Kavvanah before eating or drinking on Yom Kippur for those who must eat for the safety of their life, as found in Torat ha-Yoledet (Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein 1983)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Aharon N. Varady (translation), Yitzchok Zilberstein and Unknown Author(s)

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29 September 2022 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Yom Kippur

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עינוי Innui (self-affliction), פיקוח נפש piqoaḥ nefesh, fasting, כוונות kavvanot, Needing Attribution

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
חולה הצריך לאכול או לשתות ביום הכפורים, טוב שיאמר לפני האכילה או השתיה הראשונה׃	For an ill person who must eat or drink on Yom Kippur it is good for them at first to say [the following] before they eat or drink:
הִנְנִי מוּכָן וּמְזֻמָּן לְקַיֵּם מִצְוַת אֲכִילָה וּשְׁתִיָּה בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְתָּ בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ ”וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם אֲנִי ה׳׃“ (ויקרא יח:ה)	Here I am, ready and able to perform the mitsvah of eating and drinking on Yom Kippur, as you wrote in your Torah: “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which a person shall live: I am Hashem” (Leviticus 18:5).
וּבִזְכוּת קִיּוּם מִצְוָה זוֹ, תַּחְתֹּם אוֹתִי, וְאֶת כׇּל חוֹלֵי עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל לִרְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה, וְאֶזְכֶּה בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים הַבָּא לְקַיֵּם שׁוּב ”וְעִנִּיתֶם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם“ (ויקרא כג:לב) כֵּן יְהִי רָצוֹן, אָמֵן.	And in the merit of fulfilling this mitsvah, may you designate me and all the ill of your people, Yisrael, for a complete healing and so I will be able on the next Yom Kippur, to fulfill again [the mitsvah of] “You shall afflict your souls.” (Leviticus 23:32). May it be your will, Amen.

This is a kavvanah (intention) for anyone in a desperate circumstance of needing to eat or drink for their mortal health, to do so with the full confidence that they are fulfilling a mitsvah required for them in the Torah, to preserve their life. The kavvanah was related by Rav Yitschok Zilberstein in his Toras haYoledes (1983), chapter 52, section 10, p. 357 (pp. 331-332 in the bilingual edition 1989), “הועתק ממחזור עתיק” (as “copied from an old maḥzor”). Unfortunately, we can’t provide a more direct reference to this maḥzor. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.

Along with the kavvanah, Rav Zilberstein added the following note (chapter 52, ftn. №28).

הועתק ממחזור עתיק. והנה מנוסח תפילה זו משמע דבאכילה מקיימים מצות ״וחי בהם״. וכעין זה מבואר בבאר יצחק או״ח ט״ז וז״ל: ”ועכ״פ בחול, ודאי דמשתדל גם אחרי ספק רפואה בסגולה, וגם מחוייב בזה מחמת מצות עשה ד’ונשמרתם’, אף בספק רפואה“. וכן כתב גם בהגהות המהרש״ם יומא דף פ״ה. דלא שאלו בגמ׳ מנין לפיקוח נפש שדוחה לכל איסורי תורה, אלא מנין לפקוח נפש שדוחה שבת, משום דהאי דינא דפקו״נ דוחה לכל האיסורים הוא מדין יבא עשה ד’ונשמרתם’ (עיין ברכות ל״ב ע״ב, וב״ק צ״א ע״ב) וידחה לא תעשה של שאר האיסורים, משא״כ שבת דהוא חיוב סקילה. ודבריו מחודשים שהרי ‘ונשמרתם’ הוא לאו, ולא עשה, כמבואר בעירובין צ״ו. (ולכאורה מהמשנ״ב בסימן תרי״ח ה׳ שכתב ”דבמקום שמאכילין אותו ביוהכ״פ אין צריך כפרה ע״ז דאונס רחמנא פטריה“ משמע דהאוכל ‘אנוס’ ואינו מקיים מצוה. ואפשר דמדין ‘ונשמרתם’ הוי מצוה, אבל מדין ‘יום הכפורים’ הוי אנוס). ויעויין ב’נזירות שמשון’ סימן תרי״ח שכתב דיש מצוה באכילת החולה ביוהכ״ם משום דנאמר: ‘וחי בהם’, וגם ‘ונשמרתם לנפשותיכם’. והשיב הגאון רח״פ שיינברג שליט״א:
עיין בחידושי הגר״ח הלוי חמץ ומצה פ״א ה״ג דסבירא ליה דתשכיתו הוי איסור עשה. והקשה עליו הגר״ש היימן זצ״ל מלשון הרמב״ם חמץ ומצה פ״ב א׳ שכתב וז״ל: מצות עשה מן התורה להשבית החמץ. משמע דהוא חיוב בפועל ולא איסור. ויש לתרץ דברי הגר״ח דיש חיוב בפעולה אבל רק כדי להמנע מאיסור, וא״כ כשאנו באים לדון אם מקיים עשה או לא, תלוי באופן עשייתו, דאם אין לו חמץ איננו עובר על איסור, ואם יש לו חמץ ומשביתו מקיים עשה בפועל נמי. הרי דבהלכות ‘עשרה’ תלוי במצב, ובאופן עשייתו. וכן מצינו מחלוקת הראשונים ביבמות ו׳ אם לאו הבא מכלל עשה, הוי כעשה, לדינא דעשה דוחה לא תעשה, דאיכא דסבירא להו דיש בו דיני עשה, מדכתוב בתורה בלשון עשה, ואיכא דסבירא ליה דאזלינן בתר הפעולה, דכשיש פעולה בחיוב יש בו דיני עשה, ואם לא דומה ללאו. וכן בדין ד’ונשמרתם’, לפעמים צריך להמנע מדברים המזיקים ואז הוא כלאו, ולפעמים חייב לפעול בחיוב לקיים את גופו, ואז הוא כעשה.

Source(s)

Torat haYoledet, ch. 52, part 10, p. 357

Torat haYoledet, ch. 52, part 10, p. 331 (English)

Torat haYoledet, ch. 52, part 10, p. 332 (English)

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“Kavvanah before eating or drinking on Yom Kippur for those who must eat for the safety of their life, as found in Torat ha-Yoledet (Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein 1983)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Aharon N. Varady (translation)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer translator for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his translations, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot Naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also transcribes prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes for the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Yitzchok Zilberstein

Yitzchok Zilberstein (Hebrew: יצחק זילברשטיין, also spelled Silberstein) (born 1934) is a prominent Orthodox rabbi, posek (Jewish legal authority) and expert in medical ethics. He is the av beis din of the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood of Bnei Brak, the Rosh Kollel of Kollel Bais David in Ḥolon, and the Rav of Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak. His opinion is frequently sought and quoted on all matters of halakhah for the Israeli Lithuanian yeshiva community.

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17