[Avodah] Are Upsherin and Bonfires Taken from the Gentiles?

[Mandel, Seth]

You may post this in my name.

I am coming from a different direction.  I do not have problem with 
people adopting new customs, as long as they pose no problem halakhically.
What I do object to is hypocrisy.  While I doubt any particular 
person here is being hypocritical, the stance of various movements 
within Judaism is, if not hypocritical, at the very least self-contradictory.
If one does not object to adopting new customs, then why, pray tell, 
do some groups make a big issue out of wearing the European fur hats 
(AKA shtreimels or spodiks)?  Why do some groups insist that one 
shabbos one must wear long coats, as the upper class wore in Eastern 
Europe?  Why do some groups insist that suits worn to shul on shabbos 
or rabbis' garb must be black?  Why insist that the children speak 
Yiddish?  The reason given for all is that "we do not want to change 
what our holy forefathers wore."  Fine and dandy, but then they 
should not be so eager to adopt new customs either.  And if you say 
that there was no problem in chasidim in Europe adopting the 
opsheren, which according to chasidic sources was a chiddush unknown 
to the BeShT and R. Berl Mezricher, or other new-fangled customs 
(such as standing when the choson and kallo walk down the aisle), 
then what is wrong with wearing a nice navy-blue suit and speaking English?
Make up your minds.  And, if you adopt the logically teneble position 
that "I prefer to do what my grandfather did, but there is nothing 
wrong with other people changing their custom," then don't criticise 
other Jews for changing their dress (as long as it is tziusdig) or 
the thousands of other things that are condemned by the chareidi 
establishment as dangerous innovations.


-----Original Message-----
From: Prof. Levine [<mailto:llevine at stevens.edu>mailto:llevine at stevens.edu]
Sent: Sun 5/17/2009 1:08 PM
To: T613K at aol.com; avodah at lists.aishdas.org; 
Larry.Levine at stevens.edu; Mandel, Seth
Subject: Re: Are Upsherin and Bonfires Taken from the Gentiles?

At 12:49 PM 5/17/2009, T613K at aol.com wrote:
 >Make no bones about it, it is unfortunate that the Lag B'Omer
 >bonfire should be a bone of contention between Jews.  [To be serious
 >for a moment:] Can we not agree that once a minhag has become so
 >accepted and its origins largely forgotten, that we can forget about
 >how it started and not object to it anymore?  That is the etzem
 >davar.  (Sorry.....)

IMO absolutely not!  We have to work to eliminate the error.

YL



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