[Avodah] The MB, Minhagei Lita, and Temimos

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

Y Levine:
> During the fifty years after publication of the Mishnah Berurah until
> the destruction of Lithuanian Jewry communities did not adopt those
> decisions and recommendations of the Mishnah Berurah that ran counter to
> the traditionally acceptedminhagim. Not even in Radin, where the Chafetz
> Chaim had his Yeshivah, did the community change the traditional customs
> in favor of those urged by the Chafetz Chaim. Hence, many people today
> mistakenly assume that whatever the Mishnah Berurah recommended must have
> been the accepted custom in Lithuania. Again, I will point out some of
> these anomalies as we come upon them...

Years ago I posted that the Litvisher rabbanim I knew said that the AhS
was the prevailing poseiq in Lita no the MB. FWIW One of these rabbanim
lived in Hartford and his father-in-law was a rav in Baltimore.

The last 3 doros of Gdolei Psaq in Lita went more or less like this
R Yitzchok Elchanan Spektor
AhS
Rav Chaim Ozer. Grodzinsky

However the yeshivisher world has since lionized other G'dolim instead.

+++++++++++++++++++++

I heard this related story:
Rac Chaim Brisker was such a genius that people forgot what a tremendous
ba'al chessed he was and
Conversely:
The Chofetz Chaim was such a tzaddik, that people forgot what a great
lamdan he was.

-RRW
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