[Avodah] Waiting to Daven Maariv on Shavuous

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Tue, 19 May 2009 06:27:43 -0400
"Prof. Levine" <llevine at stevens.edu> wrote:

...

> I will grant you that I should have chosen my words more carefully 
> and written something like, "One need not wait to daven Maariv on the 
> first night of Shavuous. There are poskim to rely on if one wants to 
> daven early."

I appreciate the reformulation, but I think that you are still too
cavalier and dismissive toward a legitimate Minhag advocated by several
major Aharonim.

Consider an example, from what I'm currently learning: the custom for
grooms and brides to fast on their wedding days.  Rema (EH 61:1) rules
"ve'na'hagu she'ha'hasan ve'hakallah misanin be'yom hupasan".  The
sources are various late German Rishonim (Maharam Minz, Rokeah, Mahari
Bruna).  While the custom is widespread among Ashkenazim, many Sephardim
have not traditionally followed it.  Birkei Yosef acknowledges that
multitudes of German and Polish Jews fast, but then notes that "in Erez
Ha'Zvi and many cities they don't".  Rav Haim Benveniste states that in
Constantinople and Smyrna (Izmir) they don't.  Similar assertions
appear in other Sephardic sources, and some, including Hacham Ovadyah,
maintain that Sephardim should not fast.  There are also some Sephardic
sources that indicate that at least some Sephardim do follow the
custom.  [All sources here are taken from Ozar Ha'Poskim EH 61:10:1-2.]

Would you, then, write without qualification that: "One need not fast
on the day of his wedding.  There are Poskim to rely on if one wants to
eat"?  The point is that some Minhagim become accepted by certain
communities, and members of those communities should not simply say "I
won't bother following this custom; after all, many Poskim and other
communities have not accepted it."

Our custom of praying late on the first night of Shavuous is a
legitimate custom, advocated by some major Aharonim, and followed in
many communities.  Of course, someone from a community that does not
have this custom need not follow it, but for those whose ancestors
and / or current community did / does follow this custom, I do not
think that it is legitimate to say "I don't need to comply, since it is
an invention of the Aharonim, and a controversiol one at that."

Yitzhak
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