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Am I allowed to work on Chol Hamoed? Should I?
It depends, generally Ive been told the following
If you have vacation days and can use them, then you should not work
If you dont have vacation days and really need the money then you can as this would create a large loss, but should try not to
If you own a business or are in sales and customers will leave your company forever then you can
If you just might lose a few temporary deals then you should not
Ive been told if there is a big loss involved you can work
Yes, working on chol hamoed is not permitted. Some poskim go so far to say that it is a d’oreissa.
Giving up some pleasure is not a heter for working on chol hamoed.
The question is, can you work without doing a melacha doreissa?
Yes, you are supposed to use your vacation days for Chol Hamoed, Not to visit the Grand Canyon some other time
That is not a reason to work.
Do what you can not to work.
Last year I made sure to notify my customers that we will be closed.
However one customer contacted me with a very large order, I made the quick calculation, that should refuse to ship the order, he would never use our company again.
So I shipped the order. Not only did the customer return the entire order, he started using our competitor.
I learnt the hard way, now we are strictly closed!
If you take off Hol ha-Moed does it mean you won’t be able to go on a vacation in the summer/winter or won’t be able to go the mountains? If so, probably there is a real question whether you are allowed to work on Hol ha-Moed?
Can you make up the work without penalty or difficulty? If so, then you probably should enjoy the holiday at home.
Would you be out money? Is your job one that can only be done at a certain time and can’t be made up? In your field, are vacations fixed by custom or law (e.g. teaching in a public school). Then you probably have a heter.
At a Yarchei Kalloh in Bne Berak many years ago, the Ponevezher Rav, Rav Y S Kahanemann ztsl, spoke very emotionally (I heard the recording of it) telling about a participants who a year earlier had asked him what he should do? He only received three weeks holiday in a year and therefore could only attend the Yarchei Kalloh if he worked Chol HaMoed. The Rav said that he had told him that working Chol hamoed was forbidden and reluctantly they had decided that the Yid could no longer attend the YK. “But this year he is here again and I asked him what happened. He told me that he had calculated that if he works an hour overtime every day for (I think) 4 months, he’d be entitled to 3 weeks extra holiday, and that is what he did”.
I’ll never forget the excited voice of the Rav ztsl.
Mee Ke’amcho Yisroel!
it is said that any work done on c”H u will not see any pleasure from it
amused/Joseph – Your question does not make sense. If you are asking if your allowed to, then why are you asking if you should? It will obviously depend on if you are allowed to.
Not bad, amused takkah is Joseph.
My work is avodas uman, and I try my best not to. Now and then someone I cant refuse has a tzorech hamoed emergency, and I tell them to get a psak that they can do it, and that they can davka use me to do it, and then I will do it betzina as much as possible ( at night, not changing into work clothes etc) and I generally don’t accept payment, or apply it davka to tzorchei hamoed. As my youngest are teenagers that wouldn’t be caught dead seen with their parents, I am free to pad the hours of my morning seder, and to attend a shiur of a maggid chacham. That chacham once passionately said it would be better for some to work than what goes on today on chol hamoed. (EY, where everyone is off) Mine is the chelek of the self employed, with mailos and chesronos. I used to lain Megillah on purim for a 6:30 train catcher’s minyan. My fastest possible was 22 minutes, and I felt really pained for these people.
….pleeeeeease let me go back to work……this housework my wife is giving me is KILLING me!!!!
Waaaaaaaaah, I wanna go back to my office!!!!!!!!!!
I’m at work now, so what is the difference between my computer typing and yours at home?
My travel to work and yours to an entertainment event; l’kovod the chag, of course?
I went to one of those yeshivish sukkos concerts last night; it tried to imitate a rock concert, effects and all, and did nothing to inspire me.
Forgive me for being so ignorant, but aren’t the shailos best left to our Rabbonim? Joseph, don’t you have a Rov?
shtusim – Hang around, you’ll get to know Joseph.
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