Hi Rabbi,
I have a question about the real meaning and consequences of Reshut, Chova, Lechatchila and Bedievad.
I understand that, for example, a Minhag cannot be an obligation, there is no such a thing as an obligatory Minhag and as I understood from the article of Borei Nefashot, the same can be said about a Reshut. But many Rabbinical authorities seems to make Judaism so perfect that you cannot skip anything and everything is equal in status, some kind of a perfectionist neurosis, which can be too much for a Baal Teshuva like me.
Now we have the concepts of Lechatchila and Bedievad. Long time a go a Rabbi told me that he doesn’t use Lechatchila and Bedievad but prefer Permitted or Not Permitted, because by using the fomer terms you create more conflict for many people that are in the process of growing. It is really imporper to act Bedievad? How can a permitted act be forbidden from the beginning? Which seems to be the idea of Bedievad. It may not be the ideal, but you are not doing and Averah.
Hello Rabbi,
Thank you for your thoughful answer. I really appreciate the time you to explain and answer every concern.
I understood perfectly the topic of Reshut, Chova and Lechatchila, but Bedievad is still quite confusing. I undertand how can it apply to cases of Kashrut in food, but there are other cases where certain practices or ways of performing a Mitzvah are treated by modern authorities as Bedievad but it seems that they are more Meikar HaDin. Let me give a few examples and please correct me if I am wrong:
– In the Mishneh Torah Berachot 1:9 the Rambam mentions that in order to say a blessing a person need to cover his nakedness (genitals) but he doesn’t mention Lechatchila or Bedievad, it seems that it is the Meikar HaDin to say a blessing, but the S”A OH 206:3 expand it and says that you need to have a separation between your heart and nakedness and the head covering, if not it is assur. How it transformed in something assur and a complete requirement? If then you read modern authorities they say that a blessing without a head covering or without proper clothes is valid Bedievad. You have Rabbis mentioning that you need to be properly dress to bless but this can cause unnecesary issues. For example, sometimes people want to be on pijamas all day or with relaxed clothing because is Sunday or you work later, you are acting wrong or Bedieved if you are around the house saying blessings in such state?
– The second example is similar. In Mishneh Torah Tefillah 5:1 the Rambam mentions 8 things that are important but if not done the Amidah is still valid. In his language you can see that even if you don’t do them on purpose, the Amidah is still valid, which seems to me that this “Bedievad” (if we can call it like that) behaviour can be chosen by the person and the result is valid, but the S”A require a belt, proper clothing, etc. And it is the absolute practice labelling any other option as Bedievad or forbidden. What about someone that is in pijamas an want to pray in the morning before having a shower or that is with loose relax clothes at night and want to recie the Shema and Arbit? The Halkha requires just to cover up the nakedness and not even a head covering.
I can mention many more that seem to be more Meikar HaDin than actual Bedievad situations. Because Bedievad seems to be a situation that happened by accident, maybe I am still wrong about the concept, and these cases are just the Halakha in the basic ruling. Some Rabbis say that rubbing your hands with your clothes to clean them before saying a blessing or studying Torah is Bedievad, but the S”A mentions the ruling, you don’t need to run for water. Then you have the situation where you have be sure to be able hold using the bathroom for 72 minutes before saying a blessing but that’s imposible, but Bedievad is fine (I read this in Peninei Halacha). So, sometimes Bedievad seems to be a way to press people to do things more complicated and sometimes against common sense or human nature.
Your question is very important, because many people are taught halachah as though every practice has the same force and every imperfection is a failure. That approach can produce fear, anxiety, and religious neurosis rather than a healthy relationship with God. Torah is not meant to be lived through panic or obsessive perfectionism.
We must understand the different levels of halachah. A Torah prohibition is not the same as a rabbinic law; a rabbinic law is not the same as a minhag; and a minhag is not the same as something that is merely preferable. “Do not steal” means that stealing is wrong and harms both the victim and the person who steals. Shabbat is extremely important, but one must still learn when Shabbat begins and ends and what is actually prohibited or permitted. Making everything prohibited is not halachah. Halachah requires knowing the precise rule and the strength of that rule.
A good minhag should generally be respected, particularly when it is the accepted practice of one’s family or community. One should try keeping the Minhag. However if there is some reason to ignore the Minhag, go ahead and ignore it. Of course, there is usually no reason to make a public display of rejecting it. But a minhag is not transformed into a Torah prohibition merely because people speak about it strongly. When a person has a genuine personal, medical, dietary, or practical reason that makes the minhag unworkable, its application must be reconsidered according to its actual status.
We Jews are obsessed with our Minhagim. As a teenager I always said jokingly, “If God really wanted us to keep the Torah, he’d make it all Minhagim.” My father loved that comment.
On the topic of reshut… Reshut does not mean forbidden, and it does not mean meaningless. It means that the act is authorized and may be valuable, but it is not an absolute obligation. That was the point of the discussion concerning Borei Nefashot: something can be a valid berachah without being a chovah that must always be recited. Some Berachot one should not say for various reasons. However there are berachot that you don’t have to say, but you can say. That is Reshut. Originally Arbit (Maariv) was a Reshut. You can decide each day shall I pray Arbit. Just like we have Minhag and Derabanan etc, we also have religious practices that are voluntary.
Lechatchila and Bedieved
These terms are also frequently misunderstood.
Lechatchila means: How should the matter be handled before anything has been done?
Bedieved literally means: What is the law after it has already been done?
Bedieved is not the same as sha’at hadchak, and it is not necessarily a reluctant permission for an emergency. It often means simply that there is a limited restriction on how one should act initially, but that the result remains completely acceptable afterward.
There is no contradiction in saying:
> Do not intentionally create this situation, but once it occurred, the food is permitted.
The first rule governs the person’s initial conduct. The second determines the status of the result after the fact.
For example, an Ashkenazi who follows the minhag not to eat kitniyot on Pesach should not deliberately mix ordinary kitniyot mayonnaise into tuna in order to nullify it. That would be inconsistent with the minhag he has chosen to observe.
But suppose he mistakenly used the wrong mayonnaise, and only afterward discovered that it contained kitniyot. When the kitniyot is halachically nullified, the tuna may be eaten. That is bedieved: it has already happened, and the halachah now tells us that the food is permitted. Eating it is not an averah, and there is no spiritual benefit in throwing out permitted food merely to feel “stricter.”
Sha’at hadchak is something different. It refers to a pressing or difficult circumstance in which halachah may permit a person to rely, even initially, upon an opinion or method that would not normally be preferred. Bedieved asks what happens after the act. Sha’at hadchak addresses what may be done now because of a genuine need.
In ordinary life, however, these technical distinctions should not become a constant source of anxiety. Most people do not encounter complicated cases of lechatchila, bedieved, and sha’at hadchak very often. The important thing is to understand the actual law rather than turning every preference into an absolute obligation.
Torah Is a Gift, Not a Perfectionism Test
The most important point is that Torah is not a system designed to keep a person frightened that God is waiting for him to make a mistake. God created us, loves us, cares about us, and wants us to succeed. The Torah is His gift to help us connect to Him.
A mitzvah creates connection. An averah creates disconnection. But every person faces different challenges, has a different history, and stands at a different point in life. We are expected to understand where we are and to continue moving toward God at a pace we can genuinely handle.
Fear and anxiety should not be confused with yirat Shamayim. Yirat Shamayim means a person is in awe of Hashem. It does not mean living in terror, believing that every minor imperfection makes God angry, or treating every minhag and preferred practice as though it were one of the Ten Commandments.
Perfection is not the process. I have never met a perfect person, and those who try to present themselves as perfect are likely more messed up than the rest of us. The process is growth: understanding the Torah accurately without all those distortions, doing the best that one can, and steadily strengthening one’s connection to God.
Some people may never reach the point of observing every practice that another person observes. That does not make them worth less, nor does it make them less sincere. We should stop measuring and judging one another. Each person must work honestly from the place where he or she presently stands.
I discussed a related distortion in the Torah Talk “Does God Laugh at Sinners?” People sometimes read verses in Mishlei as though God takes pleasure in punishing people. That comes from the same excessive culture of fear. When the verses are understood properly, the picture is entirely different.
Torah should make a person healthier, wiser, kinder, and more connected to God. When religion instead produces constant panic, guilt, and obsessive perfectionism, something has been misunderstood.