The time: a.m., the very morning after Yom Kippur
The Players: me: the college girl home for the chagim; my mom: about to leave for the gym
The Facts: My mom asks me before she leaves to answer the phone while she is gone, because she is expecting a call from the pool guy about an appointment to fix our leaking pool. I readily agree, eager for the easy opportunity to do a mitzvah.
The Dilemma: Having just woken up a few minutes before she left, I start davening once she is gone. I am in the midst of pesukei d'zimra, and then...the phone rings--dum dum dum! I am hit by a wave of confusion: I know that I am not allowed to speak in the middle of pesukei d'zimra, but then again, I have a mitzvah of kibud eim to take into consideration!
What would you do?
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6 comments:
ok, ill be the first to comment. kibud av v'aym is deoraisa, versus tefilla for women, which is derabanan according to ramban--and even if it is deoraisa, pesukai dzimra arent. so kibud av v'aym should win out. answer the phone!
Would you have had any easy way to call the pool-repair man back? You know your mother--would she mind if you called him back right away?
Oh, and hi! I really enjoy the blog so far. How do you already have 24 profile views? Either you've been stalking yourself, or someone else has! ;-)
You're not supposed to talk during pesukei d'zimra?
Ok... so that's approximately how useful I'll be on this one. Ask me about, like, holding chopsticks or something I know. I'm good with the chopsticks.
Well for all those who were waiting with bated breath to find out what actually happened...
I hesitated, thought about it, and let the call go to the answering machine. I figured that even if it was the pool guy calling, we could easily call him back and find out what he had to say.
Probably the right approach taken, but the first anon is correct - you probably could have answered. It's amazing what you're allowed to do instead of daven, actually - I was told last year that it was better to stay home and take care of my wife and/or it was better for her to stay home and rest and not daven than for her to come, daven, and possibly be forced to break her fast on Yom Kippur. Davening simply isn't on the same level as many (most?) other mitzvos from a halachic standpoint.
I'm going to (respectfully) disagree with SJ and agree with anon. Kibud aym wins because it's a d'oraisa. Heck, Last time I checked it was even in the aseres hadibros. That qualifies it as some pretty heavy-duty stuff.
That being said, I would like to qualify that statement by stating that if you KNEW you could call him back AND that it wouldn't bother your mom then you would not be violating kibud aym by comtinuing your davening.
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