Kiddush Levana - Bar Mitzvah

QUESTION: If a boy will become bar mitzvah later in the week, should he recite Kiddush Levana together with the tzibur on Motzei Shabbos (before his bar mitzvah), or should he wait until he becomes bar mitzvah and say it then without the tzibur?

ANSWER: The Ksav Sofer (OC 99) writes regarding Rabbinic obligations in general, that if a child performed a mitzvah before his/her bar/bas mitzvah due to the obligation of “chinuch” (education and training), there is no need to repeat those mitzvos after becoming bar/bas mitzvah. Based on this rule, if one recites Kiddush Levana before he becomes bar mitzvah, he has fulfilled his obligation. However, the question remains whether it is better to wait until after his Bar Mitzvah or say it earlier with the tzibur?

Rav Ovadya Yosef zt”l (Yabia Omer OC 3:27) writes that it is indeed better to wait, provided that there is no concern that waiting will cause him to lose out on the mitzvah. This was also the opinion of Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank zt”l (Hadras Kodesh, siman 9). Some poskim write that if he will become a bar mitzvah before the tenth of the month, he should wait. But if he will become a bar mitzvah later than the tenth, he should not wait, because he may lose the mitzvah entirely if, for example, it gets cloudy and he is unable to see the moon.

However, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Halichos Shlomo, Tefilla 15:11) maintained that there is no need to wait. He offered the following proof to support his position. The common practice is that a boy who will become bar mitzvah during one of the later days of Chanukah recites the beracha of Shehechiyanu when he lights candles on the first night of Chanukah. We do not encourage the boy to wait to recite the beracha of Shehechiyanu until after he is bar mitzvah. Similarly, he need not wait for Kiddush Levana. Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l (Derech Sicha, vol. 2, p. 270) agreed that Kiddush Levana should be said right away, even though he is not yet bar mitzvah. He explained that since right now he has an obligation to recite Kiddush Levana, he should not push off its fulfillment.

____________________________________________________

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.