Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Shlach

Lost Count

June 27, 2024

Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Rabbi Yaakov Rappaport

But the men who had ascended with him said, “We cannot ascend to that people, for it is too strong for us.”

Bemidbar 13:31

The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 55:11) says that a sinner may be counted in a minyan, unless he has been placed in nidui (excommunication). But the Pri Megadim says that since the Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 2) rules that a mechaleil Shabbos befarhesya (one who violates Shabbos in public) is disqualified from performing shechitah because has the status of a non-Jew, he likewise cannot be counted in a minyan.

R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe O.C. 2:19) disagrees with the Pri Megadim. He explains that the Gemara (Megillah 23a) derives the requirement of ten men for a minyan from the spies. R’ Moshe notes that Rashi, citing the Gemara in Sotah 35a, understands the words of the meraglim, “ki chazak hu mimenu,” to mean that they thought Bnei Yisrael could not conquer the nations dwelling in Kna’an not because “they are stronger than us,” but because “they are stronger than Him”—chas milehazkir—as the word mimenu sustains both meanings. For this reason, the meraglim had the status of minim (heretics), which the Rambam defines as people who do not believe in Hashem or in His omnipotence. R’ Moshe argues that if the meraglim serve as the source for having ten men for a minyan, then clearly minim are included, and so is a mechaleil Shabbos befarhesya.

The Chazon Ish holds that today’s Shabbos violators do not have the status of non-Jews for a different reason: Because they were not raised in a religious environment, they have the status of tinokos shenishbu (Jews taken captive as children; Shabbos 69b) and are treated as bona fide Jews. But the Chafetz Chaim says that lashon hara about any Jews who do not keep mitzvos is not prohibited, which implies that he disagrees with the Chazon Ish.