Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Kissing In Shul

There is a well known halacha that one may not kiss his children in shul in order to show that there is nobody whose love compares to that of Hashem. I always find this halacha very difficult to keep. How is it possible to refrain the entire time one is in shul from kissing fellow Jews?  Especially one's own children!! When you see a yid, you pashut want to kiss him - don't you [this week is R' Shlomo Carlebach's yahrtzeit. He certainly felt that way...]?

A student of Rav Moshe Feinstein reported that Rav Moshe used to kiss his einiklach in the beis medrash of Yeshivas Tiferes Yerushalayim. Rav Moshe explained that the halacha means that one may not kiss his children during DAVENING but when it is not davening time, others may be kissed in shul. This is borne out by the fact that the Shulchan Aruch mentions this halacha not in hilchos beis knesses but in hilchos tefilla. This indicates that the law pertains to tefilla and not to a shul per se.

[Meged Givas Olam page 92]