May One Delay Feeding Guests?

If I am not hungry do I have to serve my hungry indigent guests immediately upon coming home from Shul on Shabbos? (A subscriber’s question)

The Chofetz Chaim rules that one who is not hungry must serve the Shabbos meal immediately to guests who are poor, even though the host is not ready to eat (Mishna Berura, OC, 271:1). Rav Avrohom Dubov Kahana Shapiro, the last Kovno Rav before the Holocaust, writes that he heard it said in the name of the Chofetz Chaim, that delaying the meal in such instances would be a violation of bal t’acher. As noted in the previous Halach Yomis, the Chofetz Chaim presumably viewed the invitation to a poor guest to be tantamount to a commitment or vow to give tzedakah in the form of food, which must be fulfilled without hesitation.

Rav Kahana Shapiro defends the common practice of not serving indigent guests immediately. If one commits to give tzedakah at a later date, he may delay giving the money until the designated time arrives, even if poor people are present. This is because the vow does not become effective until the specified time. Similarly when guests are invited, it is understood that the commitment to feed the guests does not commence until the master of the house sits down to eat his meal as well. (Dvar Avrohom, volume 2:2).

Irrespective of whether one accepts the position of the Chofetz Chaim or the Dvar Avrohom, everyone would agree that it is important to be sensitive to the needs of one’s guests. Indeed, the Chofetz Chaim did not recite Sholom Aleichem before the Friday night Shabbos meal when there were guests at his table. He explained, “Angels are not hungry, and they can wait to be welcomed after my guests are fed”. (Tenuas Hamusar, volume 4 page 136)

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.