Halakhah sobre Deuteronómio 4:2

It is clear that what Rambam forbids Noachides is prohibited to Jews as well. Jews, after all, are explicitly commanded, "You shall not add to the matter which I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2). One hesitates to state that Torah reading and aliyot, at least as now practiced by women's prayer groups, fall within the category of the forbidden ritual innovations prescribed by Rambam in Hilkhot Melakhim. Nevertheless, it appears that such practices come dangerously close to being so.⁴There is yet another consideration that augurs against women’s prayer services which include the Reading of the Torah. Rema, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 88:1, records a difference of opinion with regard to whether it is proper for a woman to enter a synagogue during the time of her monthly menstrual period. Magen Avraham, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 88:2, and Taz, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 88:2, followed by Mishnah Berurah 88:7, indicate that it is our practice for women to attend services in the synagogue at such times but caution them not to gaze at the Torah scroll when it is lifted to be shown to the assemblage. Kaf ha-Ḥayyim, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 88:11, permits such women even to gaze upon the script of the Torah scroll.
Although none of these authorities distinguish between gazing upon a Sefer Torah and touching it, there are sources that indicate that a distinction must be drawn between mere gazing and touching. Apparently, it was the practice in some circles to place a Torah scroll in the hands of a woman experiencing severe difficulty in labor. Teshuvot Ḥinnukh Bet Yehudah, no. 71, decries this practice on the grounds that a woman in a state of ritual impurity should not touch the Sefer Torah and therefore advises that the Torah scroll be brought only to the door of the delivery room “that the merit of the Torah protect her” but that the scroll not be placed in her hands. It is clear that Teshuvot Ḥinnukh Bet Yehudah forbids such women to touch even the wooden handles to which the parchment scroll is attached. A similar position is recorded in the name of Sefer Torat Ḥannokh by R. Dov Ber Spitzer, “Seder Ḥinnukh Sefer Torah,” sec. 3, published in Toldot Kol Aryeh (New York, 5723). However, Shulḥan Arukh, Yoreh De‘ah 282:8, specifically permits a menstruating woman to touch a Torah scroll.

Rabbi Rosen rules against the use of mazah. He asserts that scrupulous avoidance of ḥamez on the day preceding Passover is tantamount to adding an additional day to that festival and constitutes a violation of the injunction, "You shall not add to the word which I command you" (Deut. 4:2). It would appear that the opposite conclusion might be deduced from Rosh Hashanah 28b and Eruvin 96a which indicate that sitting in a sukkah following the conclusion of the festival does not constitute a violation of this prohibition unless the individual has explicit intenton (kavanah) of fulfilling the commandment of dwelling in the sukkah. Rabbi Rosen, however, argues that we may not conclude that lack of such intention with regard to eating mazah is sufficient to obviate the transgression of "Thou shalt not add." It is forbidden to sit in the sukkah after the holiday only if there is specific intent to fulfill a commandment, because there is nothing in the act itself which indicates that it is being done for the purpose of a mizvah; the eating of mazah at both Sabbath meals coupled with scrupulous avoidance of ḥamez, argues Rabbi Rosen, is in itself an indication that one is observing that day as one of the days of Passover. Employing a similar rationale, an early authority, Mordekhai, rules that although one must eat in the sukkah on Shemini Azeret, one may not sleep in the sukkah on that day. Mordekhai maintains that while partaking of food in a boothlike structure is not out of the ordinary, it is unusual for a person to sleep in a sukkah other than on Sukkot. By sleeping in a sukkah the individual "appears to be adding" to the biblical requirement.

Although in terms of normative Halakhah tourists finding themselves in Israel over Yom Tov must observe the second day of the holiday as they do in their own homes, this practice is by no means universally agreed upon. Some of the divergent views which have been advanced are intriguing. One noted authority, R. Zevi Ashkenazi, Hakham Ẓevi, no. 167, declares that visitors to Israel are not required to observe the second day of the festivals and moreover, they are forbidden to do so. The argument for observance of the second day of Yom Tov in Israel is predicated upon the principle that a person away from home must continue to observe the more stringent practices of his place of domicile. However, observance of an extra day of Yom Tov, argues Hakham Ẓevi, involves a leniency no less than a stringency; observance of an additional day of Yom Tov is not permitted because it constitutes violation of the prohibition "Thou shalt not add thereto." On the basis of Rosh Hashanah 28b, numerous authorities conclude that, under certain conditions, sleeping in a sukkah on Shemini Azeret is an infraction of "Thou shalt not add to the word which I command you" (Deut. 4:2) and is a punishable offense.