[Avodah] Chassidim on Horseback?

[Zev Sero]

On 3/01/2013 1:09 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> And since it is no longer a common practice among non-Jews to ride
> into a wedding bedavqa on horseback, I thought derkhei ha'emori was the
> closer fit.
>
> But in any case, neither really seem applicable, as it's just imitation
> of an out-of-date (and thus not assimilationist) fashion (and thus not
> religious or superstitious).

But it *was* current fashion at the time that these chassidim adopted it.
At the time it could potentially be attacked as Chukos Hagoy (though I
don't think such an attack would be successful, for the reasons I touched
on earlier).  Now, of course, it's "minhag avoseinu", which is why it's
morphed in such a way that it appears silly and sad to our eyes, precisely
because we're closer to the culture they're copying than they are!

It would be really nice if they were conscious of this, and were in fact
making a clever and ironic commentary on the goyishe practise, i.e. if
rather than imperfectly attempting to emulate it they were actually
parodying it.  I wish I could believe that this was the case.

-- 
Zev Sero               A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and
zev at sero.name          substantial reason' why he should be permitted to
                        exercise his rights. The right's existence is all
                        the reason he needs.
                            - Judge Benson E. Legg, Woollard v. Sheridan