Halachot and Customs
Is it permissible to give an observer of Shabbat an aliyah to the Torah?
Question
On Shabbat, may one give someone who desecrates Shabbat and comes with a car to the place of prayer the honor of opening the ark, or have him recite the priestly blessing, or have him receive the priestly aliyah, and similarly with regard to a Yisrael? Please note that the place of prayer is in an apartment in a residential building, but the entire apartment is designated only as a synagogue.
Thank you
Answer
Greetings,
1. It is permitted to let him open the ark (and so it is in Piskei Teshuvot, siman 136, ot 2. And see also Responsa Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim, part 2, siman 51, end of the statement beginning with the word therefore).
2. One should not prevent him from joining the other kohanim so that he may lift his hands together with them. Indeed, if there is no other kohen there besides him, if possible it is good to persuade him not to go up to the platform to lift his hands by himself, and to leave the synagogue when the prayer leader reaches the priestly blessing. And if he refuses, one should also turn a blind eye to this, so as not to cause enmity and dispute, and allow him to lift his hands and recite the priestly blessing (Responsa Yabia Omer, part 7, Orach Chaim, siman 15).
3. Nevertheless, initially one should try as much as possible not to give an open desecrator of Shabbat an aliyah to the Torah; however, if there is concern for dispute, one may give him an aliyah, and the reading that the prayer leader reads during that aliyah of that desecrator of Shabbat is effective to fulfill the obligation, and one should add valid aliyot to complete the number of seven aliyot (Chazon Ovadia Shabbat, part 2, page 240).
With blessings,
Hillel Meirs
