[Avodah] Hypocrisy in halakhah

[Zev Sero]

kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
> R' Zev Sero wrote:
>> "Hanosen teshua lamlachim" was printed in the siddur, and
>> it was said in the big city shuls where the KYRH's spies
>> might be listening, but in the small shuls and shtiblach
>> it was omitted.

> Is this your guess, or someone else's guess, or were you told this by
> people who were actually there?

This is what I heard from my father who was there under Stalin, and
from my grandfather who was about 12 when the revolution came, and who
undoubtedly heard it from his father and grandfather, who were there
under the KYRH.

> This is a good example of something which is probably impossible to
> prove or disprove, as no one would have written such things down. But
> if it is indeed true, it would explain why some communities don't say
> it. It always seemed to me a natural and important thing to say.
> (Didn't we have a thread on this a few months ago?) But if it is true
> that no one ever said it until the gov't wanted it, then I would
> understand why some communities have chosen to drop it.

I think it also depends which empire people lived in.  AIUI, the
Emperor Franz-Josef's Jewish subjects genuinely loved him, and did say
the prayer for him even when his spies weren't watching, whereas the
same can't be said for Czar Nikolai and his predecessors.

 
> (BTW: What does KYRH stand for? My guess is that the K is Kaiser, but
> I'm clueless on the rest.)

Keisar Yarum Hodo.  It was the standard Hebrew appellation for the Czar.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas