secular year must use these days for the intermediate days of Passover, but may then take a summer vacation with the understanding that he will have no choice but to work on the intermediate days of Sukkot.

IV. Brief Discussion and Analysis

An interesting example of this can be found when one examines the discussion in contemporary decisors over whether shaving is a form of prohibited work on Chol HaMoed. (Although this issue is related to the issue of whether one may shave on Chol HaMoed, that issue is not identical to this one, and is treated more fully elsewhere.)

Tosafot, addressing the issue of haircutting, states that "even though this action [shaving and haircutting] is work [and thus should be prohibited] the Sages would have permitted it for the sake of the holiday [if not for the rabbinic decree]."¹⁷ Tosafot also gives an alternative answer and states that "there are some forms of work that involve no real effort or exertion like parkiamatri (a form of traveling salesman); nonetheless, that which is done for the sake of esthetics, it is appropriate to permit it on the intermediate days." According to the second approach of Tosafot, shaving in one's home with an electric shaver is not a form of prohibited work on the intermediate days when done in the privacy of one's own home in the manner that all adults groom themselves nowadays. This stands in distinction to the case of being groomed by another, as was done in times of old, when people were shaved by a barber. Whether something is a prohibited form of work depends on how difficult and complex the task is.

As noted by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein,¹⁸ it seems that the final insight of Tosafot creates nearly a new category of permissible work — prohibited activity done merely for aesthetic reasons, which then becomes permissible. Indeed, elsewhere, Tosafot¹⁹ appears to rule that shaving one's facial hair is generally a permitted form of work and is only prohibited because of the rabbinic decree discussed elsewhere. Particularly since shaving is no longer a skilled activity, but is done by almost all people in the privacy of their own home without any specialized training, one is very much inclined to rule that — in cases not covered by the rabbinic decree prohibiting shaving — there is no "prohibited work" problem of shaving on Chol HaMoed. Indeed, even those modern authorities who are absolutely firm in their ruling that the presence of a clean shaven society has no impact on the prohibition to shave during the intermediate days of the festival concede that shaving is not a prohibited form of work in those societies where people shave in the privacy of their own home with little or no effort.²⁰

V. Conclusion

One of the most difficult tasks facing all of us as Jews is learning to balance the needs of both kodesh and chol — the sacred and the secular. The passing of the days that we call Chol HaMoed — literally the profane days of the holidays — should cause us to pause and ask whether we are each properly balancing the holy with the profane in our own lives. If we each do that, Chol HaMoed will truly be different.

Sources

1 Chagigah 18a; Moed Katan 29a; Rambam, Yom Tov 7:1; Shulchan Aruch OC 530:1 [Continue with the text...]

2 So too, this writer is of the opinion that those authorities who rule work to be permitted by Torah law direct that tephillin be worn, as there is no __/sign of Yom Tov when work is permitted and those who rule work prohibited by Torah law rule that tephillin should not be worn on Chol HaMoed, as the absence of work is the __/sign. For more on this, see Shulchan Aruch OC 34:1. [Continue with the text...]

3 See Shulchan Aruch O.C. 530 and Biur Halacha 530 s.v. umytar and Encyclopedia Talmudit Chol HaMoed 13:104-113. [Continue with the text...]

4 Mishnah Berurah 544:6. [Continue with the text...]

5 For a discussion of whether a worker needs to take his vacation days on Chol HaMoed, see part III. [Continue with the text...]

6 O.C. 533:1-3; Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata 66:6. [Continue with the text...]

7 Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata 66:17 and note 78 of that work. [Continue with the text...]

8 See Shulchan Aruch OC 544:1 and Mishnah Berurah 544:1. [Continue with the text...]

9 Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata 65:1-4. [Continue with the text...]

10 Shulchan Aruch OC 545:1. [Continue with the text...]

11 Biur Halacha 542 s.v. al yedai. [Continue with the text...]

12 Ashel Avraham 542. [Continue with the text...]

13 For an excellent review of the principles used to determine if work is permissible, see Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Chol HaMoed on Agricultural Settlements, Techumin 2:79 (5743). [Continue with the text...]

14 in a responsa published in Sefer Zichron Shlomo #18. [Continue with the text...]

15 responsa 41. [Continue with the text...]

16 writing in Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata 67:(n.47). [Continue with the text...]

17 Moed Katan 14a veshar kol adam. [Continue with the text...]

18 Iggerot Moshe O.C. 163. [Continue with the text...]

19 Tosafot s.v. shar. [Continue with the text...]